Gaza has received only 84 truck deliveries in the past week, compared with its pre-war average of 3,500 trucks per week, reports Juliette Touma, Communications Director for United Nations Relief and Works Association (UNRWA).

This means the current truck deliveries are at only 2% of pre-war levels. Yet Gaza residents’ needs likely are even greater than they were prior to the war. For example, the destruction of so many Gaza homes means that many basic items, such as clothing, must be replaced. The movement of hundreds of thousands of residents to the south means an increase in need for temporary shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities, etc. And the thousands of Palestinians requiring medical treatment due to injuries from the bombings has resulted in a much greater need for medical supplies.

The fact that there are fewer deliveries to meet greater needs suggests a serious humanitarian crisis is in the offing. As we’ve previously reported, signs of such a crisis already are appearing — doctors are performing operations and amputations on hospital floors without anesthesia, and thousands of desperate Gazans today broke into 4 UN warehouses to steal flour and other supplies.

It’s unclear at this point as to whether Gaza will see an increase truck deliveries in the near-term in order to quell such a crisis.