After eight months of war, here’s what Gaza’s humanitarian crisis looks like

CNN looks at how the aid crisis has deepened in the territory after 245 days of war.

Raed Redwan shades his three-month-old baby from the heat and shoos away insects in a tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. They are trapped, along with his wife and mother, in a sea of displaced families with little respite from overcrowding and pollution. The Palestinian father told CNN he struggles to find aid. Instead, he and his family have no choice but to drink contaminated water and eat just one meal per day. “I don’t want to talk about food because there is none,” he said in a written message on June 5. “We survived the death from rockets and shelling; will we die of famine? After eight months of Israel’s bombardment in Gaza — following the October 7 attacks led by the militant group Hamas that killed around 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages in southern Israel — human rights groups have described “unspeakable” living conditions for Palestinians in the enclave, with over 75% of the population displaced, according to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Israel’s military campaign has pulverized neighborhoods, damaged health infrastructure and depleted food, water and fuel supplies. The Israeli offensive has killed at least 36,654 Palestinians and injured another 83,309 people, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. CNN cannot independently confirm these figures. While Israeli officials have insisted there is no limit on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, the UN has accused authorities of imposing “unlawful restrictions” on relief operations such as blocked land routes, communications blackouts and air strikes. Local staffers told CNN they are forced to turn away the needy at distribution points because there is not enough relief to hand out.