A July 2026 COGAT report said humanitarian assistance to Gaza during the October 2025-June 2026 ceasefire exceeded key international benchmarks, with 1.78 million tons of food entering the Strip, food prices falling sharply, medical supplies and hospital capacity expanding, and water availability surpassing basic emergency standards. The report argued that remaining humanitarian challenges stemmed largely from Hamas’s control, taxation and diversion of goods, distribution inefficiencies, spoiled stockpiles and gaps between approved and delivered aid, rather than from limits on Israeli facilitation.
The following is an executive summary of the report. For the full report, click here.
COGAT’s July 2026 humanitarian situation report argued that the humanitarian situation in Gaza improved significantly during the October 2025-June 2026 ceasefire, with aid flows, food availability, water access and medical capacity meeting or exceeding key international benchmarks. The report said that from October 10, 2025, to June 7, 2026, roughly 1.78 million tons of food entered Gaza, nearly three times the World Food Program’s higher post-ceasefire benchmark of 80,000 metric tons per month. It emphasized that humanitarian aid alone exceeded that benchmark, while commercial imports added dietary variety through fresh produce, dairy, eggs and meat. COGAT said this surge in supply was reflected in a steep decline in food prices, with Gaza’s food CPI falling by about 72% between September 2025 and May 2026, despite a temporary spike in March linked to Ramadan, the Iran war and short-term security adjustments at crossings.
The report’s central argument was that Gaza’s remaining humanitarian challenges were driven less by insufficient aid entry and more by post-entry distribution failures inside Hamas-controlled areas. It cited Hamas taxation, control over the movement and release of goods, market manipulation, merchant cartels, storage failures, spoiled food stockpiles and aid diversion as key barriers to civilian access. In the WASH and medical sectors, COGAT said Israel facilitated more than 70,000 cubic meters of water per day, above basic WHO emergency standards, and enabled major infrastructure repairs, water trucking, distribution points and sanitation projects. It also said that more than 18,000 tons of medicines and medical supplies entered Gaza, hospital bed capacity rose by 55%, ICU capacity increased by 60%, and advanced equipment entered through coordinated international mechanisms. At the same time, the report highlighted a large implementation gap, noting that many WASH and health supplies approved through the UN2720 mechanism were never delivered to the crossings by the requesting organizations.
COGAT concluded that Israel, working with the U.S.-led CMCC, the UN and international partners, had facilitated a humanitarian response that exceeded basic requirements. At the same time, Hamas’s refusal to disarm, aid interference and exploitation of civilian infrastructure remained the main obstacles to further stabilization and reconstruction.
“Humanitarian Situation Report During the Ceasefire: October 2025 – June 2026,” COGAT, (July 9, 2026).