Was Gaza in urgent need of food aid in the first place?

No.

One piece of data was a documentary I saw a few months ago, shot by a pro-Hamas activist and screened during Columbia University’s Apartheid Week festivities. Peculiarly, though the travelogue (filmed very recently) was supposed to arouse Nuremberg rally-like rage about occupation and so on, the activist/producer had allowed abundant footage of street markets brimming with produce and shops full of canned goods, cigarettes, and sweets. At one point the activist/film producer asked a Gazan whether he had enough food. He answered with something to the effect of “We have food, but we object to the closures on political grounds.” The activist’s cameras then took us over to the Gaza/Egypt border where, under full view of apathetic uniformed authorities, huge, complicated tunnels were being built, repaired, and used to bring in more goods.