International aid groups sprang into action on Friday, ready to channel a massive influx of assistance into Gaza. This urgent mobilization follows the recently implemented Israel-Hamas cease-fire, though workers on the ground still await clear details on what specific provisions will be permitted under the new agreement.
The truce agreement, finalized on Thursday, explicitly calls for a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the crucial reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which links Egypt with the enclave.
Relief operations are anticipated to mirror the arrangements seen during a previous cease-fire in January. During that period, both the Palestinian Authority and the European Union maintained staff at the Rafah crossing, facilitating the entry of up to 600 trucks daily.
Gaza is currently enduring an agonizing humanitarian crisis, marked by widespread hunger, extensive destruction, and the repeated displacement of most of its two million residents over the past two years of conflict. Already impoverished before the war, the territory has seen its food supplies and other essential aid severely restricted, dramatically worsening the plight of its population.
“Our teams stand ready,” affirmed Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency dedicated to assisting Palestinian refugees. “We simply need the official go-ahead to drive these trucks in so our dedicated staff can deliver life-saving aid directly to those in desperate need.”
Ms. Touma highlighted the agency’s preparedness, stating that their warehouses currently hold enough food, medicine, and shelter materials to fill a staggering 6,000 trucks.
Tom Fletcher, a leading U.N. humanitarian official, revealed on Thursday that the United Nations has devised a comprehensive plan to rapidly scale up aid delivery during the initial 60 days of the cease-fire. He stressed that nearly Gaza’s entire population requires some form of food assistance, with a critical 500,000 individuals needing immediate treatment to combat the severe effects of famine.
Another U.N. body, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), announced that over 180,000 tons of assistance, including shelter, food, and medicine, are already in transit, with more supplies continuously being prepared.
“Now is the critical moment to deliver aid at the unprecedented scale required to reach every family facing dire circumstances,” the agency stated emphatically. “We are fully prepared to save lives.”
Mr. Fletcher detailed that the United Nations aims to send hundreds of trucks into Gaza daily to provide sustenance for its inhabitants. This effort will include supporting local bakeries, community kitchens, fishermen, and herders.
Additionally, cash assistance will be distributed to 200,000 families to help them meet fundamental food requirements, Mr. Fletcher explained. Priority will also be given to providing dense, high-energy food items to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, young children, and adolescents.
The United Nations also plans to significantly expand its shelter initiatives, with a particular focus on assisting displaced individuals.
Beyond immediate food and essential supplies, the U.N.’s broader strategy includes revitalizing Gaza’s shattered health system, according to Mr. Fletcher. This involves establishing new healthcare facilities and deploying emergency medical teams throughout the territory.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with essential municipal services like clean water, functional sewage systems, and garbage collection severely compromised. Mr. Fletcher confirmed that the United Nations will commit to repairing and restoring these vital services. Educational opportunities will also be created for approximately 700,000 children in Gaza.
The delivery of aid throughout the war has been severely hindered not only by Israeli restrictions but also by the intense fighting within Gaza, making operations exceptionally challenging for humanitarian workers. Fuel shortages have presented yet another significant barrier.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres underscored that meeting Gaza’s overwhelming needs will necessitate “complete, secure, and sustained access for humanitarian workers; the swift removal of bureaucratic hurdles; and the urgent rebuilding of devastated infrastructure.”
“We possess the capacity to immediately escalate food, water, medical, and shelter assistance,” he declared. “However, transforming this cease-fire into meaningful progress demands more than just the cessation of hostilities.”
Humanitarian aid has regrettably emerged as one of the most contentious issues throughout the conflict in Gaza.
Just last month, a U.N. commission alleged that Israel was perpetrating genocide against Palestinians. Furthermore, the preceding month, a U.N.-backed panel of food experts declared that certain areas of Gaza were officially experiencing famine. Israel vehemently refuted both accusations and questioned the methodology employed in the famine assessment.
Israeli officials have consistently maintained that they allowed sufficient food into the territory. They contend, however, that a significant portion of this aid was either seized by Hamas upon entering Gaza or that aid agencies struggled with its distribution.
Nevertheless, since the conflict began, numerous aid organizations have accused Israel of imposing burdensome regulations and strict limitations on the types and quantities of goods permitted into Gaza.
Gaza’s food shortages escalated further in May with the introduction of a new Israeli-backed and American-managed system for aid distribution. This system, operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, established only four distribution hubs across the entire enclave, a stark contrast to the hundreds of distribution points managed by the U.N.-run system it largely replaced.
The United Nations reported that hundreds of Palestinians were killed near these newly established distribution sites. Witnesses have recounted instances where some individuals were fatally shot by Israeli soldiers positioned around the perimeter of these aid hubs.
Israel has, on some of these occasions, stated that its forces opened fire to manage and control crowds.