As the Israel-Hamas cease-fire approaches, international aid organizations are meticulously preparing to deliver vital assistance to Gaza. However, on-the-ground staff remain uncertain about the specific types and quantities of aid that will be permitted under the new agreement.
The truce finalized on Thursday includes crucial provisions for a significant increase in humanitarian aid and the vital reopening of the Rafah border crossing, linking Egypt directly to Gaza.
It’s anticipated that aid operations will mirror those of a previous January cease-fire, which saw Palestinian Authority and European Union personnel overseeing the crossing. That earlier agreement allowed for the entry of 600 trucks carrying aid each day.
Gaza is currently enduring an acute humanitarian catastrophe, marked by widespread famine, extensive property devastation, and the repeated displacement of nearly its entire two-million-strong population over the last two years. The region, already struggling with poverty before the conflict, has seen food and other essential supplies drastically cut, exacerbating the dire situation.
“Our teams are fully prepared,” stated Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency dedicated to assisting Palestinian refugees. “We simply await the go-ahead to move these trucks, enabling our staff to deliver essential aid directly to those who desperately need it.”
Ms. Touma confirmed that UNRWA’s warehouses currently hold sufficient quantities of food, medicine, and shelter materials to fill an impressive 6,000 trucks, awaiting immediate dispatch.
According to Tom Fletcher, a senior UN humanitarian official, the United Nations has devised a comprehensive plan to significantly boost aid delivery throughout the initial 60 days of the cease-fire. He highlighted that nearly all of Gaza’s inhabitants require some form of food assistance, with half a million people specifically needing intervention to combat famine.
Separately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that over 180,000 tons of aid, comprising shelter, food, and medicine, are “already in transit,” with additional supplies continuously being prepared.
“This critical juncture demands aid delivery on an unprecedented scale, ensuring every family in desperate need receives help,” the agency declared. “We stand ready to save lives.”
Mr. Fletcher outlined that the United Nations intends to dispatch hundreds of trucks into Gaza daily to provide food for its residents. This effort will include supporting local bakeries, community kitchens, as well as assisting fishermen and herders.
Additionally, 200,000 families will receive cash assistance to meet their fundamental food requirements, Mr. Fletcher noted. High-energy, nutrient-dense food provisions will also be distributed to particularly vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women, young children, and adolescents.
A significant expansion of shelter provisions is also planned by the United Nations, with top priority given to those displaced by the conflict.
Beyond immediate relief, the UN’s plan aims to revitalize Gaza’s shattered healthcare infrastructure, Mr. Fletcher explained. This includes establishing new medical facilities and deploying emergency medical teams throughout the territory.
Much of Gaza lies in ruins, with essential municipal services such as clean water, functional sewage systems, and waste collection severely disrupted. Mr. Fletcher stated that the United Nations would assist in repairing and re-establishing these critical services. Furthermore, educational facilities are slated to reopen for approximately 700,000 children in Gaza.
Persistent Israeli restrictions have hindered aid distribution throughout the conflict, compounded by active hostilities within Gaza which have endangered aid workers. Compounding these issues, severe fuel shortages have presented yet another significant barrier.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that resolving Gaza’s critical needs demands “full, secure, and continuous access for humanitarian personnel; the elimination of bureaucratic hurdles and obstacles; and the reconstruction of its devastated infrastructure.”
“We possess the capacity to immediately escalate the provision of food, water, medical supplies, and shelter,” he affirmed. “However, transforming this cease-fire into genuine progress requires more than merely halting the conflict.”
Humanitarian aid has consistently been a contentious and deeply sensitive issue throughout the Gaza conflict.
Just last month, a UN commission asserted that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians, while a UN-supported panel of food experts had, the month prior, declared parts of Gaza to be officially experiencing famine. Israel vehemently refuted both accusations, challenging the methodologies employed in the famine research.
Israeli authorities, however, maintain that ample food supplies were permitted into the territory. They contend that a significant portion was either diverted by Hamas upon entry into Gaza or that aid agencies faced challenges in its distribution.
Nevertheless, from the very beginning of the conflict, aid organizations have repeatedly criticized Israel for implementing burdensome regulations and limitations on the types of goods allowed into Gaza.
Gaza’s already severe food shortages were further exacerbated in May with the establishment of a new aid distribution system, backed by Israel and operated by Americans. This new entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, managed only four distribution centers across the entire enclave, a stark contrast to the hundreds of points offered by the UN-run system it largely superseded.
The United Nations reported that hundreds of Palestinians died near the newly established distribution sites. Eyewitness accounts suggest that some casualties occurred due to Israeli soldiers positioned at the perimeters of these aid hubs.
On several such occasions, Israel stated that its forces had discharged firearms to manage the surging crowds.