GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Aid is entering Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, a UN official said on Tuesday.
On day three of the ceasefire which entered into force on Sunday 19 January, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, welcomed the “surge” in lifesaving humanitarian assistance into the enclave after 15 months of devastating Israeli bombardment.
Aid trucks began entering Gaza “a few minutes after the deal entered into force on Sunday,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke. “Up to now—these two first days of entry—there [have] been no reports of looting or attacks against aid workers.”
Immediate priorities for Gazans include “getting food in, opening bakeries, getting healthcare, restocking hospitals, repairing water networks, repairing shelter, and family reunification,” the OCHA spokesperson told journalists in Geneva. “A lot of the things that we have done throughout, but nowhere near at the scale needed. And that is what we hope and work towards to be able to do now.”
UN humanitarians have long maintained that the entire population of Gaza—more than two million people—depends on such essentials. They include children, who account for about half of the Strip’s population, “with many surviving on just one meal a day,” OCHA said in an update.
“We have to—and we will—maximize delivery through this opening. Hunger is widespread; people are homeless; disease and injuries are rampant. Children are separated and there’s a cloud of deep psychological trauma hanging over Gaza that needs to be dealt with.”
