The ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is allowing United Nations agencies to provide life-saving food to more desperate people, but the UN warns that greater access is necessary to prevent famine from spreading. Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, the World Food Programme (WFP) has brought in over 6,700 metric tons of food — enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. However, this falls far short of the daily target of around 2,000 tons.
“Daily deliveries continue and they are now averaging around 750 tons,” WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.
“That's much better than what we had before the ceasefire, but it's still well below our target, which is around 2,000 tons every day.”
Etefa explained that reaching this target is “almost impossible” unless all border crossing points can be used.
Currently, only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings in the south are open. The "severe amount of destruction" impedes access from the south to the north, where famine was declared in August.
“We need Erez, we need Zikkim, we need these border crossing points to open,” Etefa emphasized, while noting that reaching northern Gaza with large-scale convoys is a priority.
“We've cleared the roads at scale into the north,” she added, “removing the debris from the border crossing points to be able to connect to Gaza City where the situation is particularly dire. But we need these crossings to open so that we're able to get large-scale convoys.”
WFP has begun to restore its food distribution system, with the goal of providing assistance through 145 distribution points across Gazan territory. Twenty-six distribution points have already been reinstated.
“The response has been really overwhelming,” Etefa said, describing people’s reactions to the food distributions.
“People are showing up in large numbers, grateful for the efficiency of the delivery of food assistance” as well as the “dignified way” in which they are able to stand in line and quickly obtain their food rations.
This has had a significant impact, especially on "the most vulnerable: women, female-headed households, the elderly," she added.
People are hopeful, but the WFP spokesperson said there is "cautious optimism" about how long the current conditions will prevail.
Those receiving food aid tend to eat only part of the rations, keeping the rest in case of emergency “because they are not very confident how long the ceasefire will last and what will happen next.”
“It is a fragile peace,” Etefa stressed.
Adding to the challenges, food prices in Gaza remain prohibitive and supplies are still not sufficient “to the level that it can be affordable”, she said.
“There's still a huge problem of access […] people can find food in the market, but it's out of reach because it's extremely expensive.”
WFP is helping the most food-insecure people by providing digital payments, which have allowed approximately 140,000 people to purchase food at local markets. The goal is to double the program in the coming weeks.
The WFP spokesperson reiterated the agency’s call for commercial supplies to enter the enclave and supplement aid.
“Humanitarian aid will not be the only solution for dealing with severe malnutrition and having a complete food basket,” she explained.
Etefa stressed that only a full implementation of the ceasefire can enable the WFP to operate at the scale required for this crisis.
“Sustaining the ceasefire is vital. It's really […] the only way we can save lives and push back on the famine in the north of Gaza,” she emphasized.
Other aid agencies are also scaling up their operations
On Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies and NGOs, continue to increase their presence in areas that were previously inaccessible and provide more assistance to meet growing needs, as outlined in a 60-day plan.
On October 9, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher presented the 60-day plan to deliver vital aid to Gazans. He emphasized that full implementation requires additional crossings, rapid and unimpeded access, sustained fuel entry, restored infrastructure, protection of aid workers, and adequate funding.
As of Sunday, food parcels had been distributed at over two dozen locations in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, supplying more than 15,000 households. The parcels contain various nutritious food items, including rice, lentils, beans, chickpea paste, tomato paste, and fortified sunflower oil.
Aid agencies are working to expand the number of distribution points to ensure that people can access food closer to where they live.
On Sunday, aid organizations prepared and delivered approximately 944,000 meals through 178 community kitchens, which is an increase of about 286,000 meals per day in the last three weeks. Sunday’s total included 69,000 meals from 13 kitchens in the north and 875,000 meals from 165 kitchens in the south and central areas.
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that it had dispatched four pallets of medical supplies from its southern warehouse to key health facilities and partner organizations to help ensure the continuity of life-saving health services across the territory. The supplies included medications for diabetes and other chronic conditions, treatments for infections and malnutrition, and pain management medications.
On Sunday, a health-focused humanitarian organization delivered reproductive health kits to southern Gaza, providing essential supplies for an estimated 8,300 people. An additional 1,500 postpartum kits were distributed to Al Awda Nuseirat Hospital to support delivery services for the next three months.
Aid agencies providing shelter materials are doing everything possible to ramp up operations. On Sunday, they distributed 300 tents to vulnerable households in Khan Younis and 14,700 blankets to families in 16 displacement sites across the Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis.
However, they stress that far greater volumes of shelter materials must be allowed into Gaza before the winter season begins. This will require the Israeli authorities to authorize more humanitarian organizations to bring in these supplies. Currently, only a limited number of UN agencies and NGOs have such permissions.
According to OCHA, aid agencies are continuing to collect humanitarian supplies brought in via the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings. Since the ceasefire took effect, humanitarian teams have collected more than 10,600 metric tons of essential supplies from these crossings, as of Sunday.
Aid agencies keep offloading supplies at the available crossings. From October 17 to 19, over 300 trucks carrying 6,455 pallets of aid were unloaded at the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Kissufim crossings. More than two-thirds of that cargo was food, and about one-fifth was water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies.
UN agencies emphasize that, although progress is being made, significantly more resources and access are needed to address the immense humanitarian needs in Gaza. They have approximately 190,000 tons of food, shelter supplies, medicine, and other critical items stored outside Gaza, primarily in Israel, as well as in the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt, and Cyprus.
Ceasefire under strain
The ceasefire that took effect in Gaza at noon on October 10 enabled many humanitarian organizations to gradually resume operations in areas that were previously inaccessible and increase the delivery of aid and services. However, the ceasefire was severely violated just nine days after it took effect when Israeli forces launched heavy air bombardments on the territory, killing dozens of civilians.
On October 9, two years after launching a war against the Gaza Strip, Israel had signed a ceasefire and hostage release agreement with the Palestinian armed group Hamas. The agreement paused hostilities in the devastated territory and raised hopes for an end to the brutal conflict, which has been marked by widespread atrocities committed by Israeli government and military officials.
The ceasefire deal came as more than two million civilians in Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe, with famine ravaging parts of the territory. Though far from perfect, the agreement is an essential first step toward ending the two-year conflict and establishing lasting peace and reconstruction in Gaza.
The catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has further deteriorated due to the obstruction of essential supplies. For about half a year, Israel had effectively blocked or hindered the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza. This led to mounting reports of widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease, causing an increase in hunger-related deaths.