Gaza: 10,000 aid trucks reached enclave since ceasefire began

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The humanitarian community’s plan to flood Gaza with lifesaving aid passed an important milestone on Thursday with the news that more than 10,000 relief lorries have entered the enclave since the ceasefire began on 19 January.

Announcing the development, the UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher, said that the trucks contained lifesaving food, medicine, and tents – all desperately needed by Gazans after more than 15 months of constant Israeli bombardment.

The UN emergency relief chief’s comments came as he prepared to join an aid convoy crossing into northern Gaza.

In recent days, he has held “practical discussions” with the Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem “to keep lifesaving UN aid moving into Gaza at scale”. This includes COGAT – the Israeli body responsible for approving requests to deliver aid into Gaza and the West Bank – and the Israel Foreign Ministry.

Clearing rubble to live

According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, more than half a million people have returned to north Gaza since the ceasefire began. Needs for food, water, sanitation, healthcare and tents are enormous, with some returning to former homes with shovels to clear the rubble, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

In an update, the UN World Health Organization (WHO), said that it had received 63 trucks of medical supplies from aid partners to replenish its three warehouses in Gaza.

In addition, more than 100 sick and injured patients have also been evacuated to Egypt for urgent medical treatment since the temporary ceasefire came into effect, while OCHA noted that primary and secondary health services are being provided throughout the Strip.

Five ambulances entered Gaza to strengthen emergency response capacity on Tuesday, OCHA said in an update.

Food production boosted

The UN aid coordination agency noted that across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) are now operational.

The WFP has also provided nutrient supplements to more than 80,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women across Gaza, since the ceasefire took effect and UNICEF has continued distributing nutrition support for infants.

“Humanitarian partners have screened more than 30,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition since the ceasefire took effect. Of those screened, 1,150 cases of acute malnutrition have been identified, including 230 cases of severe acute malnutrition,” OCHA said.

In addition, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) distributed nearly 100 metric tons of animal feed to support herders in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, benefiting hundreds of people working in the agricultural sector.

To sustain learning activities across the Strip, education partners have established three new temporary learning spaces yesterday in Gaza, Rafah and Khan Younis governorates, to 200 school-aged children.

Ceasefire push 

The aid build-up came as the Secretary-General on Wednesday pushed for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages in the enclave, while strongly rejecting the suggestion that Gazans should be resettled outside their homeland.

“In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse. It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing,” Guterres told  the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which met to set out its programme of work for the year. “We must reaffirm the two-State solution,” he said.

Underlining the Secretary-General’s comments, the UN High Commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said that “any deportation or forced transfer of persons without legal basis is strictly forbidden”.

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