His comments came as Israeli forces reportedly withdrew from parts of Gaza, in accordance with an agreement between Israel and Hamas, negotiated in Egypt this week by American mediators and representatives of Qatar and Turkïye.
Reject famine
“These UNRWA foods are essential to prevent and control famine,” stressed Mrs. Touma, while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pointed out that 50,000 “at risk” young people were suffering from acute malnutrition.
“They need to be treated immediately…with the ceasefire, we hope to be able to get the therapeutic treatment they so desperately need,” said spokesman Ricardo Pires.
Top U.N. aid official Tom Fletcher insisted Thursday that “the entire U.N. humanitarian family” is mobilized to bring aid to Gaza.
Speaking to reporters, he underlined UNRWA’s “indispensable role” in distributing relief supplies throughout the Strip, while highlighting the central role assigned to the UN in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan now being enacted.
Active conflict in progress
Aid teams still working in the enclave reported that the ceasefire had not come into effect early Friday morning.
However, vital humanitarian work continues, including a UNICEF mission to Gaza City on Thursday.”to rescue two babies who were in incubators and fighting for their lives”said Mr. Pires.
“Fortunately, with the hard work of colleagues and health workers on the ground, They survived and were reunited with their families today..”
The UNICEF spokesperson explained that the mission had to wait 15 hours to access Gaza City because “the situation on the ground was still very, very unstable and kinetic activity was taking place: a lot of violence.”
Echoing that assessment, UNRWA’s Ms. Touma noted that colleagues in the enclave reported ongoing airstrikes on Friday morning.
Thousands of people are on the move following a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The UN agency spokesperson also noted that more than 370 UNRWA personnel have died over the course of the conflict triggered by the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. “This is the highest death toll in the United Nations since its creation,” she added.
Joining the call for “unhindered” access to aid through “all possible routes”, UN Health Agency (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed the need to resume urgent medical evacuations from Gaza to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, along with flexible funding “to boost recovery.”
UN agencies have 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other supplies ready to deliver to Gaza..
The goal is to increase food supply throughout Gaza to reach 2.1 million people and an estimated 500,000 people in need of nutritional support.