A week after the fragile ceasefire, the WFP has been bringing in an average of 560 tons of food each day.
“The ceasefire agreement has opened a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is acting very quickly to increase food assistance and reach families who have endured months of blockade, displacement and hunger.”said Abeer Etefa, Senior Regional Communications Officer and WFP Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Etefa said equipment and supply networks were fully mobilised.
Five distribution points already open
“We are still short of what we need, but we are getting there,” he said. Five food distribution points are currently operating throughout Gaza, focusing on women and children. “Our goal is to expand to 145 distribution points throughout Gaza.—That is the scale to which we aspire,” he added.
Aid agencies emphasize that sustained access and multiple crossings are essential to reach all those in need. Currently only two crossings are open and those in the north remain closed, restricting deliveries to the most affected areas.
“The roads are blocked and destroyed. This is a huge limitation for transportation.”said Ms. Etefa.
Due to access and security limitations, no food distributions have yet taken place in Gaza City, only nutritional supplies for children and pregnant or lactating women.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Aid Coordination Office (OCHA), stated that the northern crossings remain closed “because the Israeli authorities have not opened them.”
He added that road repair and unexploded ordnance removal are also essential for safety and access. “It is very important to have these openings in the north, since that is where the famine settled,” he said.
Increase in aid to 170,000 tons
According to the WFP, 57,000 tons of food have already been stored in Egypt, Jordan and interior Israel, with plans to increase to 170,000 tons, enough to feed 1.6 million people in three months. “Beyond that, we need to maintain at least three months’ worth of stock at all times,” Ms Etefa said.
On October 16, 950 trucks entered Gaza.including eight carrying fuel and three carrying gas, according to OCHA. About a third of them went through mechanisms coordinated by the United Nations.
A woman celebrates the ceasefire in Gaza.
UN Women: Recovery must be led by women and girls
UN Women Humanitarian Action Chief Sofia Calltorp on Friday urged the international community to turn the fragile ceasefire in Gaza into a recovery led by women and girls.
“We have heard from many women and girls across Gaza since the ceasefire began: a mix of fragile hope, deep exhaustion and quiet strength,” she said.
“For the first time in months, some can seek care, receive help and sleep without the sound of airstrikes. But Hope alone is not enough.”
Ms Calltorp stressed that more than a million women and girls need food aid and A quarter of a million need urgent nutritional support. “This ceasefire is our opportunity to act quickly, stop famine where it has started and prevent it where it is coming,” he said.