As a fragile ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip, UN aid teams are intensifying efforts to deliver urgently needed assistance.
On Thursday, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher made his way to Rafah on the southern Gaza border, from the Egyptian capital Cairo, describing the main Rafah crossing as a "vital lifeline for food, medicine, tents and other lifesaving aid."
He told BBC Radio 4 that the role of the "collective international community" was essential for aid delivery, adding that he was in very close touch with the White House "who are determined that we are allowed to deliver at scale."
The UN agency that supports Palestine refugees, UNRWA , reported that it has sufficient food supplies outside Gaza to sustain the population for three months, but said Israeli authorities are still blocking its entry despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
UNRWA still the 'backbone'
UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna told UN News that with its unparalleled aid distribution network, the agency must be the "backbone" of the enhanced relief effort, and if Israel continues to exclude them it would mean "a loss of people's trust."
"We see absolutely no justification for Israel not allowing this massive amount of aid - which cost tens of millions of dollars - into the country."
He said there are still around 12,000 staff working inside Gaza, including some 8,000 teachers who are working to allow 640,000 students to resume their studies following two years of lost education.
UNRWA has also played a key role providing psychological support in the form of around 800,000 consultations. Ninety per cent of UNRWA facilities have been destroyed, 370 colleagues have been killed in Gaza: "The only thing that has changed for us is our inability to distribute food, even though we have the logistical capabilities," he said.
Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF ) stated that it has over 1,300 truckloads of life-saving supplies ready to move, emphasising that humanitarian needs remain immense.
Still in limbo
UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram, speaking on the ground in a social media post on Thursday, described the ongoing challenges faced by relief teams as they await access to deliver critical assistance.
"Nine out of 10 homes in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed," she said. "What that means is families across the Gaza strip are coming back to the likes of this, a skeleton of a city, a shell of a building, and trying to make sense of how they move forward."
UN aid coordination office OCHA said supplies from Egypt still need to take a long detour to the Kerem Shalom crossing for Israeli checks, pending the opening of the Rafah crossing to aid.
Relief chief Fletcher stressed the need for all the crossings to be open to allow for a massive scale-up in aid.
"The humanitarian community cannot deliver at the scale necessary without international NGO presence and engagement," said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York on Thursday.
"Currently, the Israeli authorities do not issue visas for a number of international NGOs and do not authorize many of them to send supplies into Gaza."
Mr. Dujarric pointed to some specific improvements in UN aid delivery: "On Tuesday alone, 21 of our partners distributed nearly 960,000 meals through 175 kitchens. Bakeries that we support produced over 100,000 two-kilogramme bread bundles. UNICEF distributed more than one million baby diapers."
Lifesaving medical supplies
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has been able to deliver three truckloads of surgical and other essential medical supplies to the central pharmacy in Gaza City which will be transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital, serving the needs of around 10,000 people.
WHO has also deployed an international emergency medical team to boost orthopaedic surgery and trauma care in Gaza.
UN teams have also finished clearing main roads leading to the Erez and Zikim crossings in the shattered areas of northern Gaza in anticipation of their potential re-opening.
