HAMILTON, Canada: The United Nations announced significant progress in humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip, describing a major expansion of aid deliveries under the newly established ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“For the first time since March, cooking gas entered the Strip,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The agency reported that tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour, and medicines also crossed into Gaza throughout the day.
The UN and its partners distributed hundreds of thousands of hot meals and bread bundles across both northern and southern Gaza, OCHA said. With movement and access restrictions easing, humanitarian teams have been able to pre-position medical supplies, survey key roads for explosive hazards, and assist displaced families in flood-prone areas ahead of winter.
OCHA added that Israeli approval for additional aid shipments has been secured, raising the cleared aid pipeline to 190,000 metric tons of food, shelter materials, and medicines. “This is just the beginning,” the agency said, pledging to extend assistance to virtually everyone across Gaza.”Ceasefire Implementation Underway
The aid expansion follows the implementation of the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which took effect on Friday. The deal includes the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
A proposed second phase envisions the formation of a new governing body excluding Hamas, deployment of a multinational force, and the group’s disarmament.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, rendering much of the enclave uninhabitable.
