UN agency for Palestine refugees reaches '1.2 million people with food' in first 2 weeks of ceasefire
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday reported efforts to ramp up aid to the people in the Gaza Strip, with at least 801 trucks entering Wednesday.
"The UN and its partners seize every opportunity afforded by the ceasefire to scale up the provision of water, food, shelter, health, sanitation, hygiene, clothing, education and other assistance to the people of Gaza," OCHA said in a statement, adding that 801 trucks entered the enclave "through interactions with the Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire deal."
Noting that the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) "reached 1.2 million people with food" in the first two weeks of the ceasefire, OCHA said: "The agency opened 37 new shelters for people returning to the north, providing tents, blankets, plastic sheeting and warm winter clothing."
"As of last week, UNRWA was hosting about 120,000 people in 120 shelters, including more than three dozen that opened since the ceasefire," it added.
According to OCHA, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has also provided ready-to-use complementary foods to more than 10,000 children under the age of 2 since the ceasefire began.
"OCHA stresses that the ceasefire must hold, noting how crucial it is to sustain the humanitarian scale-up in Gaza," it said.
On the occupied West Bank, OCHA reported that the Israeli army's operations in northern areas "continue to cause civilian casualties and displacement, as well as damage to infrastructure."
The escalation in the West Bank follows a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza on Jan. 19 after more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment which has killed nearly 48,200 Palestinians and devastated the enclave.
Since the war began Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 910 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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