ReutersThe process of rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory will “take a long time” despite a promised surge in humanitarian supplies, a UN official in Gaza has warned.
“We are not just talking about food, healthcare, buildings, roads, infrastructure. We have people, families, communities that need to be rebuilt,” Sam Rose, acting director of the UN Palestine Refugee Agency (Unrwa) in Gaza, told the BBC.
After the cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas came into force on Sunday, at least 1,545 humanitarian trucks have crossed into Gaza, the UN said.
The trucks brought in desperately needed food, tents, blankets, mattresses and winter clothes that had been stuck outside Gaza for months.
The ceasefire agreement reportedly calls for 600 humanitarian trucks, including 50 carrying fuel, to be allowed into Gaza each day during the six-week first phase, during which Hamas must release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
“We're expecting a big jump in the amount of aid coming in, and of course it's much easier for us to go and collect that aid because a lot of the problems we've faced so far in the war disappear when the fighting stops said Mr. Rose.
“We are no longer moving through an active conflict zone. We no longer need to coordinate all these movements with the Israeli authorities,” he added. “And today, we haven't encountered any major problems with robberies and crime.”
But he also stressed that “we need to move away from thinking about the needs of the people of Gaza as a function of the amount of aid.”
“Every person in Gaza is traumatized by what is happening. Everyone has lost something. Most of these homes are already destroyed, most of the roads are destroyed,” he added. “It's going to be a long, long process of rehabilitation and recovery.”
Meanwhile, the regional director of the World Health Organization, Hanan Balhi, said there was a 60-day plan to return Gaza's health system to meet the urgent needs of the population and prioritize care for the thousands of people with life-changing injuries.
The plan includes repairing Gaza's hospitals – half of which are out of business and others only partially functional – setting up temporary clinics in the worst-affected areas, tackling malnutrition and controlling disease outbreaks.
ReutersOn Sunday evening, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza were “staggering”.
UN officials have previously blamed the humanitarian crisis on Israeli military restrictions on aid supplies, hostilities and violations of law and order.
Israel insists there are no limits on the amount of aid that can be delivered to and through Gaza and accuses UN agencies of failing to distribute the supplies. He also accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Israel says 91 of the hostages remain in captivity.
More than 47,000 people have been killed and 111,000 injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have also been repeatedly displaced, 60% of buildings are believed to be damaged or destroyed, health, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed and there are severe shortages of food, fuel , medicine and shelter.
In October, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that 1.84 million people in Gaza were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity and that 133,000 people were facing catastrophic levels that could lead to starvation and death .
The following month, an IPC committee warned that there was a high probability that famine was “imminent” in some areas of northern Gaza.
Before the ceasefire, the UN said the besieged northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun had been largely cut off from food aid since the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in October with the stated aim of preventing a resurgence of Hamas.
A Palestinian woman who returned to her destroyed home in northern Gaza on Monday after the ceasefire took effect expressed her shock at what she found after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.
“The whole place looked as if it had been hit by an earthquake because of the force of the aggression,” Manal Abu al-Dragham told BBC Arabic's Gaza Today programme.
“I will pitch my tent in the north no matter what it costs… I don't want to be driven from my land again.”
Mr Rose said Unrwa teams in southern Gaza, where he is based, have not yet been able to cross into northern Gaza because the Israeli army has not yet opened routes through the east-west Netzarim Corridor .
But he said Unrwa, as the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza, had the networks and people on the ground who could help if given access.
However, Unrwa faces looming Israeli bans that could make it impossible to operate in Gaza.
Two laws passed by the Israeli parliament, due to take effect next week, would ban the agency from operating on Israeli soil and prevent Israeli government agencies from communicating with it.
Israel accused Unrwa of complicity with Hamas and said 18 of its personnel were involved in the October 7 attack. The agency fired nine staffers a UN investigation found may have been involved and insisted it was committed to neutrality.
The UN said Unrwa was indispensable in Gaza, while the agency's commissioner-general, Philip Lazzarini, said its thousands of Palestinian staff in Gaza would “remain and perform” if the Israeli government enforces the two laws, although this would “come at considerable personal cost.” risk' to them.