Gaza ceasefire gives hope, but there are major hurdles to help

Gaza ceasefire gives hope, but there are major hurdles to help

Tel Aviv, Israel — During the Gaza ceasefire comes into force, aid organizations warn that the most difficult challenges still lie ahead. They describe the ceasefire as the first step on a long road to recovery.

Challenges for humanitarian aid

For humanitarian workers and Aid organizations the road is expected to be long and arduous. The challenges include inaccessible areas in northern Gaza as well as criminal gangs looting UN convoys carrying urgently needed food. There is also an impending Israeli ban on the most important UN organization for the distribution of aid in Gaza.

Food aid reaches Gaza

At least 630 aid trucks arrived in Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them heading north, a senior UN official said. The UN said it had 4,000 trucks ready to head to Gaza. The main problem is not the availability of food, but the numerous obstacles to delivery.

“The problem is not getting the goods in,” said Antoine Renard, country director for Palestine UN World Food Program (WFP), told CNN from Gaza. He added that relief supplies are currently being prepared at Egypt's border with Gaza and that relief supplies will gradually be transported from Ashdod in Israel for redistribution.

Undersupply in Gaza's north

The WFP has stated that enough food aid is available at Gaza's borders to 1 million people to feed for three months. These include food packages, wheat flour, hot meal products and nutritional supplements. However, some areas of Gaza remain completely cut off from aid.

"For over two months, hardly any food has reached besieged northern Gaza. The winter cold and rain are also reducing people's chances of survival," warned the WFP.

Israel's military offensive and its consequences

Israel launched a military offensive in northern Gaza in October, the third since the war began, leading to a "complete shutdown" of aid during the first 15 days of this month, Renard said. Israel said it was fighting returning Hamas fighters.

Some governorates in Gaza slowly began to open up after last October, including Gaza City, but parts of the north remained closed before the ceasefire that took effect on Sunday.

Planned ban on the UN agency

In addition to the blockade in the north, an Israeli ban on the WFP's aid partner, UNRWA, is imminent in two weeks. The WFP and UNRWA each support 1.1 million people in Gaza, making UNRWA's role in aid distribution critical.

The ban was imposed after Israel accused some UNRWA workers of being involved in an attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. A UN investigation found that nine UNRWA staff “may” have been involved in the October 7 attack and no longer work for the agency.

However, UNRWA has long been a target of Israeli criticism. Israel has accused the UN agency of engaging in anti-Israel incitement, which UNRWA denies. In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to dismantle the UN agency.

The situation in Gaza and the role of UNRWA

Last year, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed two laws; one that prohibits UNRWA from operating within Israel, and another that prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA - thereby repealing the 1967 treaty that allows the agency to provide services to Palestinian refugees in Israeli-controlled areas.

This measure is expected to severely restrict UNRWA's actions in Israeli-occupied territories, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “We don’t know how Israel plans to implement the Knesset laws,” Renard said, adding that the UN agency would still remain operational.

The role of criminals in Gaza

Another challenge facing aid agencies is the looting of aid by criminal gangs in Gaza. One of the measures relief trucks take to minimize this risk is to use protected roads to avoid looting areas.

Israel has repeatedly accused the UN of allowing aid delivered to Gaza to pile up at the enclave's borders without being distributed. But Renard explained that convoys are often looted as soon as they arrive in Gaza.

“The distributors are afraid of losing the goods,” he said. Palestinian NGOs in Gaza have previously accused Israeli forces of targeting civilian police and other aid agencies "to foment chaos and lawlessness."

The war in Gaza has claimed more than 46,900 lives during the 15 months it has been ongoing, according to the health ministry there. In addition, large parts of the area were devastated and almost the entire population was displaced.

The death toll is estimated to be significantly higher than the figures published by the authorities in the enclave. According to research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), published in the Lancet, the Department of Health has understated the death toll from violence by around 41%.