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17-10-2025
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has urged Israel to immediately open more crossings into the famine-stricken Gaza Strip to allow for a surge in aid deliveries.
In remarks to reporters on Wednesday, Fletcher said that the UN is seeking a dramatic boost in humanitarian aid for Gaza, saying the hundreds of relief trucks cleared to enter the devastated enclave were nowhere near the thousands needed to ease a humanitarian disaster.
Thousands of humanitarian vehicles must enter weekly to avert further catastrophe, he told media.
“We have 190,000 metric tonnes of provisions on the borders waiting to go in and we’re determined to deliver. That’s essential life-saving food and nutrition,” Fletcher said.
Israel’s two-year war on Gaza has displaced almost all of the Strip’s 2.2 million residents from their homes, and famine is present in the north, global monitors say.
Vast swaths of the coastal territory have been reduced to a wasteland by Israeli bombardments and air strikes that have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Rights groups and a UN commission of inquiry have accused Israel of committing genocide in the war. Israel has denied the allegations.
President Donald Trump and regional leaders on Monday signed a declaration in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to cement a ceasefire deal. The resumption of aid deliveries is listed as a provision in Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war on Gaza.
“Large areas of Gaza City and the north remain under firm control of the Israeli military,” Mahmoud said. “Armoured vehicles and tanks are still stationed in the eastern parts of the city, preventing many residents from going back to their homes.”
“No aid is reaching Gaza City, not even from the 300 trucks that were promised entry. Major roads have been destroyed or blocked by rubble from collapsed buildings, especially high-rises, cutting off key access routes in and out of the city,” Mahmoud added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have continued to sporadically attack various parts of Gaza despite the ceasefire, killing at least three people since dawn on Wednesday, according to medical sources. Gaza’s Health Ministry said hospitals in Gaza received at least 11 other bodies, including eight recovered from rubble and three who succumbed to injuries from earlier attacks.
Israeli officials said 600 trucks have been approved to enter the blockaded territory under the current US-brokered truce deal.
Fletcher called the announcement of 600 trucks a “good base” but said it was not enough to meet the scale of need.
He called for more than 50 international NGOs, including Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council, to be allowed to bring in aid, saying the issue has been raised with Israel, the United States and other regional partners.
“We cannot deliver the scale necessary without their presence and their engagement. So we want to see them back in. We are advocating on their behalf,” he said. “We’ve been calling for unhindered access,” Fletcher told media, adding: “It should happen now. We want it to happen immediately as part of this (ceasefire) agreement.”
Fletcher said the looting of aid trucks had dropped sharply in recent days as deliveries increased. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
