The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Tuesday that around one million people in the Gaza Strip have received food assistance since the ceasefire took effect, renewing its call for all crossings with the devastated enclave to be opened to expand humanitarian operations.
At a press conference in Geneva, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa said, “Three and a half weeks after the ceasefire in Gaza, we have distributed food parcels to about one million people across the entire Strip.”
She added, “To scale up our operations to the necessary level and in line with our commitments, we need better access — including the opening of more border crossings and permission to use main roads inside Gaza.” The program aims to reach 1.6 million people with aid.
“We still have only two functioning border crossings,” she noted, calling for the reopening of crossings leading to northern Gaza “to stabilize markets and meet people’s needs.”
Etefa explained that “food consumption has increased slightly thanks to humanitarian aid and the entry of commercial trucks,” but “it remains far below pre-conflict levels.”
She pointed out that current diets lack diversity: “Households mostly consume grains and legumes, while meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits are rarely eaten.”
The WFP is currently operating 44 food distribution centers in Gaza, out of 145 it plans to have running. According to Etefa, about 700,000 people receive fresh bread daily from 17 industrial bakeries supported by the program — nine in the south and center of the Strip and eight in the north.
The agency also noted that 200,000 people are currently receiving cash transfers or digital vouchers, allowing them to buy food and essential goods from local markets.
Israel repeatedly cut off aid to Gaza during the war between the Jewish state and the Islamist movement Hamas, worsening what the United Nations had previously described as catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
Before the ceasefire, the UN had warned of famine in parts of the besieged Palestinian territory.
