Aid groups ready to distribute large-scale relief once Gaza truce begins

Aid is piled up on the border of the Gaza Strip waiting to relieve the enclave's humanitarian crisis, as Thursday's announcement of a ceasefire is set to allow the mass entrance of UN-distributed aid that has been blocked since March.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the organisation was ready to assist with the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza, saying "we and our partners are prepared to move now".

"We have the expertise, the distribution networks, and community relationships in place to act," he said. "Supplies are in place, and our teams are on standby. We can scale up food, water, medical and shelter assistance at once."

Supplies have been accumulating on Gaza's border and in depots across the region since Israel announced a siege on the enclave on 3 March that preceded a return to war when Israel broke the ceasefire later that month.

Alongside Israel's siege were the restrictions on the operations of the UN's agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), which makes up the backbone of the aid distribution network in the enclave.

The mechanism was replaced with the Israeli-American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was widely slammed for militarising aid that saw the deaths of at least 2,615 Palestinians attempting to collect aid, according to Gaza's health authorities.

While Trump's 20-point plan stipulated that the bulk of humanitarian aid would be taken by the UN, it is unclear whether GHF operations would also continue.

As Gaza waits for aid to begin entering, UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler told The New Arab that UNRWA had the aid worth the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Egypt and Jordan waiting to enter the enclave, which covers essentials from food and medical supplies to shelter and winter clothing.

He reiterated that while the agency's aid distribution network was still in place, despite the Israeli onslaught on the territory, which, as well as destroying infrastructure, has killed over 370 humanitarian workers and caused immense psychological pressure.

"Our facilities have been damaged around the Gaza Strip, schools, health centres, warehouses; there's been so much destruction, and yet we still remain the largest player and the largest potential player for a future scale-up of aid operations," Fowler said.

He added that aid priorities in Gaza were "manifold" because of the scale of the crisis, which has affected food, medicine, shelter and water, to name a few.

"People in the Gaza Strip need absolutely everything. There is no doubt about that, I mean, everything has to come in en masse," he said.

In a statement released by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the organisation said that it also "stands ready to scale up its medical and humanitarian response further, and help rebuild Gaza's shattered health system as soon as access is restored".

As part of this, MAP called for the release of all detained health workers, for safe passage of patients and medical staff, and unhindered access to aid to be given.

MAP's Gaza Director, Fikr Shalltoot, said that he was "now focused on ensuring that MAP is prepared to support people of Gaza by adapting our programmes and response".

"I expect the scale of our intervention to increase significantly. I hope the ceasefire will allow our team to move safely, to reach those in need and provide health services in a dignified way," Shalltoot said.

As well as the destruction of Gaza's medical infrastructure, Gaza's humanitarian crisis resulted in the north of the enclave being designated a famine by the UN-backed IPC, with hundreds having died by starvation throughout the war.

While calling for the unrestricted entry of aid into the enclave, Oxfam International called for an investigation into the starvation following the end of the war.

"Israel's deliberate use of starvation, forced displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure over the past two years must be investigated as crimes under international law and those responsible held to account," Executive Director Amitabh Behar said.

"World leaders must ensure that this ceasefire is upheld by all parties, that those who committed war crimes are investigated and prosecuted, and the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is upheld," Amitabh added.

Israel's war on Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis have seen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.