UN Aid Push Continues Across Gaza Despite Airstrike Threats

A woman in Gaza carries blankets distributed by UNICEF.

The United Nations and its partners are continuing aid deliveries across Gaza despite renewed Israeli airstrikes and a fragile ceasefire, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Friday.

“Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that their partners continue to scale up efforts, despite reported Israeli airstrikes across the Strip,” he said, noting that some strikes hit areas near the so-called Yellow Line – a buffer zone marked by the Israeli military inside Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement.

“We stress again that all parties must refrain from any activities that put civilians, including aid workers, at risk,” he added.

Despite ongoing insecurity, UN operations have managed to move significant volumes of relief into the enclave. According to the UN’s 2720 delivery mechanism authorised by the Security Council, more than 24,000 metric tonnes of aid — including food, medicine, nutritional supplements, and shelter materials — have been collected from Gaza’s crossings since the truce began several weeks ago.

Looting subsides

Encouragingly, incidents of looting and aid interception have sharply declined. Between 10 and 28 October, only five per cent of supplies were intercepted, compared with around 80 per cent before the ceasefire.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered over 840 pallets of life-saving medical supplies, including insulin, surgical kits, and essential medicines, while also supporting nutrition services to treat approximately 2,500 children.

However, Mr. Dujarric warned that Gaza’s health system remains “under immense strain,” with the local Ministry of Health reporting that more than 1,700 health workers have been killed since the start of the war.

Education efforts

UN agencies are also working to restore “minimum teaching and learning conditions” for over 630,000 school-aged children who have missed more than two years of education. Over 90 classrooms have been rehabilitated, though Israeli restrictions on educational materials continue to impede progress.

“We continue to call for all crossing points to remain open and for more UN agencies and organisations to be authorised to deliver aid supplies into Gaza,” Dujarric said.

Fragile window to resume food production

Despite catastrophic damage to Gaza’s farmlands, the current ceasefire has created a fragile but crucial window to revive food production, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

New satellite analysis shows that nearly 87 per cent of cropland, 80 per cent of greenhouses, and almost 87 per cent of irrigation wells have been damaged since the start of the conflict. However, the pause in fighting has opened access to 37 per cent of affected farmland — about 600 hectares of which remain undamaged — allowing farmers to begin rehabilitating their land.

“The ceasefire has opened a window of opportunity,” said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. “Urgent support is needed to restore agricultural land and infrastructure, enable farmers to resume fresh food production, and rebuild fisheries and livestock so families can feed themselves again.”FAO stressed that rebuilding Gaza’s food systems now could help stabilise livelihoods and prevent deeper hunger.

However, its $75 million appeal to support recovery efforts remains only 10 per cent funded, underscoring the urgent need for international support to seize this brief moment of hope amid widespread devastation.