The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has urged the opening of all crossings into the devastated Gaza Strip to expand humanitarian operations, stressing the urgent need to scale up life-saving assistance.
WFP stated that nearly one million people in Gaza have received food aid since the ceasefire came into effect but emphasized that current access is insufficient to meet the vast humanitarian needs on the ground.
WFP spokesperson Abeer Atefa said in a statement: "Three and a half weeks after the ceasefire in Gaza, we have distributed food parcels to nearly one million people across the entire Strip." She stressed the importance of opening more crossings and expanding humanitarian access within the Strip.
"To scale up our operations to the required level and in line with our commitments, we need better access, including opening more border crossings and allowing the use of main roads within Gaza," she said, noting that the WFP aims to reach 1.6 million people.
"We still have only two border crossings operational," the WFP spokesperson added, calling for the opening of crossings to northern Gaza to stabilize markets and meet the population's needs.
The World Food Programme (WFP) currently operates 44 food distribution centers in the sector, out of 145 it aims to operate. The Israeli occupation authorities have repeatedly cut off aid to Gaza during the aggression against the Strip since October 2023, which exacerbated humanitarian conditions that the United Nations previously described as catastrophic. Before the ceasefire, the international organization warned of famine in some areas of the besieged Strip.
