One week after the ceasefire took effect, Israel continues to keep Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt closed, despite numerous international appeals to permit substantial humanitarian aid shipments. Concurrently, Israeli military actions have resulted in casualties among Palestinians in northern Gaza.
The United Nations has repeatedly emphasized the stagnation in delivering aid to Gaza, stressing the urgent need for large-scale assistance through all entry points to address the escalating humanitarian crisis. According to the ceasefire agreement aimed at halting the ongoing violence that has claimed over 67,000 Palestinian lives in two years, Israel was expected to facilitate a significant increase in aid flow.
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On Friday, the UN reported that aid convoys face severe obstacles reaching famine-stricken northern Gaza due to damaged infrastructure and the persistent closure of critical access points such as Zikim and Beit Hanoon (known as Erez in Israel).
The World Food Programme (WFP) has managed to deliver an average of 560 tonnes of food daily since the ceasefire began, yet this volume remains insufficient to meet the urgent needs. The agency confirmed it possesses enough supplies to sustain Gaza’s population for three months.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian affairs chief, highlighted that thousands of aid trucks must enter Gaza weekly to effectively combat widespread malnutrition, displacement, and the breakdown of essential services.
“Although we have not reached the required levels, progress is underway. The ceasefire has created a narrow window of opportunity, and WFP is rapidly scaling up food distribution,” WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa stated during a briefing in Geneva.
However, WFP has yet to initiate food distribution in Gaza City, citing the ongoing blockade of northern routes and the presence of Israeli forces in the region where the humanitarian situation is most dire.
Under the US-mediated ceasefire terms, Israeli troops remain stationed in roughly 53 percent of Gaza, with plans for their gradual withdrawal.
Etefa underscored the severe difficulties in accessing Gaza City and northern areas, noting that the movement of food convoys from southern Gaza is hindered by obstructed and damaged roads.
“Opening northern access points is crucial, as this is where famine has taken the strongest hold. To reverse this crisis, these passages must be opened,” she emphasized.
International medical organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that many humanitarian groups have yet to fully return to northern Gaza, where hospitals are barely operational, leaving many residents without essential medical care.
Continued Palestinian Casualties
Despite ongoing demands for humanitarian aid, Israeli military operations against Palestinians in Gaza persist unabated.
Gaza’s civil defense teams are conducting rescue efforts following an Israeli artillery strike on a small bus carrying displaced families en route to inspect their homes east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.
The attack resulted in multiple fatalities and injuries, with one injured child rescued. The status of other victims remains uncertain due to the hazardous conditions at the site, complicating rescue attempts.
In a separate incident, three Palestinians sustained injuries of varying severity after Israeli forces opened fire in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency.
Meanwhile, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to returning the remains of Israeli captives still missing beneath Gaza’s rubble. The group’s military wing stated it has handed over all recoverable bodies but noted that further recovery efforts require the entry of heavy machinery and excavation equipment, much of which remains blocked due to Israeli bombardment.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, highlighted a significant disconnect between Israeli demands and the reality on the ground, where much of the area has been devastated.
With Israeli forces restricting access to heavy equipment, Mahmoud explained that this creates a major obstacle for Gaza’s residents, who possess the expertise to locate and retrieve bodies trapped under the debris.
He pointed out that beneath the rubble lie not only the remains of Israeli captives but also thousands of Palestinian victims who remain missing and buried under vast amounts of debris.
Gaza authorities are also facing challenges in identifying dozens of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel earlier this week. To date, only six out of 120 bodies have been positively identified, according to the Health Ministry.
The ministry reported that many bodies show clear signs of torture, including evidence of hanging, binding of hands and feet, and close-range gunshot wounds.
Gaza’s Government Media Office described the findings as “definitive proof of extrajudicial killings and severe torture.”
Prospects for Hamas Disarmament
Future stages of the ceasefire negotiations are expected to focus on the disarmament of Hamas, potential amnesty for its leaders who surrender their arms, and the governance structure of Gaza post-conflict.
Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s politburo, stated that the group plans to retain security control in Gaza during a transitional period but did not commit to disarmament.
Speaking to Reuters, Nazzal expressed willingness to accept a ceasefire lasting up to five years to facilitate Gaza’s reconstruction, provided Palestinians are offered “hope and prospects” for statehood.
When questioned about relinquishing weapons, Nazzal responded ambiguously, saying, “I cannot give a definitive yes or no. It depends on the framework of the plan. What does disarmament entail? To whom would the weapons be handed over?”
He added that any disarmament discussions would involve not only Hamas but also other armed Palestinian factions, requiring a unified Palestinian stance in forthcoming negotiations.
