Last month, hundreds of thousands returned to northern Gaza, where famine was declared in August, but food access is “severely limited,” said Abeer Etefa, Senior Spokesperson at the World Food Programme (WFP). Many returnees found their homes in ruins, and displaced people in the south live in tents without food or services, she warned.
From Cairo, Ms. Etefa noted that three and a half weeks into the ceasefire, WFP distributed food parcels to around a million people across the Strip, targeting 1.6 million, as part of efforts to combat hunger in Gaza. “Supplies are still limited, so each family receives a reduced food ration, enough for 10 days,” she explained.
To expand operations, “we really need more access, more border crossings to be opened and… more access to key roads inside Gaza,” the WFP spokesperson insisted.
UN aid office OCHA reported no food aid convoy had reached the north via direct crossings since 12 September. “We still have only two operational border crossings,” Ms. Etefa emphasized, referring to Kerem Shalom and Kissufim. “This severely limits the aid quantity,” she said, noting northern crossing closures force convoys to “follow a slow, difficult route from the south.”
WFP’s spokesperson added that 700,000 people receive fresh bread daily from 17 WFP-supported bakeries, with plans to increase to 25. From Gaza, WFP Communications Officer Nour Hammad described witnessing “apocalyptic scenes” but also saw “the joy that the guns have fallen silent.” She said Gazans compared two years of war’s destruction to “the aftermath of an earthquake.”
“In every distribution point, people tell me this assistance matters,” she said. After months of “surviving on bits and pieces,” people access “fresh bread, food parcels, cash transfers, nutrition, and support.” “This is where recovery starts,” she stressed.
While 200,000 vulnerable individuals receive digital cash payments to “complement food baskets” from local markets, prices are prohibitive. “Food is returning to shelves, but prices remain beyond families’ reach,” Ms. Hammad said, citing an apple costing the same as a kilo before the war.
The ceasefire’s fragility and aid flows concern people, Ms. Hammad said, sharing a story of a displaced mother in Gaza City. Despite receiving aid, she warns her children against consuming rations immediately, fearing future shortages. “Families invite us into tents, showing their need for food, shelter, and warm clothing as winter approaches,” she concluded.
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