The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Aid surging into Gaza ‘at scale’ but massive needs remain: OCHA, WHO
Aid is surging into Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
On day two of the ceasefire which entered into force on Sunday 19 January, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, welcomed the “surge” in lifesaving humanitarian assistance into the enclave, after 15 months of devastating Israeli bombardment.
Aid trucks began entering Gaza “a few minutes after the deal entered into force on Sunday,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke. “Up to now - these two first days of entry - there [have] been no reports of looting or attacks against aid workers.”
More than 900 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, as the truce held between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, according to the Israel authorities and the ceasefire’s guarantors, the US, Qatar and Egypt.
“At long last, aid at scale is entering,” said Mr. Laerke. “At long last, more hostages were released and can be reunited with their families and at long last, women and minors were freed from detention. It’s a tremendous hope, fragile but vital; this deal must hold.”
Immediate priorities for Gazans include “getting food in, opening bakeries, getting healthcare, restocking hospitals, repairing water networks, repairing shelter, family reunification,” the OCHA spokesperson told journalists in Geneva. “A lot of the things that we have done throughout, but nowhere near at the scale needed. And that is what we hope and work towards to be able to do now.”
UN humanitarians have long maintained that the entire population of Gaza – more than two million people – depends on such essentials. They include children, who account for about half of the Strip’s population, “with many surviving on just one meal a day”, OCHA said in an update.
“We have to and we will maximize delivery through this opening. Hunger is widespread, people are homeless; disease, injuries are rampant. Children are separated and there's a cloud of deep psychological trauma hanging over Gaza that needs to be dealt with.”
Urgent health needs must also be addressed across Gaza where one in two hospitals are not functional, others are only partially functional and the majority of health facilities have sustained damage, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). “The idea is really to as quickly as possible, try to provide health facilities to people of Gaza, focusing on emergency care, maternal and child health and other areas,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.
He added: “We should not forget other areas and that's 12,000 patients still need to be evacuated outside Gaza. We need to make sure that those people can go and receive medical care they need. We've been talking to 25,000 people [who] have sustained life changing injuries. These people need rehabilitation services that are not available right now.”
ends
Story: “Gaza humanitarian aid update – OCHA, WHO” – 21 January 2025
Speakers:
- Jens Laerke, OCHA
- Tarik Jasarevic, WHO
TRT: 02’47”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 January 2025 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
RESTRICTIONS: None
SHOTLIST
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “I think we will all remember Sunday, 19 January; sigh of relief at long last, aid at scale is entering. At long last, more hostages were released and can be reunited with their families and at long last, women and minors were freed from detention. It’s a tremendous hope, fragile but vital; this deal must hold.”
- Wide shot: journalists at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “Our priorities are clear: getting food in, opening bakeries, getting healthcare, restocking hospitals, repairing water networks, repairing shelter, family reunification. A lot of the things that we have done throughout, but nowhere near at the scale needed. And that is what we hope and work towards to be able to do now.”
- Medium shot: podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “Hundreds of trucks have entered. They started a few minutes after the deal entered into force on Sunday. We have to and we will maximize delivery through this opening. Hunger is widespread, people are homeless; disease, injuries are rampant. Children are separated and there's a cloud of deep psychological trauma hanging over Gaza that needs to be dealt with.”
- Wide shot: podium speakers and journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “Up to now, these two first days of entry, there has been no reports of looting or attacks against aid workers.”
- Medium-wide shot: podium speakers, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, WHO spokesperson: “The idea is really to as quickly as possible, try to provide health facilities to people of Gaza, focusing on emergency care, maternal and child health and other areas. So, half of hospitals are not functional, others partially functional and [the] majority of health facilities sustained some sort of damage.”
- Medium-wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Tarik Jasarevic, WHO spokesperson: “We should not forget other areas and that's 12,000 patients still need to be evacuated outside Gaza. We need to make sure that those people can go and receive medical care they need. We've been talking to 25,000 people [who] have sustained life changing injuries. These people need rehabilitation services that are not available right now.”
- Wide, journalists, control booths to read of Press room.
- Medium, journalist.
- Medium-wide, journalists.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WFP
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
2
17
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | OCHA , WMO
Two UN agencies teamed up on Wednesday to issue an appeal for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.
3
16
2
2
Edited News , B-roll , Conferences , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Sixth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , UNHCR
Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease
More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the UN said on Tuesday, citing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and the wider governorate, where access is “essentially blocked”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.