The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
Gaza ceasefire agreement – UNRWA, UNICEF, WHO 10 October 2025
Gaza: Aid teams repeat calls for unhindered access to stricken enclave
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
“There is little information available on the details or how the agreement will be implemented. However, we call for all crossings into Gaza to be open immediately so that humanitarian supplies can flow into the war-torn enclave,” said Juliette Touma, Director of Communications for the UN agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.
Her comments came as Israeli forces reportedly pulled back from parts of Gaza, in line with an agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered in Egypt this week by US mediators and representatives from Qatar and Turkïye.
“This food from UNRWA is critical for averting and controlling famine,” Ms. Touma stressed, as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pointed to 50,000 “at risk” youngsters suffering from acute malnutrition. “They need to be treated immediately…with the ceasefire, we hope we can get the therapeutic treatment that they so desperately need,” said spokesperson Ricardo Pires.
The UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher insisted on Thursday that “the whole UN humanitarian family” is mobilized to get aid into Gaza.
Speaking to journalists, he underlined the “indispensable role” of UNRWA in distributing aid supplies across the Strip while also highlighting the central role assigned to the UN in US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan now being enacted.
Active conflict ongoing
Aid teams still working in the enclave reported that the ceasefire had not come into effect on Friday morning.
Nonetheless, vital humanitarian work continues, including one UNICEF mission to Gaza City on Thursday “to rescue two babies who were in incubators and fighting for their lives”, said Mr. Pires. “Luckily, with the hard work of colleagues and health workers on the ground, they survived and they got reunited with their families today.”
The UNICEF spokesperson explained that the mission had to wait 15 hours to gain access to Gaza City because “the situation on the ground was still very, very unstable and kinetic activity was taking place, a lot of violence”.
Echoing that assessment, UNRWA’s Ms. Touma noted that colleagues in the enclave reported ongoing airstrikes on Friday morning. The UN agency spokesperson also noted that more than 370 UNRWA staff members have been killed over the course of the conflict sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. “This is the highest death toll in the United Nations since it was first established,” she added.
Joining the call for “unimpeded” aid access across “all possible routes”, UN health agency (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier stressed the need to resume urgent medical evacuations from Gaza to the West Bank including East Jerusalem, along with flexible funding “to drive the recovery”.
UN agencies have 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other supplies ready to deliver into Gaza.
The aim is to scale up the provision of food across Gaza to reach 2.1 million people and some 500,000 people who need nutrition support.
ends
STORY: Gaza ceasefire agreement – UNICEF, UNRWA, WHO
TRT: 2’57”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 10 OCTOBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma (from Amman)
- UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires
- WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
- Wide, podium speakers, UN Geneva Press room, remote speaker on TV screens.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma: “There is little information available on the details or how the agreement will be implemented. However, we call for all crossings into Gaza to be open immediately so that humanitarian supplies can flow into the war-torn enclave.”
- Wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires: “Specifically on malnutrition, the 50,000 children at risk have acute malnutrition. So, they need to be treated immediately. So, with the ceasefire, we hope we can get the therapeutic treatment that they so desperately need.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, remote speaker on TV screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier: “As we expand our response, we call for unimpeded access across Gaza and unhindered entry of medical supplies through all possible routes; resumption of medical evacuation from Gaza to the West Bank including East Jerusalem; flexible funding to sustain emergency response and drive the recovery. And last but not least and above all, a lasting, permanent ceasefire and peace.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, speaker shown on TV screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires: “UNICEF had a successful mission to the north, to Gaza City to rescue two babies who were in incubators and fighting for their lives. But luckily, with the hard work of colleagues and health workers on the ground, they survived and they got reunited with their families today. After 15 hours yesterday, trying to get the mission through, because, you know, the situation on the ground was still very, very unstable and kinetic activity was taking place, a lot of violence.”
- Medium, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma: “The airstrikes have continued based on an interaction I had with colleagues in Gaza this morning. And also, as a reminder, since the war began, we can very sadly confirm that over 370 of my colleagues at UNRWA have been killed, some of them in the line of duty. This is also to confirm that this is the highest death toll in the United Nations since it was first established.”
- Wide, TV journalists, video cameras, control booths with UN logo reflected in windows.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma: “As a reminder, we have foods that can be provided to the entire population, sufficient for three months. And this is absolutely critical in controlling the spread of famine, which has been confirmed in Gaza City.”
- Medium, participant.
- Medium-wide, journalists.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In Sudan’s El Obeid, women risk drone attacks by day and rape by night to access water
As war intensifies in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, filling up a jerrycan of water comes at a high risk for women and girls: by day, drones strike water points and by night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk rape. UN Women warns of a dual terror that has turned access to water into a deadly gamble.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo made the following remarks on stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months at sea, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
UN humanitarians working in war-torn Sudan warned on Friday of growing dramatic needs among the more than 100,000 displaced people now sheltering in camps in the city of El Obeid. "We are providing even not the full food ration to the people, but even that reduced food ration is being shared by the recipients with other families, because they know that they don't have any other source of income," said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Country Director Abdallah Alwardat.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘This is a fire’: DRC Ebola outbreak is fastest-growing ever, warns WHO
Infections of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached record highs and a majority of new cases are coming from “unknown chains of transmission”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In war-torn Sudan, a deadly new cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 100 lives, heightening serious concerns for vulnerable communities including in besieged El-Obeid, where daily drone attacks reportedly continue to hamper aid access.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Ceasefire reduces violence in South Lebanon, but challenges remain as communities face devastation.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ebola continues to spread in DRC, death toll passes 500 – WHO
The outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expanding, while the push to accelerate testing and identify effective treatment options continues, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | ITU , ODET , PGA , UN , UNESCO
UN chief António Guterres appealed on Monday for far-reaching, worldwide controls on Artificial Intelligence, as increasingly powerful AI chips that are designed for civilian use shift to the battlefield, where “killer robots” are already the norm.