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 | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.