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 | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Friday made the following remarks on Israel’s military ground incursions and displacement orders in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , IOM , WHO
The escalating war in the Middle East has heightened growing concerns about further civilian suffering and displacement in the region and far beyond, UN agencies said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk made the following remarks at a press stake out on the current situation in the Middle East.
“The crisis sparked in the Middle East one week ago following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iran’s counterattacks, has been spreading like wildfire. It is causing significant damage in Iran, Israel and at least a dozen other countries, mostly in the Gulf, with risks of major economic and environmental ramifications across the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Tuesday made the following remarks on the current situation in the Middle-East.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR , WFP
Schoolgirls killed, thousands displaced, aid routes compromised: UN humanitarians deplore effects of new Middle East war
On the fourth day of Israeli and United States airstrikes against Iran and amid growing violence and instability in the Middle East, the UN urgently called for protection of civilians and warned of growing displacement and humanitarian needs.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Well over 1.3 million people have fled Sudan’s ongoing war for South Sudan, the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on Friday, amid rising violence and a massive humanitarian emergency linked to the country’s political crisis.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday presented to the 61st Human Rights Council his global update on the human rights situation.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday presented to the UN Human Rights Council a new report on the human rights situation in occupied Palestinian territory.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday briefed the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the human rights situation in Sudan: “Nearly three years of brutal conflict have almost turned Sudan into a land of despair. The report I am presenting today is yet another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty. It outlines clear, ongoing patterns of violence against civilians, including killings, rape, and torture. As the fighting has intensified, violations of international law by all parties to the conflict have surged, while accountability has remained practically absent,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday told the Human Rights Council in Geneva today: “Afghanistan is a graveyard for human rights. The cascade of edicts and laws announced by the de facto authorities since coming to power in 2021 is having a crushing impact on the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.”
3
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS , OCHA , UNHCR
Ukraine enters fifth year of war: Attacks and displacement deepen human suffering amid mounting recovery challenges
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UN officials took stock of the immense human and economic toll of the conflict while appealing to the world to “never get used to war.”
2
27
2
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | General Assembly , UNITED NATIONS
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on 24 February 2022 shattered the peaceful aspirations of an entire continent, but war must never be the new normal, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.