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UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August.
The food agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
One week into the fragile ceasefire, WFP has been bringing in an average of 560 tonnes of food each day.
“The ceasefire deal has opened a narrow window of opportunity and the WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale-up food assistance and reach families who have endured months of blockade, displacement and hunger,” said Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva Ms. Etefa confirmed teams and supply networks are fully mobilised and there is progress. “With a daily average of around 560 tons of food every day, we're still below what we need, but we're getting there,” she said. Five food distribution points are up and running, close to where people are, open to vulnerable women for children. “Our goal is to expand to 145 distribution points across all of Gaza. That's basically from 5 to 145, that's the scale we're aiming for,” she added.
In order to keep going, increase humanitarian supplies deliveries and reach all the population, aid agencies stressed that sustained access, multiple crossings opening, safe roads, and a stable operating environment are essential to reach everyone in need.
Only two crossings are currently operational and the northern crossings are yet to be opened, which is restricting deliveries to the hardest hit areas. Aid convoys need to move from the southern borders all the way to the north. This is extremely challenging as “roads are blocked and destroyed. This is a huge limitation to transport,” explained the WFP spokesperson.
This is why there has been no food distribution yet in Gaza city, only nutrition supplies for the most vulnerable, children and pregnant and breast-feeding mothers.
Road clearance and safety concerns were echoed by Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The border crossings in the north are “closed because the Israeli authorities have not opened them, that's the first one,” he said. “The second one is there may be a need for substantial road repairs and decontamination of unexploded ordnance before those roads can be used. But the first thing is that the Israelis open them. It is very important to have these openings in the north, as that is where the famine took hold,” he added. His comments follow UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher’s visit to Rafah crossing yesterday, where he urged Israel to open more crossings into Gaza to allow a surge of aid in the territory as was guaranteed under the first phase of the ceasefire deal agreed on 11 October 2025.
One week into the ceasefire, Palestinians in the war-ravaged Strip continue to struggle to access food, water, and essential medical supplies.
The WFP has 57,000 tons of food supplies prepositioned to get in the enclave between Egypt, Jordan and from inside Israel and the agency intends to “scale-up to 170,000 tons to cover three months for 1.6 million people”, said Ms. Etefa from the UN’s food agency. Asked about the commitment of donors to meet the extensive needs, she said that “we've already had support from donors. Beyond the three months, we need to continue to feed this pipeline to push food supplies to always have at least three months stocks on.”
To address famine conditions, thousands of aid trucks would need to get into the devastated enclave each week. Yesterday, Thursday 16 October, 950 trucks crossed into Gaza according to OCHA. That includes eight fuel trucks and three gas trucks. Approximately a third of them passed through the UN coordinated mechanisms.
Ends
Story: “Gaza border crossings - WFP, OCHA” – Friday 17 October 2025
Speakers:
- Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe
- Jens Laerke, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson
TRT: 02’53”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: Friday 17 October 2025 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
- Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe: “The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of an opportunity and WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance and reach families who have endured months of blockade, displacement and hunger.”
- Wide lateral shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe: “With a daily average of around 560 tons of food every day. We're still below what we need, but we're getting there.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot of TV screens in the press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe: “We have right now five distribution points up and running, food distribution points closer to people, close to where they are, open to vulnerable women for children and our goal is to expand to 145 distribution points across all of Gaza. That's basically from 5 to 145, that's the scale we're aiming for.”
- Cutaway: wide lateral shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe: “The biggest challenge that is that we still have two crossings only operational and the northern crossings are yet to be opened, which is limiting the access to the most vulnerable areas. Roads are blocked and destroyed, which is a huge limitation to transport.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot of TV screens in the press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson: “They're closed because the Israeli authorities have not opened them. So that's the first one. The second one is, as we've heard with other crossings, there may be a need for substantial road repairs and decontamination of unexploded ordnance before those roads can be used. But the first thing is that the Israelis open them. It is very important to have these openings in the north, as we've heard, as you mentioned yourself, that is where the famine took hold.”
- Cutaway: journalists in the press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Abeer Etefa, World Food Programme (WFP) Senior Regional Communications Officer and Spokesperson for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe: “As I mentioned 57,000 tons are prepositioned but we have to do the scale up. We need 170,000 which are already in the pipeline, they are in the corridors to cover three months for 1.6 million people. So that's already there. Now beyond this, the three months, we've already had support from donors. Beyond the three months, we need to continue to feed this pipeline to push food supplies to always have at least three months stocks on.”
- Various shots of the press room.
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