Aid Deliveries to Gaza Continue Amid Dire Needs

For the third consecutive day, truckloads of humanitarian aid have entered Gaza. On the first day, there were about 630 truckloads, and yesterday there were 915, significantly exceeding the agreed 600.

This aid is crucial for providing essential supplies to people, with local aid workers distributing the packages. Each package contains a few days’ worth of food.

The United Nations reports no incidents of looted aid trucks or attacks on aid workers. Previously, such incidents were common before the truce began on Sunday.

In addition to food and medicine, there is a need for clothing, warm tents, mattresses, blankets, and clean drinking water. People need to be able to buy their own food, like vegetables and fruits, as soon as possible, which requires reopening the markets.

The currently available aid is barely sufficient to prevent hunger, according to an expert speaking to Al Jazeera. Qatar plans to deliver 12.5 million liters of fuel to Gaza over the next ten days, intended for electricity in hospitals and shelters for the displaced.

Reconstruction materials are also needed. According to the UN’s OCHA, 92% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, affecting 436,000 homes, with 90% of Gazans displaced.

Roos Bollen from UNICEF, working at Al Aqsa Hospital in Gaza City, shares with NOS how her Palestinian colleagues have maintained hope despite losing everything and family members. They continue to support each other with kindness and humor.

She notes that even the limited aid arriving is saving lives, with examples like incubators provided by UNICEF. Bollen admires her Palestinian and international colleagues and hopes for more aid workers, journalists, donors, and doctors to come to Gaza during the ceasefire.

Children she meets are eager for the truce, dreaming of sleeping in their own beds instead of tents. They talk of their toys and friends.

She recounts the story of a 7-year-old girl injured when her home was bombed on her birthday in December 2023. Her leg was later amputated due to an infection after the hospital was besieged.

Bollen emphasizes the need for psychological support for every child in Gaza to lead a normal life again. “What children need most now is the chance to return to school, build a daily routine, engage with peers, and play.

They have been deprived of their right to be children.”

Source: NOS

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