UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said his team has prepared a detailed humanitarian plan ready to deliver aid across Gaza after a ceasefire deal was reached, warning that funding and access remain critical. The deal proposed by the US President Donald Trump “must be the basis” for lifesaving work throughout the region, Fletcher said, speaking to journalists in New York via video from Riyadh, as he outlined the plan to deliver food, medical supplies, water, shelter, and education for the two million in need across Gaza. 

"There must be no backsliding on the agreements that have been made." he said.  The UN relief chief stressed the importance of protecting civilians, clearing unexploded ordnance - and focusing on the needs of children.  Fletcher said UN teams have pre-positioned 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other supplies to begin immediate delivery.  "So, here is what we plan to deliver in the first 60 days of the ceasefire," he said, outlining efforts to scale up the flow of aid to hundreds of trucks per day and reach 2.1 million people in need of food assistance, along with 500,000 requiring nutrition support. 

The UN, he said, will "be supporting bakeries and community kitchens," provide "cash for 200,000 families," and work to restore livelihoods for "herders and fishers." On health, Fletcher said efforts will focus on restoring the "decimated health system" and deploying emergency teams.  He noted plans to reach 1.4 million people with clean water and sanitation, distribute "thousands of tents every week," and reopen learning spaces for 700,000 school-aged children.  "We will focus on bigger and more vulnerable families and those in particularly dire conditions in undeserved and overcrowded sites," Fletcher added. 

He stressed that protecting civilians and ensuring "unimpeded humanitarian access" are essential.  "The blockade must be lifted," he said, adding that the UN will "continue to demand that."The UN relief chief warned that only 28% of the $4 billion needed for the 2025 flash appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory has been funded.  "Every government, every state, every individual … now is the time to make that generosity count, to help us deliver, to help us save so many lives in the Gaza Strip," he said. 

Fletcher added that while significant aid has been pre-positioned, "we will need to bring more aid over the coming two months," and emphasized that the humanitarian challenge "won't go away in two months."  "Famine must be reverted in areas where it has taken hold and prevented in others," he added. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)