GENEVA — Desperate crowds are overwhelming food distribution points across Gaza as UN humanitarian workers scramble to contain a spreading famine during a ceasefire that aid officials warn remains dangerously fragile.
The World Food Programme has delivered more than 6,700 metric tonnes of food since the October 11 ceasefire began — enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks — but warns that current deliveries fall far short of what’s needed to prevent mass starvation, particularly in northern Gaza, where famine was declared in August.
“The response has been really overwhelming,” said Abeer Etefa, WFP’s Senior Regional Communications Officer, describing scenes at the 26 food distribution points that have been reinstated across the Strip. “People are showing up in large numbers.”
But the hope visible in Gaza’s food lines is tempered by fear. Recipients are eating only portions of their rations, hoarding the rest against an uncertain future. “They are not very confident about how long the ceasefire will last and what will happen next,” Etefa said. “It is a fragile peace.”
The UN agency is currently delivering an average of 750 tonnes of food daily — a significant improvement from pre-ceasefire levels but less than half its 2,000-tonne daily target. Achieving that goal is “almost impossible” without opening additional border crossings, Etefa said.
Only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings in the south are currently operational. Severe destruction blocks access to northern Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is most acute.
“We need Erez, we need Zikkim, we need these border crossing points to open,” Etefa said. WFP has cleared debris from roads leading north to Gaza City, but large-scale convoys cannot reach the area without access to northern crossing points.
The agency is racing to scale up its distribution network to 145 points across Gaza. Digital payment programs have enabled 140,000 of the most food-insecure Gazans to purchase supplies on local markets, with plans to double that number in the coming weeks.
But market prices remain prohibitively high for most residents. “People can find food in the market, but it’s out of reach because it’s extremely expensive,” Etefa warned.
WFP is calling for commercial supplies to supplement humanitarian aid, arguing that aid alone cannot provide complete nutrition or reverse severe malnutrition rates.
The bottom line, Etefa stressed, is that only full implementation and continuation of the ceasefire can enable operations at the scale this crisis demands. “Sustaining the ceasefire is vital,” she said. “It’s really the only way we can save lives and push back on the famine in the north of Gaza.”
