Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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November 4, 2025 Humanitarian aid
Food is gradually returning to Gaza's shelves, but remains in short supply, UN officials said on Tuesday, renewing calls for increased humanitarian access and continued financial support for aid agencies.
According to Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), hundreds of thousands of people returned to northern Gaza last month, where famine was declared in late August. Their access to food remains limited.
Many of those who returned found their homes destroyed, while those displaced in the south "often live in tents, without access to food or basic services," added Etefa, who works for the WFP in Cairo.
Etefa noted that three and a half weeks after the ceasefire began, WFP has delivered food parcels to approximately one million people in Gaza. In total, 1.6 million people are expected to receive them.
“Supplies are still limited, so each family is receiving a reduced ration – one food package, designed to last for ten days,” she explained.
To scale up humanitarian operations to the level needed, WFP says it needs "more open border crossings and… the ability to use key roads inside Gaza."
All border crossings must be opened
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), no food convoys have reached the north of the Strip directly through border crossings since September 12.
“Only two border crossings remain operational: Kerem Shalom in the south of the enclave and Kissufim in central Gaza,” Etefa emphasized.
"This seriously limits the amount of assistance that WFP and other agencies can deliver to stabilize the market and meet the needs of the population," she added.
She noted that the lack of access through the northern crossings forces humanitarian convoys to take a "slow and difficult route from the south."
According to WFP, approximately 700,000 people receive fresh bread daily through 17 agency-supported bakeries – nine in the south and center and eight in the north. The goal is to increase the number of bakeries serving the population to 25.
"This help is really important."
WFP worker Noor Hammad, who is currently in Gaza, said she is seeing "apocalyptic scenes" across the enclave, with people's faces showing both joy and fear.
According to her, Gazans compare the destruction in the Strip "to the aftermath of an earthquake."
"At every distribution point I've visited in recent days, people say one thing: this aid is truly important," she said. After months of "stretching one meal out over several days," they are finally receiving fresh bread, food parcels, and cash transfers.
“This is where the road to recovery begins,” Hammad emphasized.
Currently, 200,000 Gazans are receiving digital cash transfers, allowing them to supplement their food aid with fresh produce from local markets. However, prices there remain very high.
"Food is gradually returning to the shelves, but prices are still unaffordable for most families," she explained. "After all, people exhausted all resources trying to survive two years of war. Today, for example, I buy an apple for the price that used to be equivalent to a kilogram."
The fragility of the ceasefire and the instability of aid flows, she said, remain the main sources of anxiety for Gazans. Hammad told the story of a displaced mother she met in the enclave: although the family receives humanitarian aid, the woman forbids her children from eating all the food at once because "she's not sure if there will be food tomorrow."
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.