He said in a message on social media that the United Nations stands ready to support the implementation of the ceasefire and continue to provide humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians suffering from the war.
In a social media message, Antonio Guterres stressed the need to remove critical safeguards and political obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid during the ceasefire.
The UN Secretary-General and all his agencies have, since the first day of the war, repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and the free flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
UN agencies, led by UNRWA, the United Nations Assistance Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), continued to provide life-saving assistance during the months of war, despite enormous challenges.
The UN food aid agency WFP reported that trucks loaded with aid from the Egyptian side began entering Gaza soon after the ceasefire took effect.
UN Women also welcomed the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages.
The people of Gaza are eager to return.
There is a strong desire among the people of Gaza to return home after the ceasefire came into effect after facing terrible devastation caused by the 15-month war.
Displaced Shadi Joma Abu Sheha, of Nusirat, north of central Gaza, returned to see the state of her house, but “it’s not a house anymore, it’s a ruin.”
Shadi, among other displaced people, is slowly returning to their homes after a ceasefire agreement came into effect on Sunday, more than 470 days after the fighting began in October 2023.
A UN news correspondent in Gaza accompanied Shadi as he returned to what was left of his home, part of which he built himself before the war. He assessed the extent of the destruction of the rooms in his house, some of which were reduced to rubble and did not even have a roof over them.
But despite that, Shadi Anand revealed that thanks to the ceasefire, the bloodshed has stopped.”
“It is a feeling that cannot be described. Thank God we survived the war safely. But when we returned to our homes I cannot describe the amount of devastation we saw. I don’t know what to say,” he said.
Flow of support trucks
Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) said the agency’s aid trucks began entering Gaza from Egypt through the Keram Shalom border on Sunday.
The agency said it has provisioned around 30,000 tonnes of food items every month to support more than 1 million people.
The agency stressed that all border crossings must remain open and operated efficiently and reliably.
…to be continued…