The amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza surged dramatically on Sunday, with more than 630 trucks entering the impoverished and hungry enclave on the first day of the cease-fire, according to United Nations officials — the highest figure since the start of the war more than 15 months ago.
The truce allowed the U.N. World Food Program to “bring in urgently needed food aid at scale and begin pulling the war-ravaged territory back from starvation,” the agency said in a statement on Sunday. Tom Fletcher, the U.N. relief chief, said in a statement on Monday that more than 300 of the trucks went to northern Gaza, where aid had been the most scarce and humanitarian officials have warned of a possible famine.
During the war, fewer than 100 trucks per day had been entering the enclave, and deliveries had at times been suspended. Relief agencies accused Israel of overly restricting deliveries with stringent inspections and the closure of border crossings, which Israel denied, and have said that at least 200 trucks per day were required to provide food, medicines, fuel, clean water and other essentials.
With the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas taking effect, aid convoys seemed to enter Gaza without issues, and no attempts at stealing or looting the aid were reported on Sunday or Monday, according to Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for the main U.N. agency that assists Palestinians. She added that local police officers were present in some parts of Gaza to secure the convoys, while in other areas security was not needed.
Uniformed police officers and armed fighters, rarely seen in the open during the war, were visible in cities and towns across Gaza after the cease-fire took effect. It was an apparent show by Hamas, which had controlled the enclave for years, that it is still in charge and plans to hold onto power.
Videos posted to social media showed convoys driving through Gaza on Sunday, as people gathered calmly on roadsides, refraining from approaching the trucks. It was a stark contrast to the apocalyptic scenes of wartime aid deliveries, when desperate crowds swarmed and climbed onto the trucks in hopes of securing a food package or bag of flour, sometimes resulting in violence.
“What was very noticeable is that none of the trucks that entered yesterday were looted,” said Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Red Crescent. “And this was the first time in 15 months that this many trucks entered Gaza,” she added.
What was less clear was how efficiently and equitably aid was being distributed after it entered Gaza, and some residents said they have yet to receive or even see the aid. Ms. Touma said that UNRWA staff and aid workers from other agencies were still sorting through the aid that has come in since Sunday before it is eventually delivered to people.
“It’s the second day of the cease-fire and they said that aid and flour have come in but unfortunately we haven’t seen any of it yet,” said Moustafa al-Aloul, a 22-year-old from northern Gaza. “Currently, the markets literally have nothing,” he added.
The Gazan ministry of social development, a part of the Hamas-led administration, said in a statement on Monday that it had “made all preparations to receive aid” and will provide all the permits needed for aid organizations to receive and distribute the aid. “Work will be done in a coordinated manner between all partners to ensure the fair distribution of aid to all citizens,” the ministry said, adding that aid will be provided to families inside and outside shelter centers and tent encampments.
Israeli officials have accused Hamas of hoarding essential supplies to serve its own members and to wield control over the population, and there have been reports of profiteers seizing aid and then selling it on the black market. Aid officials say the solution is to end the scarcity.
Ms. Touma said the convoys entering Gaza have included some trucks carrying commercial goods for sale, which have rarely reached Gaza during the war.
“There were several goods that people take for granted that were very much missing from the market,” Ms. Touma said in an interview on Monday. “So it’s very good that commercial supplies have also come in because you can’t turn the two million people in Gaza into a nation that is solely dependent on aid,” she added.
The World Food Program said that on Sunday it delivered ready-to-eat meals and bags of wheat flour. It aims to send at least 150 truckloads of food into Gaza every day, along with other supplies, as well as restocking bakeries and providing nutritional supplements for children facing malnutrition.
Ameera Harouda contributed reporting from Qatar, Matthew Mpoke Bigg from London and Vivian Yee from Cairo.
