The agencies also urging the immediate release of all hostages.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a very positive, jubilant mood in Gaza this morning,\u201d said Olga Cherevko from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Speaking from the devastated territory, she highlighted that urgent priorities remain reaching the most vulnerable with food, medicine, and shelter, even as peace remains the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN humanitarians have approximately 170 000 metric tons of aid stockpiled outside Gaza, ready to be dispatched once a ceasefire is confirmed. Cherevko emphasised, \u201cNo amount of humanitarian aid will ever take the place of peace. So, this deal is more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The development follows the announcement by United States (US) President Donald Trump that Israel and Hamas had signed off on the first phase of his 20-point peace plan, following days of indirect negotiations in Egypt involving US, Qatari, and Turkish mediators. The deal reportedly includes the release of hostages still held in Gaza, around 48 individuals, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed line.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a \u201cgreat day for Israel,\u201d ahead of a security cabinet meeting to approve the initial phase, including an immediate ceasefire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres welcomed the announcement, noting that the agreement could pave the way for a lasting ceasefire and the safe return of hostages. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher echoed this sentiment, urging urgent action, \u201cGet the hostages out and surge aid in, fast. Our teams are fully mobilised to get the trucks moving at scale and save lives. They need safe access.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, described the deal as a \u201chuge relief\u201d for those affected by the two-year conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of Gazans and nearly 1 200 Israelis. \u201cAfter their excruciating ordeal, hostages and Palestinian detainees will finally join their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the ongoing health crisis, emphasising that the agency \u201cstands ready to scale up its work to support rehabilitation of the destroyed health system.\u201d Similarly, World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain stressed the urgent need for unrestricted humanitarian access, calling on all parties to \u201cmove NOW\u201d to deliver life-saving aid.<\/p>\n
The agreement, if implemented, marks a critical step towards ending hostilities and addressing the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, though UN officials cautioned that rapid action and safe access remain essential.<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12940,"template":"default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-12939","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"As celebrations erupted in Gaza and Israel over news of a potential ceasefire, United Nations (UN) aid agencies stressed their readiness to deliver humanitarian relief to the famine-hit enclave.||As celebrations erupted in Gaza and Israel over news of a potential ceasefire, United Nations (UN) aid agencies stressed their readiness to deliver humanitarian relief to the famine-hit enclave.","published_date":null,"news_description":"As celebrations erupted in Gaza and Israel over news of a potential ceasefire, United Nations (UN) aid agencies stressed their readiness to deliver humanitarian relief to the famine-hit enclave.||As celebrations erupted in Gaza and Israel over news of a potential ceasefire, United Nations (UN) aid agencies stressed their readiness to deliver humanitarian relief to the famine-hit enclave.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18297,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12939\/revisions\/18297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}