In Pictures

Devastated roads and lurking bombs hindering Gaza aid effort

Distribution of supplies arriving is being curtailed by destroyed roads and the threat of unexploded ordnance.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

Published On 3 Feb 20253 Feb 2025

Two weeks after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect, aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip.

The main UN food agency, the World Food Programme, said it distributed more food to Palestinians in Gaza during the first four days of the ceasefire than during any month of the war.

More than 32,000 tonnes of aid have gone into the enclave since the ceasefire took effect, entering through two crossings in the north and one in the south, the agency said last week.

Bakeries have been opened, the agencies report, and high-energy biscuits handed out, while Gaza’s police have returned to the streets to help restore order.

But humanitarian groups say aid distribution is complicated by destroyed or damaged roads, Israeli inspections and the threat of unexploded bombs, which litter the landscape.

The UN estimates that 5 to 10 percent of all ammunition Israel dropped on Gaza failed to detonate, making the territory perilous for both civilians and aid workers.