Sustaining Gaza ceasefire 'vital' to deliver aid, save lives: UN

GENEVA - Maintaining the Gaza ceasefire is crucial to delivering life-saving humanitarian aid in the territory, the United Nations said Tuesday, repeating a call for all crossings to be opened.

"Sustaining the ceasefire is vital; really it's the only way we can save lives," Abeer Etefa, Middle East spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Programme, told a briefing in Geneva.

"We know it's a fragile ceasefire; the most important thing is that it lasts."

Etefa said that since the ceasefire came into force, 530 WFP trucks had crossed into Gaza, bringing in more than 6,700 tonnes of food, which she said was "enough for close to half a million people for two weeks".

"Convoys are pushing through, food is getting to the warehouses and distributions are happening in an organised and dignified manner," she said.

Etefa added that WFP had not seen looting of its convoys since the ceasefire.

The spokeswoman said WFP now had 26 food distribution points open in Gaza -- up from five on Friday, but still far short of the 145 it hopes to run throughout the territory. Most are in the south and centre of the Strip.

"People are showing up in large numbers" at the distribution points, Etefa said.

She said that only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings were open, but called for every entry point into the Palestinian territory to be opened, particularly those in the north, where the food situation "is extremely dire".

"We don't have an indication on when those border points wil be open," she said, adding: "We haven't gotten to the point where Gaza is flooded with food."