OCHA: Humanitarian Coordinator visits Gaza, urges unfettered access amid aid scale-up

1 December 2025

OCHA reports that humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain extremely dire and aid operations continue across the Strip, with critical supplies – including food, water, medicine and nutrition assistance – delivered each day to people in need.

Yesterday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, concluded a four-day visit to Gaza – where he met with partners, visited humanitarian project sites, and spoke with people struggling to cope with already appalling conditions as winter looms.

Dr. Alakbarov thanked the humanitarian community for the ongoing effort to serve people in need despite persistent obstacles. He stressed the importance of unfettered humanitarian access and the need for NGO partners to be able to bring supplies into Gaza.

Meanwhile, partners leading the health response report that they continue to restore services across the Strip – with 234 health service points now operational, compared to 197 before the ceasefire. While this is a significant improvement, efforts to expand access to healthcare continue to face challenges due to the lack of critical equipment and the vast destruction of infrastructure during two years of war.

Partners leading on logistics warn that Salah ad Deen Road remains closed for the movement of humanitarian cargo from Kerem Shalom crossing, and Al Rasheed Road and Philadelphi corridor remain the only available routes. This leads to congestion and exposes convoys to looting and security risks.

Meanwhile, partners leading the shelter response warn that needs remain extremely high – with some 1.5 million people in need of urgent support. The UN and its partners continue to provide shelter assistance across Gaza. Between Wednesday and Thursday, partners distributed tents, tarpaulins, bedding and kitchen sets, as well as winter clothing vouchers, to some 4,300 households, including 2,500 families in southern Gaza and nearly 1,800 in the north. On education, partners were able to reopen 18 out 31 temporary learning spaces affected by the rainstorms. This has allowed some 8,000 children to resume learning.

Over the weekend, 160 high-performance tents arrived in Gaza for learning activities. This is the highest number of such tents received by education partners to date. However, they warn that stationery and other education supplies continue to be rejected, hampering efforts to scale up the response. So far, fewer than 3,200 individual learners’ kits have entered Gaza.

Partners working on cash assistance say they have completed transfers to 123,000 families since the ceasefire – already exceeding the target of 120,000 under the 60-day plan.