In Gaza, UN Relief Chief witnesses humanitarian scale-up

20 Oct0ber 2025

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, wrapped up his visit to the Gaza Strip over the weekend. On Saturday, he went to a UNICEF nutrition centre in Gaza city, where humanitarians are working to get hunger levels down.

While in Gaza city, Mr. Fletcher also visited the Patient Friendly Hospital, a pediatric facility in urgent need of more supplies and staff. Additionally, he saw a road clearance project run by the UN Development Programme, which is allowing aid trucks to drive through and giving humanitarians access to people in need of aid. He stressed that more trackers and bulldozers are urgently needed in Gaza.

Farther south in Deir al Balah, Mr. Fletcher visited a community kitchen run by partner organization World Central Kitchen. The site is producing 50,000 hot meals each day, with plans to further increase.

Later on Saturday, the Under-Secretary-General exited Gaza through Kerem Shalom. On Sunday, he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, where they discussed the massive humanitarian needs in Gaza, the 60-day aid scale-up*, the importance of sustaining the ceasefire, the situation in the West Bank, and the path to long-term peace.

Today in Jerusalem, Mr. Fletcher met with the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which brings together about 15 UN entities and representatives of some 200 NGOs – both international and local.

Also today, Mr. Fletcher and the Minderoo Foundation announced a contribution of AU$10 million from the Minderoo Foundation for humanitarian efforts in Gaza, delivered in close coordination with the UN-coordinated 60-day plan.

With the ceasefire in place and as more areas become accessible, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said yesterday that the agency is expanding the number of temporary learning spaces set up in community shelters for displaced people.

In Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, partners have successfully resumed the distribution of food parcels to thousands of families for the first time in months. In the north, preparations are underway to do the same.

Over the weekend, the UN and its partners continued to collect aid from the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings. This included post-partum and hygiene kits, medical supplies, fuel, water and food.

Yesterday, for the first time, Israeli authorities allowed the UN to deploy monitors at the Kissufim crossing. This is a welcome development, as it provides much-needed visibility into that segment of the pipeline.