Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen after the global hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread, in Gaza City, on August 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The United Nations cautioned on Friday (October 17, 2025) that it would take time to reverse the famine in the Gaza Strip, saying all crossings needed to be opened to “flood Gaza with food”.
The U.N.’s World Food Programme said it had been able to move close to 3,000 tonnes of food supplies into the war-shattered Palestinian territory since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold.
“It’s going to take some time to scale back the famine” declared by the U.N. in late August, WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa told a media briefing in Geneva.
“The ceasefire has opened a narrow window of opportunity. WFP is moving very quickly and swiftly to scale up food assistance and reach families who have endured months of blockade, displacement and hunger.”
Ms. Etefa said the WFP had five food distribution points up and running across the Gaza Strip, mostly in the south, but wanted to get to 145.
She said the WFP had been able to use the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings in recent days.
From Saturday (October 11) until Wednesday (October 15), around 230 trucks with 2,800 tonnes of food supplies crossed into Gaza, said Ms. Etefa.
The spokeswoman said 57 trucks in two convoys, carrying wheat flour and nutrition supplies, crossed in on Thursday (October 16) and reached WFP’s warehouses intact, ready for distribution.
“We’re still below what we need but we’re getting there,” she said.
As of Wednesday (October 15), nine bakeries were running, with WFP working on getting 30 going throughout the Gaza Strip.
“Bread is extremely important. The smell of fresh bread in Gaza is more than nourishment: it’s a signal that life is returning,” said Ms. Etefa.
She called for all land crossings into the Palestinian territory to be opened up “so that we can flood Gaza with food supplies”.
“The faster we can move aid in, the more lives we can reach quickly,” she added.
The WFP is starting its distribution of nutrition supplies in Gaza City.
“We are trying to push back on famine, especially for families returning home in the north of Gaza,” said Ms. Etefa.
WFP’s plan is to scale up to reach 1.6 million people inside Gaza over the next three months.
Published – October 17, 2025 11:36 pm IST
