Gaza - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations welcomed Israel's announcement of a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip. UN teams are making every effort to take advantage of this window to deliver urgent relief to those in desperate need, while the entire population of the Strip suffers from severe food insecurity.
Separately, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Israel to end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. He called on all parties to make tangible progress towards a two-state solution.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher described the crisis in Gaza as devastating. He said that one in three people in Gaza has not eaten for days, and people are being shot at simply trying to feed their families.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, Fletcher welcomed Israel's decision to support a week-long increase in aid, including the lifting of customs barriers on food and fuel from Egypt, and the reported allocation of safe routes for UN convoys.
He said that some movement restrictions appear to have been eased today, with initial reports indicating the collection of more than 100 truckloads. While calling this progress, Fletcher emphasized the need for massive amounts of aid to prevent famine and a catastrophic health crisis. He stated that UN teams and the humanitarian community are mobilizing to save as many lives as possible.
He emphasized the need for sustained and urgent action, including expediting permits for convoys heading to the crossings and then into Gaza, allowing multiple trips daily to the crossings to collect supplies, safe routes that avoid overcrowded areas, and an end to attacks on people seeking food.
He also emphasized the importance of allowing the sustained entry of fuel in the quantities required to sustain the humanitarian operation. He said, "Ultimately, we don't just need a truce; we need a lasting ceasefire. The world is calling for this life-saving aid to get in. And we will not stop working for it."
The World Health Organization warned that malnutrition rates have reached alarming levels in Gaza, with deaths from starvation escalating during July. The UN agency reported 74 deaths linked to malnutrition in 2025, 63 of which occurred this month, including 24 children under the age of five, one child over the age of five, and 38 adults. According to the UN's daily news bulletin, the organization said that this crisis was preventable, and that the deliberate blocking and delaying of food, health, and humanitarian aid on a large scale had led to many deaths. Hunger isn't the only reason people are dying in Gaza—related to scarce supplies—as people are also dying in their desperate search for food, the World Health Organization said. The organization stated that families are forced to risk their lives to obtain a meager amount of food, often under dangerous and chaotic conditions. Since May 27, more than 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food. The organization called for urgent and sustained efforts to provide a flood of diverse and nutritious food and to accelerate the delivery of therapeutic supplies to children and vulnerable groups, as well as essential medicines and supplies.