UN agencies welcome Gaza ceasefire amid frustration in aid delivery [Video]

UN relief agencies and humanitarians, led by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Gaza ceasefire accord reached between Israel and Hamas, and called for a massive scaling up of humanitarian operations.

Guterres said the world body’s priority must be to ease suffering caused by the conflict once the ceasefire takes effect, scheduled for Sunday, calling for rapid, unhindered, and safe humanitarian relief for all needy civilians, Xinhua news agency reported.

“It is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza so that we can support a major increase in urgent lifesaving humanitarian support. The humanitarian situation is at catastrophic levels,” he said.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher, the UN relief chief, said in a statement that the ceasefire agreement offers much-needed hope to millions of people whose lives have been devastated by the conflict.

Anticipating the accord, he said that humanitarian agencies have been mobilising supplies outside Gaza to scale …