Palestinians resume movement to northern Gaza after ceasefire: UN

United Nations, Oct 11 (IANS) Within minutes of the Gaza ceasefire taking effect, displaced Palestinians resumed movement to the north, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that Israeli tanks had blocked Al Rashid Road along the coast after people attempted to move north, following word of the ceasefire to be passed, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Some of the people who have already managed to reach Gaza City reported that they arrived back to find their homes had sustained further damage," OCHA said.

The office said the world body and its humanitarian partners are ready to immediately scale up the humanitarian response.

"After two years of war, the rehabilitation of infrastructure in Gaza is urgently needed to enable recovery," said OCHA, appealing to all leaders backing the ceasefire to help secure the conditions to carry out unimpeded humanitarian operations.

The office said that all parties to the conflict must facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. "Aid must flow at scale in order for the UN and its partners to reach everyone in need and alleviate people's suffering," OCHA said.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said discussions are under way with Israeli authorities to gain clarity on what the United Nations and its partners will be able to bring into Gaza, how much, and through which access points.

"What has changed dramatically yesterday to today (Thursday to Friday) is the fact that the guns appear to have been silenced," Dujarric said, adding that now it is safer for humanitarians to operate.

"We're working through the system," he said. "We're trying to push. We're trying to get all of that aid that's in the pipeline and that's ready to go in, to go in."

UN humanitarians said on October 3 that approximately 170,000 metric tonnes of aid and supplies are in the pipeline.

--IANS

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