Gaza Strip/Jerusalem, October 13, 2025 – In a rare glimmer of hope amid two years of unrelenting devastation, the United Nations hailed "real progress" in humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as the fragile ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump entered its fourth day. The agreement, which took effect on Friday following Trump's announcement of its first phase last Wednesday, has unlocked vital aid corridors, allowing cooking gas, tents, food, and medical supplies to flow into the besieged enclave for the first time in months. With Israeli forces beginning a gradual withdrawal and Hamas initiating hostage releases, aid agencies are racing against the clock to avert a deepening winter crisis in a territory left largely uninhabitable by the conflict.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a statement Sunday evening, describing the day's advancements as a "humanitarian scale-up... well underway." "For the first time since March, cooking gas entered the Strip," OCHA noted, a critical development for families who have relied on scarce wood and improvised fuels for survival. This breakthrough was accompanied by the entry of more tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour, and medicines, all crossing border points throughout the day. UN partners distributed hundreds of thousands of hot meals and bread bundles, reaching both southern strongholds like Rafah and northern areas around Gaza City, where access had been severely restricted.
Eased movement restrictions have enabled OCHA teams to pre-position medical and emergency supplies in high-need zones, assess roads for explosive remnants of war, and assist flood-prone displacement sites in preparing for the rainy season. "With Israeli approval for more aid to move forward, we've secured clearance for a pipeline of 190,000 metric tons, including food, shelter items, and medicine," the agency reported. "This is just the beginning," OCHA vowed, pledging to expand delivery "to virtually everyone across Gaza" under a 60-day post-ceasefire plan outlined by UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher. That blueprint, funded in part by a $9 million allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund, prioritizes fuel for hospitals, water systems, and bakeries to prevent service shutdowns.
The surge in aid comes as the first phase of Trump's ambitious 20-point peace framework unfolds, a deal hailed by mediators Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey as a "historic turning point." Announced on October 8 during a White House briefing, the plan envisions a multi-stage end to the war ignited by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and led to the abduction of 251 hostages. Israel's retaliatory campaign has since claimed over 67,600 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, with nearly a third—around 20,000—being children under 18. Independent analyses, including a January 2025 study, suggest the true toll from traumatic injuries alone exceeds 70,000 when accounting for underreported deaths under rubble and indirect causes like disease and malnutrition.
Phase one, ratified by Israel's security cabinet on Thursday and Hamas's leadership shortly after, mandates an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining Israeli captives—estimated at 48, including 20 believed alive—in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from 53% to 15% of Gaza's territory. Hamas began handing over living hostages on Saturday, with eight released by Sunday evening, including elderly civilians and dual nationals, transported via Egypt's Rafah crossing to Israeli hospitals for medical checks. In return, Israel freed 450 low-security Palestinian detainees on Friday, with the remainder to follow in waves tied to further releases. Palestinian families gathered in Ramallah's streets, waving flags and chanting for unity, while in Tel Aviv, hostage relatives lit candles in Hostage Square, their first unmarred vigil in two years.
Trump, aboard Air Force One en route to a surprise Middle East visit, declared the war "over" in remarks to reporters Sunday, crediting his personal diplomacy for bridging divides where predecessors faltered. "The big thing is hostages are going to be released—probably all by Monday," he told reporters, adding that he would meet with affected families in Jerusalem before heading to Cairo for a peace summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. leader's itinerary includes overseeing aid distributions and laying groundwork for phase two, which proposes a new non-Hamas governing body for Gaza, multinational peacekeeping forces, and Hamas's full disarmament—a prospect Netanyahu champions but Hamas leaders like exiled chief Khalil al-Hayya have called "non-negotiable" without ironclad guarantees against reoccupation.
On the ground, the ceasefire's early hours have brought tentative normalcy to Gaza's 2.1 million residents, many emerging from bunkers and tent cities to reclaim shattered homes. In northern Gaza City, where a human-made famine was declared in August, families sifted through rubble under clear skies, the first without airstrikes in months. UN teams reported no major incidents along access routes, a stark contrast to the pre-ceasefire chaos where crowds looted over 90% of convoys. In Deir al-Balah, community kitchens—down to 99 operational sites serving 468,000 meals daily as of late August—ramped up to full capacity, baking fresh bread from the newly arrived flour. "We haven't smelled gas like this since spring," said Aisha al-Masri, a mother of four in Khan Younis, as she lit a stove for the first hot meal in her family's makeshift shelter.
Yet, the enclave's scars run deep. The war has displaced 90% of Gazans multiple times, demolished 80% of homes, and crippled infrastructure, rendering much of the 365-square-kilometer strip uninhabitable. Hospitals like Al-Shifa operate at 20% capacity due to fuel shortages, with over 40,000 wounded bearing life-altering injuries from shrapnel and blasts. In the south, where 1.9 million fled in waves of evacuation orders, garbage-strewn camps house thousands in flood-vulnerable tents, exacerbating risks from the approaching winter. OCHA's winter preparedness efforts, including the distribution of 208 tents since August's ban lift, remain woefully short of the 86,000 needed.
International reactions underscore the deal's high stakes. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, joining Trump in Egypt, pledged £100 million for reconstruction, emphasizing UN-led governance to sideline Hamas. Qatar, which hosted indirect talks, announced $500 million in immediate aid, while Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned of "serious disagreements" over phase two's disarmament clauses. Critics, including human rights groups, decry the plan's vagueness on accountability for alleged war crimes, with calls for an independent probe into the 67,600 deaths, 59% of which were women, children, and elderly.
In Israel, Netanyahu's coalition teeters as far-right allies decry the prisoner swap as a "security risk," though polls show 68% public support for the ceasefire. Hamas, too, faces internal pushback; al-Hayya's televised endorsement quelled dissent, but sources say the group views phase two as a "red line" without Palestinian Authority involvement. As Trump lands in Tel Aviv Monday—poised for Israel's Presidential Medal—displaced Gazans like those in Nuseirat camp express guarded optimism. "We've buried too many," said elder Mohammed Abu Qamar, clutching a bread bundle. "But if this gas lights our stoves and the guns stay silent, maybe our children see tomorrow."
The UN's 60-day window demands swift action: Only 28% of the $4 billion 2025 Flash Appeal is funded, leaving gaps in water, sanitation, hygiene services, gender-based violence prevention, and education for 500,000 school-aged children out of class since 2023. With phase two talks slated for November, the world watches a corridor of possibility amid rubble-strewn ruins. For now, in Gaza's dawn markets, the sizzle of cooking gas signals not just sustenance, but survival's fragile return.
