Humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip continue to face major obstacles even as the cease-fire surpasses the 100-day mark, the United Nations said Monday, warning that lives remain at risk amid ongoing restrictions and deteriorating conditions.
U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stressed at a news briefing that the cease-fire must hold to save civilian lives.
“The scale-up of humanitarian work continues to be held back by restrictions and impediments, with recent harsh weather also setting back some of the progress,” Haq said.
The World Food Program (WFP) highlighted the fragility of the situation, despite reaching over a million people monthly with food parcels, bread bundles, hot meals, and school feeding programs.
Haq noted WFP’s call for additional safe humanitarian corridors from Egypt, Jordan, and along Gaza’s Salah Ad Din Road to increase aid flow and reduce insecurity.
Health risks remain acute. The UN announced the launch of the second round of a catch-up immunization campaign targeting children under three, led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The campaign, involving 170 teams across nearly 130 health facilities and seven mobile teams in hard-to-reach areas, aims to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases, with a third round planned for April.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that disease risks in Gaza have reached record levels as children continue to miss essential vaccinations after more than two years of war, harsh winter weather, and a collapsed health system.
“Vaccination in such conditions matters more than ever,” Lazzarini said, citing cold, heavy rains, flooding, overcrowded shelters, poor sanitation, and failing medical services.
Meanwhile, tensions persist in the occupied West Bank.
Haq said Israeli forces imposed curfews on an estimated 25,000 Palestinians in Hebron’s H2 area, deploying military vehicles, snipers, and closing six internal roads.
Palestinian authorities reported nearly 4,723 attacks by illegal Israeli settlers in 2025, killing 14 Palestinians and displacing 1,090 Bedouins across 13 communities. The number of settlers in the West Bank reached 770,000 by the end of 2024, according to official Palestinian data.
The UN reiterated that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, undermine the prospects of a two-state solution, and called for a halt to settlement activity.
Since October 2023, the Israeli military’s offensive has killed more than 71,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000.
Despite the cease-fire that began on Oct. 10, continued attacks have killed 465 Palestinians and wounded 1,287 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
