Gaza: Aid agencies ready to enter territory if ceasefire holds, but $10bn is needed to rebuild health system
Medical organisations have welcomed an initial six week ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip that should end 15 months of war and allow the territory’s broken health system to be rebuilt. On 15 January Israel and Hamas agreed for hostilities to cease, hostages to be released, and eventually, for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza. The provisional agreement also stipulates that 600 trucks of humanitarian aid will enter Gaza each day from 19 January, when the agreement is initiated.1 In a statement the humanitarian organisation Plan International said that the arrival of aid will help meet urgent medical needs and is a “moment of hope.” In the longer term it should lay the groundwork for the huge task of rebuilding essential infrastructure, such as hospitals.2 “The destruction of homes, infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and essential services by the Israeli military has left Gaza in an unliveable condition,” …
