U.N. urges Israel to open all crossings into Gaza

The United Nations urged Israel to open all crossings immediately to allow aid into the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, as a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israeli authorities continued under a ceasefire agreement.

AFP quoted Tom Fletcher, an official at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), saying, “We are calling for unimpeded access,” and adding, “We want that to happen now under the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.”

Fletcher is due to travel on Thursday to the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side of the border with Gaza, which has been closed for several months because of the Israeli blockade.

Fletcher said, “The test of this agreement is not through images, press conferences and interviews… the test is that we feed our children, that we provide anaesthesia in hospitals for people receiving treatment, and that we put tents over people’s heads.”

“We want all crossings to be open, and for access to be fully available. We must be able to deliver aid at scale,” he added.