“The situation still remains catastrophic because what’s entering is not enough,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, speaking at the UN health agency’s Geneva headquarters.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Oct 10, there has been “no dent in hunger, because there is not enough food”, he warned.

Israel repeatedly cut off aid to the Gaza Strip during the war, exacerbating dire humanitarian conditions, with the UN saying it caused a famine in parts of the Palestinian territory.

But while the agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump provides for the entry of 600 trucks per day, Tedros said currently only between 200 and 300 trucks were going in daily.

And “a good number of the trucks are commercial”, he said, pointing out that many people in the territory have no resources to buy goods.

“That reduces the beneficiary size,” he said.

The WHO chief hailed that the ceasefire was holding despite violations but warned, “The crisis is far from over, and the needs are immense.”

“Although the flow of aid has increased, it’s still only a fraction of what’s needed.”

Gaza’s health system had been ravaged during Israel’s two-year war in the Palestinian territory following Hamas’s deadly Oct 7, 2023 attacks.

“There are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza, and only 14 out of 36 are functioning at all. There are critical shortages of essential medicines, equipment and health workers,” Tedros said.

He said that since the ceasefire took effect, WHO had been sending more medical supplies to hospitals, deploying additional emergency medical teams and striving to scale up medical evacuations.

He warned that “the total cost for rebuilding the Gaza health system will be at least US$7 billion”.