UN ‘dealing with obstacles’ to get 190,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza
Senior UN officials say aid access through border crossings remains the main obstacle to allowing 190,000 metric tonnes of aid into Gaza.
“The key obstacles that we need to resolve [are] making sure that we have sufficient crossings. We have sufficient supplies. We need to just make sure that the access is facilitated,” said Samer Abdeljaber, the World Food Programme’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.
“We need to make sure there is law and order in Gaza to make sure that our teams can move freely, and the trucks flow inside the compound.”
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said teams have been working in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh “to get the political agreements in place … and ensure we’ve got that really strong international solidarity for what we do”.
“We’ve waited so long for this moment,” Fletcher said. “We have 190,000 metric tonnes on the borders, and we’re trying to get those borders open. But we’re also right now dealing with obstacles that we face.”
US discussing Gaza ‘stabilisation force’ with 5 countries: Report
Planning is under way for an international stabilisation force to go into Gaza, the Reuters news agency reports.
“Right now what we’re looking to accomplish is just a basic stabilization of the situation. The international stabilization force is starting to be constructed,” it quoted an unnamed “senior US adviser” as saying.
Among the countries the US is speaking to about contributing to the force are Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Azerbaijan, another unidentified official said.
“What we’ve said very clearly is that aid is going in, but no rebuilding money will go into areas that Hamas controls,” the adviser said. “We’re looking at starting to rebuild in areas that right now are Hamas-free, terror-free zones.”
Gaza ceasefire to be welcomed, but ‘misguided to call it peace’
Tony Karon, the editorial lead at AJ+, explains why Trump’s Gaza plan – despite being billed as a “peace plan” – doesn’t actually offer peace for Palestinians in the enclave.
Instead, he says it marks a pause in the violence and a return to Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Trump’s “peace plan” doesn’t offer peace for Palestinians in Gaza. It’s just a pause in the violence and a return to occupation and apartheid. AJ+ Editorial Lead @TonyKaron unpacks. pic.twitter.com/i936Q7uuIA
— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 15, 2025
