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While the Rafah crossing with Egypt starts functioning soon, relief agencies face substantial difficulties providing supplies to northern Gaza, the area worst hit by hunger, specialists report.

Access Challenges

Primary highways are virtually unusable due to massive destruction across the war-torn region – or remain under the control of security personnel. Any vehicle that stops working is almost certainly immediately stripped.

Zikim, the main entry point to the north, devastated by multiple years of war, has been inactive for several weeks, and Israeli officials have informed humanitarian organizations in Gaza that there are no short-term arrangements to activate the border point, as stated by relief personnel.

Destruction in Northern Gaza

The main city was the objective of a significant armed campaign begun in August that was ongoing when the peace agreement was signed a week ago.

Damage in the northern area has been extensive, with entire towns including Beit Lahiya and adjacent communities in ruins as well as many of the outlying areas of the main city.

"Any operation of a access route into Gaza is positive, but we need to ensure we can reach people where they are," said a policy expert from a relief agency.

Aid Situation

Local residents said many of the estimated 300,000 people who have gone back to the northern region from the crowded shelter regions where they had been living during the military operations were now "staying" among the destruction of their homes, often without any housing and with limited food or water.

An official from a UN agency said the devastation in the northern territories was "overwhelming".

"We see neighborhood after neighborhood, building after building ... there is massive desperation for water. The situation is dire. We need all the crossings functioning," the spokesperson, who was in the urban center earlier this week, added.

Insufficient Entry

A local director located in the northern city said the necessities in what used to be the area's thriving business and community focal point were "enormous".

"People have positive expectation and faith but there needs to be immediate enhancement on the border points. There has been no substantial progress on the ground yet," the director said.

"We continue to receive a small quantity of support [and] we are just beginning to grasp the degree of devastation. Numerous roads are just full of debris ... there is almost no home that is undamaged. We see destruction and unexploded bombs throughout the area."

Ongoing Developments

In recent days, aid agencies said limited amounts of necessary propane reached Gaza for the initial occasion in many weeks, along with consignments of flour, grains and produce. The new supplies sent commercial prices decreasing.

Within a central community, a community member said there had been noticeable change since the truce.

"The markets are containing supplies, fresh goods, and fruits, although the rates are still high and not affordable for everyone," the person said.

Colder Months Needs

"The crucial necessities currently, specifically due to the coming of the cold season, are to have a temporary housing to keep us safe from the low temperatures and winter clothes because the shops do not have enough clothes for us or, if they exist, they are scarce and extremely pricey."

Multiple internationally-backed bread-making centers in mid and southern regions have restarted operations since the ceasefire.

Support Distribution

Trucks were reported to have come through the border access point through Israeli territory to Gaza during the week, though specific quantities were uncertain.

The nation's public broadcaster reported that the day's aid deliveries would include nutritional supplies, treatment resources, energy sources, propane and materials to repair essential services.

"Humanitarian aid remains flowing to the conflict region through the Kerem Shalom crossing and other crossings after safety verification," an government spokesperson stated.

Allocation Challenges

But monitoring the quantity of vehicles could be misleading, warned a specialist from a relief agency. "We must determine the materials within the vehicles and how full they are for it to be a genuinely useful measurement," the expert stated.

Private companies are dispatching groups of trucks loaded with confectionery, fizzy drinks and treats, which have poor dietary quality, while critical care for minors or others who have been without proper sustenance for an extended period are limited.

Healthcare Conditions

Within the northern urban center, only seven nutritional outpatient clinics are functioning, compared with many in July.

Various groups have millions of dollars in assistance materials stockpiled near the territory pending distribution. An international organization working with the population across the area for decades has multiple months of supplies of nutrition for the entire population in place to be delivered.

"We have the resources, the tools and the skills ... we only require the entry," said one aid worker, just returning from Gaza.

Diplomatic Factors

A proposed plan specifies that "comprehensive" support should reach Gaza and be provided through international organizations and the Red Crescent, without obstruction from any military groups or state authorities.

This seems to prevent the debated authority-approved aid group which started working in May, causing disorderly situations and numerous casualties as numerous individuals assembled around its distribution sites.

Aid officials in Gaza {told|informed