Gaza: UN Faces 'Huge Task' Providing Aid

The head of UN humanitarian operations, Tom Fletcher, who visited the devastated Gaza City today, estimates that the organization has a huge task ahead of it to provide basic services and food.

Fletcher is the first UN official to visit the area since the cessation of hostilities on October 10.

He reported that a large part of the city has been turned into a desert landscape and announced a 60-day plan to strengthen food provision (one million meals per day), rebuild the health sector, provide tents for the winter, and return children to school.

According to Hamas figures, the dead in Gaza have exceeded 68,000. Almost 500 people have died from malnutrition, with the area declared to be in a state of Catastrophic Famine since last September due to insufficient aid.

KT/NP