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Even if the access route at the Egyptian border starts functioning in the coming days, aid groups face substantial difficulties distributing supplies to Gaza City, the region worst hit by starvation, according to experts.

Access Problems

Key roads are virtually impassable due to massive destruction across the devastated territory – or remain controlled by military units. Any vehicle that stops working is probably will be instantly looted.

Zikim, the main entry point to the north, destroyed during 24 months of fighting, has been closed for several weeks, and government representatives have told NGOs in Gaza that there are no immediate plans to open the entry location, according to humanitarian staff.

Devastation in Gaza City

The main city was the focus of a significant armed campaign begun in August that was still under way when the ceasefire deal was finalized a week ago.

Damage in the north has been widespread, with entire towns including Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in ruins as well as many of the surrounding regions of the urban center.

"Any activation of a access route into Gaza is welcome, but we need to make sure we can help civilians where they are," said a senior director from a humanitarian organization.

Humanitarian Conditions

Witnesses said many of the estimated 300,000 people who have gone back to the north from the overcrowded coastal zone where they had been living during the armed conflict were now "living" among the debris of their homes, often without any shelter and with limited food or water.

An official from a humanitarian body said the destruction in northern Gaza was "overwhelming".

"There is street after street, building after building ... there is extreme need for drinking water. It's pretty harrowing. We require every border point functioning," the spokesperson, who was in Gaza City earlier this week, added.

Limited Entry

A local director working from the northern city said the necessities in what used to be the territory's bustling commercial and community focal point were "overwhelming".

"There is this optimism and hope but there needs to be immediate enhancement on the access routes. We haven't seen substantial progress on the reality yet," the representative said.

"We continue to receive a small quantity of support [and] we are only starting to grasp the degree of devastation. Numerous roads are just full of debris ... there is hardly any residence that is secure. We see destruction and unexploded bombs across the region."

Ongoing Progress

In recent days, humanitarian organizations said modest volumes of vital cooking gas reached Gaza for the first time in multiple months, along with shipments of grain products, cereal and produce. The recent deliveries sent commercial prices falling.

At a mid-region location, a civilian said there had been some improvement since the peace agreement.

"The markets are containing products, fresh goods, and produce, although the prices are remaining elevated and not accessible for everyone," the person stated.

Cold Season Requirements

"The crucial necessities at present, specifically due to the approach of winter, are to have a shelter to protect us from the cold and warm garments because the stores do not have sufficient clothing for us or, if they can be found, they are extremely limited and very expensive."

Nine organization-assisted bakeries in central and southern Gaza have begun working again since the peace agreement.

Support Transport

Trucks were stated to have come through the humanitarian corridor from Israel to Gaza during the week, though precise counts were unclear.

The nation's public broadcaster stated that the day's assistance transports would include nutritional supplies, medical supplies, petroleum products, cooking gas and equipment to restore vital infrastructure.

"Relief supplies continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the humanitarian corridor and additional routes after security checks," an military representative stated.

Distribution Challenges

But monitoring the number of trucks could be inaccurate, warned an expert from a humanitarian organization. "It's crucial to understand the materials within the vehicles and their capacity levels for it to be a genuinely useful metric," the expert added.

Business entities are dispatching convoys of transports containing sweets, fizzy drinks and treats, which have minimal health benefits, while urgent medical support for minors or people who have been without sufficient nutrition for two years are unavailable.

Healthcare Status

Throughout the main city, only a handful of nutritional outpatient clinics are functioning, compared with 45 in earlier this year.

Many agencies have substantial resources worth of supplies stored in the region awaiting entry. A UN agency supporting the population across the region for many years has extended provisions of nutrition for the entire population ready to be delivered.

"We maintain the resources, the instruments and the expertise ... we simply must have the entry," said a humanitarian staff member, just returning from Gaza.

Governmental Aspects

A proposed plan outlines that "full" aid should reach Gaza and be provided through international organizations and relief organizations, without interference from any armed factions or state authorities.

This appears to exclude the debated authority-approved humanitarian organization which started working in May, resulting in uncontrolled circumstances and multiple fatalities as large groups of people assembled around its distribution sites.

Humanitarian workers in Gaza {told|informed