The United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says that continuous humanitarian assistance is needed for the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA commissioner Philippe Lazzarini said that "meaningful and uninterrupted" aid was needed for the Palestinian enclave, adding that the assistance received since Saturday when aid trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza amounted to "crumbs."
"The current system in place is geared to fail. What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. And to succeed, we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need," he stressed during a press conference in Jerusalem.
He confirmed that 57 of the agency's staff had been killed during Israel's war with Hamas.
Lazzarini also discussed the credibility of the death toll provided by the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip.
"In the past, the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip, these figures were considered as credible, and no-one ever really challenged these figures," he said.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he has "no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using" for the death toll in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, said in a separate statement that another eight trucks carrying food, medicine and water are expected to cross into the Gaza Strip on Friday.
"We have gotten in approximately 74 trucks. We're expecting another eight or so today," she said.
