The United Nations’ Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, urged governments and partners to stop delaying support for Gaza, according to a UN News report published Wednesday. UN News said member states and partners have repeatedly delayed sending their support to the territory.
Fletcher said foreign ministers and partners had assured him of support. He said they also told him progress would be hard until after Israeli elections, and that “Now we’re told to wait for the formation of a Government.” He said this is not an acceptable excuse under international humanitarian law, and that the international community and the Board of Peace have made that clear.
According to UN News, winter is underway in Gaza, with freezing temperatures and harsh storms that collapse or flood the tents where thousands of people live. Fletcher said the risk is needless, because this weather is not a threat where decent shelter exists. He said it would not be such a threat if decent tents and essential winter supplies had been delivered.
Fletcher said the UN has a clear plan listing the supplies that need to enter Gaza, and that they were needed weeks ago. He said each delay costs lives. The list covers durable shelter, warm clothes, blankets, bedding and safe heating. It also includes generators, fuel, engine oil, spare parts, and equipment to pump out water, remove debris and clear explosive ordnance.
Fletcher called for all crossings to open, not just one. He also asked that aid groups be allowed to work, that commercial markets be allowed to function, and that the plan be funded. He urged an end to what he called “collective punishment.”
Separately, the UN’s labour agency, the International Labour Organization (ILO), called on international partners on Wednesday to give more money to a recovery plan centered on jobs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said humanitarian aid alone cannot restore livelihoods, essential services or the institutions needed for lasting recovery.
UN News reported that Gaza lost 252,000 jobs between the third quarters of 2023 and 2025. It said unemployment reached 85.1% and labour income losses totaled $2.77 billion, with women and young people facing especially limited prospects.
The ILO’s Decent Work and Recovery Programme supports emergency employment, business recovery, social protection and labour institutions. UN News said that over the past three years it has helped generate about 130,000 paid workdays and contributed to social allowances reaching more than 30,000 older people and people with disabilities.