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World Food Programme (WFP) trucks have started crossing into Gaza [xcancel] after the ceasefire came into effect. WFP trucks will enter from Egypt and via Ashdod, Israel.

WFP welcomes the agreed ceasefire announced Wednesday (15 January). We emphasize that this is only the start – not the end – of what’s needed to reach desperate and hungry families in Gaza. WFP needs US$300 million to meet urgent needs in the enclave over the next six months.

• WFP calls on all parties to do what is in their power to halt any further fighting and ensure safe humanitarian access - the war has left more than 2 million people fully dependent on food assistance, homeless, and without any income.
• We need all border crossings open and functioning reliably. We also need humanitarian teams to be able to move freely and safely across Gaza to reach those in need.
• If these conditions are in place, WFP is ready to scale up and distribute lifesaving food for over a million people in Gaza.
• The needs in Gaza are immense. Recovery will require a full-scale humanitarian response with all agencies coming together, including UNRWA, to provide lifesaving assistance to 2 million people.

WFP has enough food pre-positioned along the borders and on its way to Gaza to feed over a million people for three months. UNRWA has enough supplies to support another million. For WFP, this includes food parcels, wheat flour, commodities for hot meals, and nutrition supplements.

• WFP is working to help revive what remains of Gaza’s economy. To support local shops and empower people with the freedom of choice, WFP plans to expand its cash and voucher assistance to 100,000 people (once commercial activity and cash liquidity allow).
• WFP will also support whatever factories remain, wheat flour mills, and shops that can resume operations.
• Using specialized teams, WFP has begun repairing and removing rubble from essential roads/key supply routes to allow for faster transportation of aid, on behalf of WFP and humanitarian partners.

• WFP can send around 1,600 trucks of food (30,200 tons) each month to facilitate distributions for over 1 million people. In order to reach everyone in need, UNRWA’s support is critical. WFP is committed to bolstering UNRWA’s food assistance delivery efforts.

If commercial supplies of food and other goods are in place, and local banks have the liquidity needed, we will also provide cash to families so they can buy food and other essentials

• WFP’s goal is to provide immediate food aid and to support local food production, re-stock bakeries, and provide nutrition supplements for thousands of children.
• To reach people and make a meaningful impact, WFP also urgently need the international community’s support with funding, so we that can increase capacity and sustain our humanitarian staffing.
• Barely any food has gone into besieged North Gaza for more than two months. Winter cold and rain are further reducing people’s ability to survive.
• Food security in Gaza has been worsening, with people becoming weaker by the day; there is almost no fresh food (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish), shops are empty, bakeries have been unable to operate, lacking fuel, flour or both.

• So far this year, WFP has only been able to reach 305,000 people in Gaza and 177,000 in the West Bank.
• With supplies inside Gaza severely strained, most of the people reached received hot meals, or significantly reduced rations.
• WFP distributed 34,683 ready-to-eat meals (RTEs) across Gaza, reaching 151,840 displaced people. Less than ten percent of the 1.675 million targeted population received assistance. In Gaza City, families received two food parcels.
• Hot meals were served from 62 kitchens to 250,000 displaced persons across Gaza.
• Due to supply shortages, no bakeries in southern and central Gaza have been operational for over a month. In Gaza City, five bakeries are open but have cut production by 50 percent due to fuel shortages, with remaining fuel expected to last only two to three days.
• In December, WFP dispatched over 14,000 metric tons of food into Gaza but faced challenges due to insecurity and looting, leading to depleted January stocks. To reach more people, WFP further reduced its rations, reaching 1.4 million people, but the majority received just one 25kg bag of wheat flour instead of the full ration of two food parcels and two bags of wheat flour.

• Currently, all three crossings into south and central Gaza (Kerem Shalom, Kissufim, and Gate 96) are open but with severely limited capacity due to insecurity, including armed looting and attacks on aid convoy routes. In the north, West Erez (Zikim) crossing is operational but can only be used to supply Gaza City. Access to North Gaza governorate has been consistently denied.
• Around 80,000 tons of food is waiting outside Gaza or on its way into Gaza (Jordan, Egypt and Ashdod) – enough to feed over a million people for three months.

His administration dissolved the departments responsible for designing policies for HIV, tuberculosis, leprosy, and hepatitis. On Tuesday, Argentine scientific societies, patient organizations, and unions organize a “Hug for Public Health” demonstration in front of the Health Ministry in Buenos Aires.

This symbolic act aims to demand the immediate delivery of medication to cancer patients and to protest the impact of recent budget cuts on healthcare. “We demand the immediate compliance with the ruling that orders the National Directorate for Direct and Compensatory Assistance (Dinadic) to regularize the delivery of medication to cancer patients and those with rare diseases,” they stated.

In Argentina, over 60 people have died due to not receiving medications from the state. This occurred after far-right President Javier Milei decided to halt the distribution of medication through the Directorate of Direct Assistance for Special Situations (Dadse), an institution that was not audited in 2024.

The secretary of the Federation of Health Professionals of the Argentine Republic (Fesprosa), Jorge Yabkowski, explained that cuts to public programs have caused dramatic situations. “Medication was cut off for over 1,000 patients. Obviously, these were critically ill patients, and the months-long suspension of their medication caused a large number of deaths,” he stated.

The National Front for the Health of People with HIV denounced that, in addition to cutting 76% of funding for people with this disease, the Milei administration dissolved the departments responsible for designing public policies for people with HIV, tuberculosis, leprosy, and hepatitis.

Turning to the humanitarian crisis, [Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs] noted that 12.7 million people will require assistance this year and urged the international community to fully support the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. The attacks “have also made the situation increasingly dangerous for the diplomatic community and international organizations,” she pointed out, stressing that diplomatic and international personnel and assets must be protected.

The Council also heard from Ukraine’s delegate, who stressed the need to counteract the Russian Federation’s “aggressive, imperialistic policies”. Recalling that one of Russian Federation President Vladimir V. Putin’s closest accomplices recently expressed the hope that “Ukraine will cease to exist in 2025,” he said this destructive ambition has guided that country’s policy for decades. It is essential to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence capabilities and dry up the Russian Federation’s oil and gas revenue streams by strengthening sanctions. That country’s “war budget for 2025 is 25 per cent bigger than last year’s”, he said, adding: “If we want to stop the war, we should cut off Putin's cash flow.”

However, the representative of the Russian Federation said that things are quickly unravelling for Kyiv. Many high-level officials are fleeing the country, he said, adding that those speaking out against Ukraine’s regime face torture. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are being pushed back, and losing thousands of soldiers. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is nervous about the danger of having fresh elections, and the fact that the United States Government could audit assistance to Ukraine and examine the scope of the corruption in his country, he said, adding that there are rumours in Kyiv that the regime is preparing a large-scale provocation for which Russian Federation will be blamed.

As for the “Washington puppeteers” of the Kyiv regime, he said, they are worried that their investment in the “anti-Russia project” is going to collapse, similar to what happened with the United States in 2021 in Afghanistan. The rhetoric of the United States and its satellites here has changed considerably, he went on to say. “Initially, they were talking about the need to ensure that Ukraine is victorious,” he said. Then they moved on to supporting the Kyiv regime as long as it takes for the Russian Federation not to be victorious. And today, the idea is to ensure that the “Ukrainian sinking ship” has a strong negotiating position, he said.

The representative of the United States countered this, stressing that “in more than 1,000 days of this reckless war of choice, Putin has failed to achieve any of his goals in Ukraine; instead, he has left Russia’s power and influence greatly diminished”. Some 700,000 Russian soldiers are dead or injured. Meanwhile, Ukraine remains “strong and defiant” as a free and sovereign democracy.

The Russian Federation’s forces have systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, “weaponizing winter” by leaving thousands of households without power, she said. They have abducted Ukrainian children and tried to erase their identities. And yet China’s exports continue to directly fuel the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine and its attacks against civilian infrastructure. “This support makes China the decisive enabler of Russia’s war,” she added.

But, China’s delegate described this as “downright lies through and through” adding that, if his country had really provided military supplies to the Russian Federation, the situation would not be where it is now. His Government has repeatedly emphasized respect for the sovereignty of and territorial integrity of all countries. The United States has used the Ukraine situation to advance its own geopolitical strategy, wanting “nothing more than a weakened and defeated Russian Federation”, he said.

The representative of the Republic of Korea said the testimonies of two soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, captured in the Kursk Oblast, clearly demonstrate that troops from that country “are engaged in combat and being dissipated as expendables”. The two soldiers were unaware of being deployed for the war against Ukraine, he said, adding that they were told they were participating in combat simulation drills. “As a native Korean speaker, I can definitively tell that those two soldiers spoke in Korean with North Korean accents,” he said. “Despite Pyongyang’s efforts to muzzle any rumors,” he said, soldiers’ families in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are fearful that their “sons and brothers are being used as slave soldiers and mere cannon fodder”.

Speakers also highlighted the humanitarian suffering, with the representative of Denmark noting that “Each passing day brings further death, destruction and hardship,” for Ukrainians. Millions struggle to secure heating, water and electricity in the cold winter months. “These are not just abstract words in a statement; these represent human lives,” she added. Somalia’s delegate stressed the need to ensure humanitarian aid, noting that 2 million children require “multisectoral assistance”, while Panama’s representative demanded that humanitarian personnel be protected. “They make herculean efforts to provide assistance to the thousands of civilians unjustly affected,” he added. Pakistan’s delegate stressed that “the solution lies in dialogue and negotiations and not on the battlefield”.