HAMILTON, Canada

The UN reported on Monday that more than 300,000 people were observed moving from the southern Gaza Strip to the north in recent days as the ceasefire continues to ease access restrictions across the enclave.

"From Friday until yesterday, our colleagues monitoring displacement recorded nearly 310,000 movements of people from southern to northern Gaza and about 23,000 movements in other directions," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said during a news conference.

"Humanitarians are now able to move more easily in many areas, and so our teams are reaching people in places that had been cut off for up to several months," Haq said, adding: "With the easing of movement and access restrictions in multiple places, we were able to pre-position medical and emergency supplies where they are needed most and assess key roads for explosive hazards."

Haq also announced that "the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, today allocated an additional $11 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the immediate scale-up of humanitarian operations in Gaza ahead of winter."

"This follows last week’s $9 million allocation to ensure sufficient fuel supplies to keep life-saving services running across the Strip, bringing total recent CERF funding for Gaza to $20 million," he added.

Fletcher warned that "without fresh contributions to CERF, critical aid cannot keep flowing to people who rely on it," according to Haq.

Under the initial 60-day humanitarian plan, he said: "The UN and our partners will deliver life-saving assistance and services to people across the Strip, wherever they need our support," including food, water, healthcare, shelter, hygiene items, and protection services.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip. The first phase of the deal came into force on Friday.

Phase two of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a multinational force, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,800 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.