James Elder tells Al Jazeera that “the situation remains dire” in the Palestinian enclave.

He described immense humanitarian need and a sense of sorrow that have taken root in the Gaza Strip after weeks of Israeli bombardment and mass civilian casualties.

UNICEF, Elder said, is busy distributing as much aid in Gaza as possible during the now four-day-old truce. “What’s coming in are the right things,” he said. “Cooking gas, but queues are a kilometere long – flour, water, fuel, medicines.”

He said deliveries remain insufficient, however, “after seven weeks of utter horror”.

Going forward, he said his organisation is asking for more crossings into Gaza to be opened in order to “multiply aid”, and for this pause in fighting to turn into a permanent ceasefire.

“There are three things people consistently seem to ask for [in Gaza], that is: water, and food, and peace.”

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