Tamara Alrifai, from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has said while people are ecstatic to return to northern Gaza, vast challenges remain with about 90 per cent of buildings and public infrastructure destroyed by Israeli attacks.

“The risks of unexploded devices, particularly for children, are very high. And mostly the access to food, to daily comforts is almost non-existent except for — thankfully, over the last eight days of the ceasefire — the aid that has come in,” Alrifai told Al Jazeera.

She noted 60pc of the food that has entered Gaza since the ceasefire began was brought in by UNRWA, the largest humanitarian agency working in the Strip.

“UNRWA has the largest number of trucks, the warehouses, and the shelters with up to one million people inside them. We have the acceptance by the communities in Gaza. We coordinated closely with other UN agencies and international NGOs when our food and other supplies were banned and not coming in.”