Amid hopes of a deal to extend the pause in fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported that humanitarian assistance had reached its shelters in northern Gaza for first time since war erupted last month.

'As we drove through Gaza City it was like a ghost town; all the streets were deserted,' said Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza. 'The impact of heavy airstrikes and shelling was so visible. Roads are riddled with craters, complicating aid deliveries.'