Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the humanitarian pause in Gaza fighting, which allowed the U.N. food agency and partners to provide aid to thousands of people, and he expressed hope that a long-term cease-fire would be negotiated. The five-hour cease-fire, brokered by U.N. peace-process envoy Robert Serry, "allowed people [in the Gaza Strip] to resume some daily routines and start repairs to electrical and water infrastructure," while civilians in Israel "had a reprieve from rocket fire," Ban's office said in a statement. The U.N. chief appreciated that the pause "has mostly been respected by all parties," and said it demonstrates that a cessation of hostilities is possible "if all the parties demonstrate the necessary will and put the interests of civilians, who have borne the brunt of this escalation, first," the statement said. The secretary-general expressed support for international efforts, led by Egypt, for a sustainable cease-fire, and he voiced hope that Thursday's humanitarian pause could lead to a "more durable calm." The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said it took advantage of the five-hour break in violence to transport food, including wheat flour, bread, and canned tuna, from its warehouses ready for distribution to 85,000 people in the next days as security conditions permit. "The food needs in Gaza are urgent," said WFP country director Pablo Recalde. "We are seeing the effectiveness of WFP's food assistance programs, which provides the opportunity for a rapid response and flexibility to scale-up emergency food assistance if the need arises."
