The World Health Organisation has said it was ready to pour much-needed aid into Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, but that it would need “systematic access” across the territory to do so, AFP reports.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the ceasefire, posting on social media that it would “bring great hope for millions of people whose lives have been ravaged by the conflict”.

But he added that “addressing the massive health needs and restoring the health system in Gaza will be a complex and challenging task, given the scale of destruction, operational complexity and constraints involved”.

While the United Nations’ health body was “ready to scale up the response” to address the territory’s critical needs, it said in a statement that “it is critical that the security obstacles hindering operations are removed”.

“WHO will need conditions on the ground that allow systematic access to the population across Gaza, enabling the influx of aid via all possible borders and routes, and lifting restrictions on the entry of essential items,” the agency said in a statement.