United Nations, January 16 (RHC)-- United Nations agencies and humanitarian groups are said to be ready to send emergency aid into Gaza, with news of a pending ceasefire which is slated to go into effect on Sunday.

UN officials and agencies reacted with hope to the reports of a ceasefire deal.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agreement will bring respite for the people of Gaza and the Israeli captives and called for rapid and unhindered access to respond to the “tremendous suffering caused by this war.”

The World Food Programme says it is poised to roll out assistance to more than one million people in Gaza but needs all border crossings open and for humanitarian teams to be able to move freely and safely across the enclave.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he is “hugely relieved” by the news and “emphasized the need to pursue accountability and justice for the grave violations and abuses which have been committed.”

UNICEF executive director, Catherine Russell, says the deal is “long overdue for the children and families of Gaza” as well as the Israeli captives held in the territory.  She noted that the war has exacted a “horrific toll” on Gaza’s children, having killed at least 14,500 of them.

Muhannad Hadi, the top UN aid official for Palestine, says the UN “stands ready to support this agreement and maximize the scale-up of humanitarian relief as best it can to Palestinians who have, for too long, been enduring unbearable, life-threatening conditions.”

The International Organization for Migration called for unimpeded humanitarian access and said it is ready to deliver shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to Palestinians displaced by the war.