The World Food Programme said on Thursday it had 80,000 tons of food, enough to feed more than a million people, waiting to be allowed into Gaza.

The UN programme stressed that reaching a ceasefire gives some hope, and called for ensuring that humanitarian supplies and humanitarian workers reach those in need without hindrance.

Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange, announced on Wednesday after arduous negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, and is scheduled to go into effect next Sunday.

This comes at a time when aid organizations said they plan to rapidly expand their operations in the Gaza Strip once the agreed ceasefire comes into effect.

The International Rescue Committee's president, David Miliband, said the organization would expand the "scale and impact" of its work in the Gaza Strip "as circumstances permit."

"The effects of this war will last for a long time, but there is an urgent need to increase the flow of immediate relief to civilians," Miliband added.

For her part, Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), stressed that the scale of humanitarian needs in Gaza is "enormous."

UNICEF estimates that there are currently around 17,000 children who have lost or been separated from their parents, and around 1 million children no longer have homes to live in.