Hello, you're very welcome to Long Reeds, a Jakuban podcast where we look in depth of political topics and thinkers.

My name's Daniel Finn and the features editor here at Jakuban and I'll be presenting the show.

Last week, the first stage of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and the Israeli government went into effect with an exchange of hostages.

Thousand trucks entered, but still the needs are huge.

Al Jazeera carried this report on January 21st

about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza after more than a year of Israeli bombardment.

And we are waiting for the return of hundreds of thousands of people.

Hospitals in particular are in desperate need of supplies,

with doctors struggling to treat a rising number of patients, especially children.

Hospitals were already suffering from the blockade imposed on Gaza

in deliberate prevention of

needed medical equipment. Our operating theatres are not equipped for the overwhelming

influx of injuries. We have acute shortages. We were forced many times to conduct

surgeries without anesthesia or pain medication. Gaza needs not only medical supplies,

but whole hospitals need to be set up and

well equipped. While the ceasefire has brought a pause in the violence, aid workers

warned that a humanitarian situation remains a critical. The blockade compounded by the recent

conflict has left Gaza infrastructure ruins, making it difficult to distribute aid to those in need.

Akbar Shahid Ahmed is the senior diplomatic correspondent for the Huffington Post.

He's working on a book about the Biden administration and the Israeli attack on Gaza.

Akbar was a guest on the show several times last year, and he spoke to us again on January 23rd about the ceasefire deal and what's likely to happen next.

Akbar, thanks very much for joining us again. We're speaking on January 23rd, so it's a number of days after the ceasefire agreement, the first phase of the ceasefire

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