The World Health Organization has warned malnutrition has reached “alarming levels” in Gaza with rates on a “dangerous trajectory”, as aid airdrops resumed in the Strip.
Jordan said it had worked with the United Arab Emirates and dropped 25 tonnes of aid into Gaza on Sunday after Israel began what it called a “tactical pause” in fighting.
Israel had said it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow aid corridors for UN convoys, to “refute the false claim of intentional starvation”. Hamas accused it of “whitewashing its image”.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher confirmed on Sunday that some movement restrictions appeared to have been eased by Israel.
In a statement, reported by the Reuters news agency, Fletcher said that initial reports indicated that more than 100 truckloads of aid were collected from crossings to be transported into Gaza.
“This is progress,” he said, “but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis.”
On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had airdropped seven packages of aid consisting of flour, sugar and canned food.
Meanwhile, medics reported nine killed and 54 injured by Israeli fire near an aid convoy route in central Gaza. An airstrike also hit a residential block an hour after a pause came into effect on Saturday.
Local sources told the BBC that nine people were shot in the Netzarim Corridor along Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, where scores of civilians had gathered in anticipation of UN aid convoys.
The IDF said its troops “fired warning shots” at a “gathering of suspects” approaching them. It said it was not aware of any casualties.
Meanwhile, BBC Verify geolocated an airstrike at Midhat Al-Wahidy Street in Al-Rimal district of western Gaza City – which Israel had designated an hour earlier as an area where operations would cease.
The verification was based on witness reports and two geolocated videos published on Sunday. The IDF said it was not aware of a strike upon checking the coordinates.
EPAThe UN’s World Food Programme has said a third of Gaza’s two million population do not eat for several days at a time, and every one in four is “enduring famine-like conditions”.
More than 100 people died from malnutrition over recent days, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Hundreds have been killed by gunfire, according to the ministry, as they attempted to get food from distribution points run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Israel has denied targeting civilians.
US President Donald Trump said he would send more aid to Gaza, but added this was “an international problem – it’s not a US problem”.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Whilst air drops will help to alleviate the worst of the suffering, land routes serve as the only viable and sustainable means of providing aid into Gaza.”
EPAGaza’s residents have cautiously welcomed reports of a temporary humanitarian pause.
“Of course I feel a bit of hope again, but also worried that starvation would continue once the pause is over,” Rasha Al-Sheikh Khalil, a mother of four in Gaza City, told the BBC.
Neveen Saleh, a mother of six, said her family hadn’t eaten “a single fresh fruit or vegetable in four months”.
“There’s no chicken, no meat, no eggs,” she said. “All we have are canned foods that are often expired, and flour.”
Imad Kudaya, a local journalist from southern Gaza, said most of the air drop packages had fallen in demilitarised places – areas evacuated and under Israeli control – so “if you go there you will put yourself in a very big risk”.
Israel’s war with Hamas remained ongoing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would “continue to fight”, saying: “We will continue to act until we achieve all of our war goals – until complete victory.”
The exiled head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said on Sunday that ceasefire negotiations with Israel were “meaningless under continued blockade and starvation”.
On Sunday, the UN’s World Food Programme said it welcomed Israel’s latest move, but that there would need to be a “surge” in aid to reach hungry people without delay. Unicef also said more humanitarian corridors would be needed.
Netanyahu insisted the UN had unfairly blamed his government for the crisis. “There are secure routes. There have always been, but today it’s official,” he said.
Under the new measures, Israel said it would suspend fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery.
The IDF said corridors for aid convoys would allow the UN and other organisations to deliver food and medicine into Gaza.
Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run ministry.
