Israel allows aid to trickle into Gaza after widespread condemnation of blockade
The Israeli army on Sunday said the pause will take place daily in Al Mawasi, Deir Al Balah, and Gaza city, from 10am (0700 GMT) to 8pm (1700 GMT) until further notice, the military said.
'This decision was co-ordinated with the UN and international organisations following discussions regarding the matter,' it said.
Israel said it began aid airdrops to Gaza on Saturday and that it would establish "humanitarian corridors" for UN convoys to deliver aid. This marks the first Israeli air drop of aid since the war began.
Gaza's health ministry on Saturday said 127 people had died of malnutrition and starvation.
Dozens of lorries carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid that have been waiting for Israeli permission to enter the enclave where mass starvation has been on the rise moved towards the Karam Abu Salem crossing in southern Gaza, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News reported.
International aid groups have been repeatedly warning for months that mass hunger was spreading among Gaza with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies in March. Most of the aid distribution has been handled by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since May, the site of deadly violence.
Western countries have condemned Israel's 'drip feeding of aid' and have called the Israeli aid delivery model dangerous. More than 1,000 aid seekers have been killed since May.
H umanitarian organisations say many warehouses filled with aid are just outside the territory and subject to Israeli entry controls. For warehouses inside Gaza, the NGOs are blocked from accessing and delivering the supplies, they say.
Israel has also denied the claims of large-scale starvation, accusing Hamas of looting aid and blocking its distribution. But the UN says Israel's restrictions and rejections of permits are the main reason for mounting stockpiles at border crossings.
An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation.
Israel's announcement on airdrops and military pause came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha with Hamas were broken off.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the airdrops would be conducted in co-ordination with international aid organisations and would include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food.
Israel said it would also allow the UAE and Jordan to resume dropping humanitarian supplies.
The UAE on Saturday also announced it would resume air drops of aid into Gaza as the humanitarian situation reaches a 'critical and unprecedented level', Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said.
Up until last year, the UAE dropped thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid, food and relief supplies into Gaza as part of the country's Birds of Goodness operation.
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