Israel announces 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza amid humanitarian crisis
Activity in Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City will be halted from 10am to 8pm local time every day until further notice, beginning on Sunday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
They said they were not operating in those areas, but there has been fighting and strikes in each in recent weeks.
They added it would also designate secure routes that would be to help aid agencies deliver food and other supplies to people across Gaza, and that they were prepared to expand the scale of these efforts "as required".
The announcement comes after months of warnings of famine amid Israeli restrictions on aid.
International criticism, including by close allies, has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach food distribution sites.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that malnutrition in Gaza is "surging", with nearly one in three people not eating for days at a time.
At least nine Palestinians have died from starvation in the past 24 hours, according to the director general of Gaza's health ministry. Two of them were children.
The health ministry says 85 children have died from malnutrition in the past three weeks.
On Saturday, Israel said it would begin dropping aid packages into Gaza, as well as opening humanitarian corridors for UN convoys.
'The humanitarian airdrop operation will be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations and the IDF, led by COGAT and the IAF,' the IDF said in a statement.
'The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organisations.'
The UK also confirmed they are working with Jordan on plans to air drop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer held emergency talks with his European counterparts, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, on Saturday.
In a readout of the call, Number 10 said the leaders had agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace'.
However, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA warned that aid drops are a "distraction" and they will "not reverse the deepening starvation".
In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini said: "Air drops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.
"It is a distraction & screensmoke.
"A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.
"Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need".
Judith Escribano, UK Director of Communications at Médecins Sans Frontières, also warned that air drops only tend to "benefit the strongest who can run the fastest and carry the most".
"We need the UK Government to put pressure on Israel to lift the blockade so the trucks at the border can deliver aid in an efficient manner to those who need it most," she told ITV News.
"Air drops are not enough to address starvation faced by people in Gaza, including our staff and patients."
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Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
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Reuters
2 hours ago
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What will it take to stave off famine in Gaza?
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