Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have parachuted aid into the Gaza Strip, as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory deepens.
Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations each day for 10 hours in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors into the strip.
The country has been facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.
Military activity will stop from 10am to 8pm until further notice in Al-Mawasi, a designated humanitarian area which stretches along the coast, in central Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, to the north.
The military said designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6am and 11pm starting from Sunday.
Jordan and the UAE parachuted 25 tons of aid, in the first air drop in months. Palestinian health officials in Gaza City said at least 10 people were injured by falling aid boxes.
The United Nations’ food agency welcomed the steps to ease aid restrictions, but said a broader ceasefire was needed to ensure goods reached everyone in need in Gaza. Unicef called it “an opportunity to save lives.”
Dr Muneer al-Boursh, director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, called for a flood of medical supplies and other goods to help treat child malnutrition.
“This (humanitarian) truce will mean nothing if it doesn’t turn into a real opportunity to save lives,” he said. “Every delay is measured by another funeral.”
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said staff would step up efforts to feed the hungry during the pauses in the designated areas.
“Our teams on the ground … will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,” he said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, health officials at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli firing killed at least 17 people and wounded 50 people waiting for aid trucks on Sunday. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Gaza health ministry reported six new deaths over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition, bringing the total number of deaths from malnutrition and hunger to 133 including 87 children.
Israel is facing increased international pressure to end the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza as US-led peace talks in Qatar were cut short on Thursday.
Washington’s special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”.
The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Aid supplies would be ramped up, and the two sides would negotiate on a lasting truce under the deal.
