Israel announces humanitarian pause in fighting in parts of Gaza as at least 57 people killed in overnight strikes
Aid trucks have started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV says
At least 57 people were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, health authorities said as Israel announced a brief pause in military activity.
The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, The Guardian reported.
The Israeli military announced on Sunday a pause in military activity in three designated areas of Gaza. The pause will take place daily in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, from 10am (0700GMT) to 8 pm (1700 GMT) until further notice, the military said. Designated secure routes will also be in place permanently from 6am until 11pm, it added.
Aid trucks have started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave. The UN and experts say that Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine, with reports of increasing numbers of people dying from causes related to malnutrition.
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese was among those accusing Israel of breaching international law in blocking aid into Gaza, warning that his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, was losing support internationally. International activists who set sail on an aid ship from Italy to Gaza said in a post on X that their vessel had been intercepted.
Israel said "humanitarian corridors" would be established for the safe movement of United Nations convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that "humanitarian pauses" would be implemented in densely populated areas.
And now, for the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops with British prime minister Keir Starmer saying the UK was “working urgently” with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza.
"The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organisations," the military said.
However, the UN has condemned the move, calling air drops a “distraction and a smokescreen” that risked causing more harm.
“Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation. They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction & smokescreen,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a post on X.
“A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will. Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements with dignified access to people in need,” Mr Lazzarini said.
Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, including 85 children, since the start of the war, which began nearly two years ago.
Those killed by Israeli airstrikes on Saturday before the ‘humanitarian pause’ included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff said.
The latest strikes came as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas hit a standstill. The US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of peace talks into further uncertainty.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas, without going into specifics.
Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating the talks alongside the US, said the pause in peace talks was only temporary and that diplomacy would resume, though they did not say when.
In the UK, Sir Keir is facing growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state after French president Emannuel Macron indicated he would do so in September.
The British prime minister is set to meet US president Donald Trump on Monday, when Gaza will likely be among the topics they discuss behind closed doors.