At least 57 people were killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours alone, with the total death toll nearing 60,000, according to the strip’s ministry of health, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled.
The majority of victims were allegedly killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, The Guardian reported. It was earlier reported that Israeli airstrikes and shootings overnight killed at least 25 people.
Aid trucks have started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said that it began aid airdrops to Gaza and was taking several other steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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.
French president Emannuel Macron expressed intent last week to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN General Assembly.
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese accused Israel of breaching international law in blocking aid into Gaza, warning that his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, was “losing support” internationally.
For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by Jordan, with British prime minister Keir Starmer writing in a newspaper article on Saturday that the UK was “working urgently” with Jordan to get British aid into Gaza.
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.
The Israeli military also confirmed that it resumed airdrops of aid on Saturday night.
“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 condemned the move, calling it a “distraction and a smokescreen”.
“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.
