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.
“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 trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid moved towards the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, according to Egypt’s Al Qahera News TV.
However, Israel stressed that “combat operations have not ceased” in the Gaza Strip despite humanitarian steps.
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.
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 included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff said.
The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams on Thursday, throwing the future of peace talks into further uncertainty.
Netanyahu said he was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas.
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.
For desperate Palestinians, a ceasefire can’t come soon enough.
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.
While Israel’s army says it’s allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the number of trucks that can enter, the UN says it is hampered by Israeli military restrictions on its movements and incidents of criminal looting.
The Zikim crossing shootings come days after at least 79 Palestinians were killed trying to reach aid entering through the same crossing. Israel’s military said at the time its soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians who posed a threat, and that it was aware of some casualties.
Israel continues to face increased international pressure to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 charity and human rights groups calling for an end to the war and harshly criticising Israel’s blockade.
The charities and rights groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food
