In the face of global anger, Israel announces planned humanitarian pause in civilian centres to enable aid distribution.
The Israeli military has killed dozens of people in Gaza as the starvation crisis in the territory deepens amid an international outcry, with more Palestinians dying of malnutrition.
Medical sources told media that Israeli attacks killed at least 71 people across Gaza on Saturday, including 42 desperately seeking aid.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza also said that hospitals have recorded five more deaths due to hunger caused by the Israeli blockade of the enclave, bringing the total death toll from malnutrition to 127 since the war began. The victims include 85 children.
With anger across the world mounting over the crisis, Israel announced late on Saturday that it would implement a pause to its assault “in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors to enable the distribution of aid supply” on Sunday.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify which specific areas would see a “humanitarian pause”.
The ministry also again blamed the United Nations for failing to distribute assistance in Gaza, a claim that has been rejected by both the UN and multiple aid and rights groups.
UN officials have said that this Israeli talking point is false, stressing that they have not received the necessary permits to safely distribute aid in the besieged enclave.
But humanitarian experts have been warning since last year that airdrops are dangerous to people on the ground and cannot serve as a substitute for safe land routes to distribute food and medical supplies.
Earlier on Saturday, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, called airdrops an expensive, inefficient “distraction” that would “not reverse the deepening starvation”.
Lazzarini called for Israel to “lift the siege, open the gates [and] guarantee safe movements [and] dignified access to people in need”.
Reporting from Gaza City, media’s Hani Mahmoud raised questions over the newly announced Israeli steps.
He said the airdrops’ effect is “equivalent to none”.
Airdrops’ effect is ‘equivalent to none’
“We’re talking about only seven pallets of aid filled with flour and other basic necessities. That’s almost the load of one truck, or half of a truck, coming from the crossings into the Gaza Strip,” Mahmoud said.
He cited witnesses who said the airdrops took place near a restricted military area in northern Gaza, making retrieving them in the dark especially difficult.
Equally, Israel’s plan to allow for so-called “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza starting on Sunday will have no major effect on the starvation crisis, Mahmoud said.
“Again, this is not a solution when we talk about passing the tipping point of this enforced starvation, and according to medical sources we spoke to earlier today, they confirmed that at this point we’re going to see mass scale starvation mortality,” he said.
As starvation spreads, Israel has pressed on with its daily bombardment of Gaza.
At least six people were killed in an Israeli drone attack on a tent camp in al-Mawasi near Khan Younis on Saturday. The area designated as a safe zone by Israel has come under constant deadly attack by its forces.
Meanwhile, the Civil Defence agency in Gaza says none of its vehicles will be able to offer lifesaving services soon due to disrepair and lack of fuel, calling on the international community to act.
“We stress the need for an urgent intervention to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to allow fuel and repair parts for vehicles to enter,” the Civil Defence said in a statement.
While some Western countries have made strongly-worded statements against Israel’s policies in Gaza, advocates have been calling for real consequences to ensure accountability and deter further Israeli abuses. Punitive sanctions against Israel have been raised as possibilities.
Shortly after making its airdrops announcement, the Israeli military raided a ship of international activists carrying baby formula, food and medical supplies to Gaza.
A livestream showed Israeli soldiers boarding and intercepting the Handala vessel with 19 activists onboard. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the aid ship, said the vessel was violently seized in international waters.
“The unarmed boat was carrying life-saving supplies when it was boarded by Israeli forces, its passengers abducted, and its cargo seized,” the coalition said in a statement. “The interception occurred in international waters outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, in violation of international maritime law.”
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