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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israel declared a “tactical pause” in fighting in parts of Gaza on Sunday and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

The military also said it had begun air-dropping food into the territory and angrily rejected allegations it was using starvation as a weapon against Palestinian civilians.

In a statement, the army said it coordinated its decisions with the UN and international organizations to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip.”

There was no immediate official response from the UN or non-governmental aid agencies operating in Gaza, and privately skeptical humanitarian sources said they were waiting to see the results on the ground of the Israeli announcement.

The pause in fighting would be limited to areas where the military says Israeli troops are not currently operating — Al-Mawasi, Deir El-Balah and Gaza City — and last from 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) until 8:00 p.m. every day.

But the Israeli statement added that “designated secure routes” had been opened across all of Gaza to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine.

The Israeli military said these operations, alongside its ongoing campaign against Palestinian armed groups, should disprove “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.”

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.

Before Israel announced the airborne delivery of seven pallets of food, the United Arab Emirates had said it would restart aid drops and Britain said it would work with partners including Jordan to assist them.

On Saturday alone, the Palestinian civil defense agency said over 50 more Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes and shootings, some as they waited near aid distribution centers.

“We ask God and our Arab brothers to work harder to reach a ceasefire before we all die,” Gaza resident Hossam Sobh said, adding that he had feared death as he recovered a bag of flour under the nose of an Israeli tank.

Also on Saturday, Israeli troops boarded a boat carrying activists from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as it attempted to approach Gaza from the sea to challenge a naval blockade.

The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with more than 100 NGOs warning this week that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza.

On Telegram, the Israeli military announced it “carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.”

Humanitarian chiefs are deeply skeptical that air drops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the deepening hunger crisis facing Gaza’s more than two million inhabitants.

But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the idea, vowing to work with Jordan to restart air drops. The United Arab Emirates said it would resume air drops “immediately.”

A number of Western and Arab governments carried out air drops in Gaza in 2024, when aid deliveries by land also faced Israeli restrictions, but many in the humanitarian community consider them ineffective.

“Air drops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”

Israel’s military insists it does not limit the number of trucks going into Gaza, and alleges that UN agencies and relief groups are not collecting aid once it is inside the territory.

But humanitarian organizations accuse the army of imposing excessive restrictions, while tightly controlling road access within Gaza.

A separate aid operation is under way through the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

But it has faced fierce international criticism after Israeli fire killed hundreds of Palestinians near distribution points.

On Saturday evening, the live feed on the Handala boat belonging to pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla showed Israeli troops boarding the vessel.

The soldiers moved in as the boat approached Gaza and three video live feeds of the scene broadcasting online were cut minutes later.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Aid trucks started moving toward 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 on Saturday and was taking several other steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Israeli military said “humanitarian corridors” would be established for safe movement of United Nations convoys delivering aid to Gazans and that “humanitarian pauses” would be implemented in densely populated areas.

Dozens of trucks carrying tons of humanitarian aid moved toward the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, the Al Qahera correspondent said from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

International aid organizations say there is mass hunger among Gaza’s 2.2 million people, with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, before resuming it in May with new restrictions.

Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it. The United Nations says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions.

Israel’s announcement on airdrops came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations and would include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food.

Palestinian sources confirmed that aid had begun dropping in northern Gaza.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the military would “apply a ‘humanitarian pause’ in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors” on Sunday morning. It provided no further details.

“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,” the Israeli military said in its Saturday statement.

“Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the UN and international aid organizations. Therefore, the UN and international organizations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.”

Aid ship intercepted

The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, “combat operations have not ceased” in the Gaza Strip.

Separately, international activists on an aid ship that set sail from Italy en route to Gaza said in a post on X that the vessel had been intercepted.

The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that naval forces “stopped the vessel from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza,” that it was being taken to Israeli shores and all passengers were safe.

The UN said on Thursday that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow “the scale up of humanitarian assistance” and said Israel had not provided enough route alternatives for its convoys hindering aid access.

Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry while 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, which began nearly two years ago.

On Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave.

The military also said on Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazans.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins.