Israel’s military says airdrops of aid will begin in Gaza as hunger grows

DEIR AL-BALAH Gaza Strip AP Israel s military stated that airdrops of aid would begin Saturday night in Gaza and humanitarian corridors will be established for United Nations convoys after increasing accounts of starvation-related deaths The comment late Saturday followed months of experts warnings of famine amid Israeli restrictions on aid International criticism including by close allies has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in latest weeks while trying to reach food distribution sites The military report did not say where the airdrops or humanitarian corridors would be It also noted the military is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas Israel s foreign ministry revealed late Saturday the humanitarian pauses would start Sunday in civilian centers along with humanitarian corridors The military emphasizes that combat operations have not ceased in Gaza against Hamas and it asserted there is no starvation in the territory where preponderance of the population of over million has been displaced into a shrinking area with little infrastructure The majority of people rely on aid Witness accounts from Gaza have been grim Specific fitness workers are so weakened by hunger that they put themselves on IV drips to keep treating the badly malnourished Parents have shown their limp and emaciated children Wounded men have described desperate dashes for aid under gunfire The military announcement mentioned airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations It was not clear where they would be carried out And it wasn t clear what role the of late created and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation meant as an alternate to the U N aid system might play GHF chair Johnnie Moore in a comment noted the group stood ready to assist At least killed Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday the bulk of them shot dead while seeking aid according to Palestinian strength personnel and the local ambulance operation Deadly Israeli gunfire was shared twice close to the Zikim traversing with Israel in the north In the first situation at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed stated staff at Shifa hospital where bodies were taken Israel s military revealed it fired warning shots to distance a crowd in response to an immediate threat A witness Sherif Abu Aisha stated people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks but as they got close they realized it was Israel s tanks That s when the army started firing he communicated The Associated Press He commented his uncle was among those killed We went because there is no food and nothing was distributed he revealed On Saturday evening Israeli forces killed at least people and wounded others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering U N convoy Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiyah director of Shifa hospital advised the AP We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next sparse hours he announced There was no immediate military comment AP video revealed a group of weary Palestinian men carrying a body along with sacks of flour They explained he was hit by a truck but had no details You die to fetch several food for your children reported one man Fayez Abu Riyala thin and sweating In the southern city of Khan Younis Israeli forces shot dead at least nine people trying to get aid entering through the Morag corridor according to the hospital s morgue records There was no immediate military comment Elsewhere those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City and at least eight including four children in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in Khan Younis hospitals reported Turning to airdrops with a warning The airdrops were requested by neighboring Jordan and a Jordanian official announced they mainly will drop food and milk formula The United Arab Emirates declared airdrops would start straightaway Britain explained it plans to work with partners to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medicinal assistance But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini warned that airdrops are expensive inefficient and can even kill starving civilians and won t reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion While Israel s army has mentioned it allows aid into the enclave with no limit on the trucks that can enter the U N says it is hampered by military restrictions on its movements and criminal looting The Hamas-run police had provided safeguard for aid delivery but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by airstrikes Israel on Saturday announced over trucks carrying aid from the U N and other organizations entered Gaza this week About trucks entered per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March Israel faces growing international pressure More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war harshly criticizing Israel s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out More than Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food mostly near the new aid sites run by the GHF an American contractor the U N human rights office says The charities and rights groups declared their own staff struggled to get enough food Inside Gaza children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death We only want enough food to end our hunger disclosed Wael Shaaban at a charity kitchen in Gaza City as he tried to feed his family of six Meanwhile an activist boat trying to reach Gaza with aid the Handala livestreamed video showing Israeli forces boarding around midnight There was no immediate Israeli comment Stalled ceasefire talks Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the U S and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Friday his leadership was considering alternative options to talks A Hamas official however revealed negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the delegations recall a pressure tactic Egypt and Qatar which mediate alongside the United States declared talks would resume but did not say when Our loved ones do not have time for another round of negotiations and they will not survive another partial deal noted Zahiro Shahar Mor nephew of hostage Avraham Munder one of still in Gaza from Hamas attack on Oct that sparked the war Mor spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv More than Palestinians have been killed during the war according to Gaza s Wellness Ministry Its count doesn t distinguish between militants and civilians but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children The ministry operates under the Hamas executive The U N and other international organizations see it as the preponderance reliable source of evidence on casualties