**Aid Flows into Gaza as Israel Announces Temporary Pause in Fighting**
In a bid to alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation, Jordan and the UAE have dropped aid convoys into Gaza after Israel announced it would cease military operations for 10 hours each day. However, the pause was met with skepticism by aid agencies and Palestinian residents, who fear that the crisis will persist once the temporary measures end.
**Aid Convoys Face Obstacles**
Despite the announcement of a humanitarian pause, a lorry convoy from Egypt arrived in Gaza on Sunday, while another one is expected to arrive from Jordan. However, medics reported nine people killed and 54 wounded by Israeli fire near an aid convoy route in central Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed their troops fired warning shots at suspects approaching them, but were unaware of any casualties.
**Air Strikes Continue**
In a separate incident, the BBC Verify team geolocated an airstrike to Midhat Al-Wahidy Street in Al-Rimal district of western Gaza City, which Israel had designated as an area where operations would cease. The verification was based on witness reports and geolocated videos published earlier on Sunday. However, the IDF confirmed that it had checked the coordinates and was not aware of any strike.
**Desperate Palestinians Scramble for Food**
Food aid trucks arriving in Gaza were swarmed by desperate Palestinians trying to grab bags from an aid vehicle near a food distribution center in Zikim, north Gaza. The UN’s World Food Programme reports that a third of Gaza’s two million residents do not eat regularly for days, and a quarter are living in famine-like circumstances.
**UK Foreign Secretary Calls for Action**
The UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said that Israel’s concessions would not be enough to alleviate the suffering of Gaza. In a statement, he called for land routes to be established as the only viable and long-term way to provide aid into Gaza. “These measures must fully be implemented and any further barriers to aid removed,” he said.
**International Response**
US President Donald Trump urged that this was an international problem, rather than a US problem. However, residents of Gaza have cautiously welcomed reports of a temporary humanitarian pause allowing food and medicine to enter the besieged enclave.
**Fear of Perpetuation**
Rasha Al Sheikh Khalil told the BBC that she felt a little hope again but was also worried that the starvation would continue once the pause ends. Neveen Saleh said her family had not eaten a single fruit or vegetable for four months, and Imad Kudaya, a local journalist from Gaza, noted that most of the packages dropped by air were in demilitarised areas where it would be risky to go.
**Israel’s War Goals**
Israel’s Prime Minister has promised that his country will continue to fight and act until they achieve all of their war goals. The routes for humanitarian aid have been established from 06:00 to 23:00 local time, but the pause in military activities will take place only in three areas.
**A Long Road Ahead**
The conflict in Gaza began as a response to a Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023. Since then, more than 59,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to Hamas’s health ministry. It remains to be seen whether the temporary humanitarian measures will bring relief or merely delay the inevitable.
Read More @ www.bbc.com
