The Israeli military on Sunday announced a daily 10-hour humanitarian pause in its operations in parts of the Gaza Strip, along with the opening of secure routes for aid delivery, amid growing international pressure over the deepening hunger crisis there, Reuters reports.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it would halt military activity in areas including Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10:00 to 20:00 local time (0700-1700 GMT) every day until further notice.
Designated secure routes will be open daily from 06:00 to 23:00 (0300-2000 GMT) to ensure the safe passage of UN and humanitarian convoys, which deliver and distribute food and medicine, it added.
At a location in northern Gaza Strip, close to the Zakim Junction or point on the border lines between Gaza and Israel, people in large numbers have floated earlier in the morning to get some bags of flour and rice that were carried by about 15 truckloads of aid that reached this area on Sunday.
"This is killing us. Enough of what we are going through. We walk into death just to get rice mixed with sand. Look, sand and rice we gathered from the ground. Why are they doing this to us? Why are they throwing us to our deaths," said Ghaleb Tottah, a displaced Palestinian.
Airdrops of humanitarian aid resumed over various locations in the northern Gaza Strip, but the approach was criticized by head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini as "the most expensive and inefficient way" to deliver humanitarian assistance, which is also criticized by Palestinians.
"The amount of air dropped aid was extremely small. We weren't able to get anything. We can no longer endure, either they finish us off or end the war. I got this bag of flour from the jaws of death. It was in the last truck next to a tank, and you can hear the gunfire. Unless you get close to death, you won't get the flour. This bag is literally soaked in blood," said Mohammad Hassouneh, another displaced Palestinian.
"I didn't get any aid, neither from the air drops nor from any other sources. I tried and even got close to the tank, but still got nothing. This method of distribution is wrong, fear and terror everywhere. We go there as if we're wrapping ourselves in our own shroud," said Khawla Abdel Aal, another displaced Palestinian.
This comes against the backdrop of enormous international pressure for the Israeli government that it is deliberately preventing the aid supplies into Gaza, something that Israel has vehemently denied and said it has been allowing more aid into the territory.
Now, Israel said in a statement that it would allow the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other international organizations to help facilitate the entry of this aid and secure them away from the Hamas government or the Hamas party across the Gaza Strip.
