The Israeli military said it would begin airlifting humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening and would provide safe routes for UN vehicles amid a rise in deaths from malnutrition.
The news came after months of warnings from experts about a famine catastrophe.
Public condemnation from the international community, including close partners, has intensified following the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach humanitarian aid in recent weeks.
The document does not describe a specific time and place for the start of the operation of humanitarian corridors for UN convoys.
The statement also notes the troops' readiness to introduce humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas.
In the text, the troops emphasize that operations against Hamas are continuing and claim that there is no famine in the territory.
Local eyewitnesses describe a grim picture: doctors, exhausted by hunger, are forced to give themselves IV drips in order to continue treating patients dying from malnutrition.
Parents show off their lethargic and exhausted children.
The document added that the delivery of supplies will be carried out in coordination with international humanitarian organizations.
Final delivery points have not yet been identified, and the role of Israel's newly created Gaza Aid Fund, intended as a replacement for the UN aid mechanism, is also unclear.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and on Saturday, most of whom were shot while trying to get help, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and emergency services.
Deadly shootings were reported twice within a few hours overnight near the Zikim crossing in the north, on the border with Israel.
Doctors at the Shifa Clinic, where the dead were taken, reported that at least twelve people who were waiting for a convoy with humanitarian aid were killed in the first shooting.
The IDF says warning shots were fired to disperse the crowd “due to an imminent threat,” but there are no confirmed casualties.
Eyewitness Sherif Abu Aisha said people ran towards a light that appeared to be coming from aid trucks, but as they got closer they saw Israeli tanks.
The army then opened fire, he told The Associated Press. His uncle was among those killed.
“We went there because there were no provisions and nothing was being distributed,” he explained.
Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 on Saturday evening when they opened fire on a group seeking food supplies from an incoming U.N. convoy, Shifa Clinic director Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya told The Associated Press.
“We expect a surge in casualties in the coming hours,” he warned. There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Israeli strikes on a Gaza apartment building have killed four people, hospital and ambulance staff said.
Nasser Hospital says Israeli shelling of the crowded Muwasi tent camp in Khan Younis has killed at least eight people, including four children.
In the same city, Israeli forces opened fire, killing at least nine people who were trying to deliver aid through the Morag corridor, according to the local hospital morgue. The IDF has not yet commented.
Peace talks between Israel and Hamas stalled after Washington and Jerusalem pulled out their delegations on Thursday.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Cabinet was exploring “other scenarios” to continue dialogue on ending the fighting.
A Hamas representative, in turn, expressed hope to resume discussions next week, calling the withdrawal of delegations political pressure.
Egypt and Qatar, which are mediating with the United States, said the break was temporary and consultations would continue. The parties did not specify a date for a return.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
