The Israeli government issued a tactical pause in fighting in Gaza on Sunday to allow for aid delivery amid reports of escalating starvation.
As accounts of malnourishment soared, the Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday it would implement a “local tactical pause” to increase the scale of humanitarian aid in Gaza for 10 hours each day in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City.
“The IDF will continue to support humanitarian efforts alongside ongoing maneuvering and offensive operations against terrorist organizations in Gaza, in order to protect Israeli civilians,” the IDF said on X. “The IDF is prepared to expand the scale of this activity as required.”
The IDF said the pause would recur every day until further notice and there would be designated secure routes for the aid in place to ensure the safe passage of convoys from the United Nations and other aid organizations.
More than 1,050 people were killed attempting to get food since late May, according to the U.N. human rights office.
Rachael Cummings, Save the Children’s Gaza humanitarian director, said Sunday that people are horrifically malnourished in Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic for children and increasingly now for adults,” Ms. Cummings told ABC. “There is no food available in the market. Children are literally starving.”
After visiting her organization’s outpost in Deir al-Balah, she said she had never seen a center so packed with starving people in her more than 20 years working in humanitarian relief worldwide.
“Every child in the health center today was malnourished, but also every adult was extremely thin, gaunt-looking, exhausted,” she told ABC’s “This Week.” “The situation is absolutely terrible here.”
Alarms of famine have sounded for months in locations where Israel has restricted aid. Israel has said Hamas attackers capture the aid to cement their grip on power.
Before announcing the tactical pause, the IDF disputed claims of any human starvation.
“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in Gaza; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas,” the IDF said Saturday on X. “Responsibility for food distribution lies with the UN & 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.”
The IDF subsequently posted video footage of its aerial drops of aid, which it has said includes flour, sugar, and canned food.
While issuing local pauses in fighting, the battle raged elsewhere this weekend. At least 38 people were killed in strikes from late Saturday into Sunday, according to health officials in Gaza, including 23 people seeking aid.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
