Two Jordanian and one Emirati plane have dropped 25 tonnes of humanitarian aid over Gaza, the Jordanian army said in a statement, after Israel earlier announced a “tactical pause” in fighting amid a deepening hunger crisis.
“The Jordanian Armed Forces on Sunday carried out three air drops on the Gaza Strip carrying humanitarian and food aid, one of which was with the United Arab Emirates,” the statement said, adding that they were carrying 25 tonnes of aid.
The IDF declared a ‘tactical pause’ to military operations in some parts of Gaza and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle a hunger crisis that is worsening.
The military also said it had begun air-dropping food into the territory and angrily rejected allegations it was using starvation as a weapon against Palestinian civilians.
In a statement, the army said it coordinated its decisions with the UN and international organisations to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip”.
The United Nations’ aid chief welcomed Israel’s announcement, and said the UN would try to reach as many starving people as possible.
“Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through,” UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher said on X.
“In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window.”
The pause in fighting would be limited to areas where the military says Israeli troops are not currently operating – Al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City – and last from 10am until 8pm every day.
But the Israeli statement added that “designated secure routes” had been opened across all of Gaza to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine.
The Israeli military said these operations, alongside its ongoing campaign against Palestinian armed groups, should disprove “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.
Aid trucks started moving towards Gaza from Egypt, the Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said, after months of international pressure and warnings from relief agencies of starvation spreading in the Palestinian enclave.
Dozens of trucks carrying tonnes of humanitarian aid moved towards the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, the Al Qahera correspondent said from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
Germany’s chancellor has called on Israel’s prime minister to quickly provide aid to “starving” civilians in Gaza, in a phone call between the two leaders.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz “expressed his deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” said a government statement.
“He called on Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu to do everything in his power to achieve an immediate ceasefire. He urged him to provide the starving civilian population in Gaza with urgently needed humanitarian aid now. This aid must reach the civilian population quickly, safely, and in the required quantities.”
International aid organisations say there is mass hunger among Gaza’s 2.2 million people, with food running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, before resuming it in May with new restrictions.
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it.
The UN says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions.
Activist boat seized
Before Israel announced the airborne delivery of seven pallets of food, the United Arab Emirates had said it would restart aid drops and the UK said it would work with partners including Jordan to assist them.
Yesterday alone, the Palestinian civil defence agency said over 50 more Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes and shootings, some as they waited near aid distribution centres.
Israeli troops boarded a boat carrying activists from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as it attempted to approach Gaza from the sea to challenge a naval blockade.
The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with more than 100 NGOs warning this week that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza.
On Telegram, the Israeli military announced it “carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip”.
Humanitarian chiefs are deeply sceptical that air drops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the deepening hunger crisis facing Gaza’s more than two million inhabitants.
But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the idea, vowing to work with Jordan to restart air drops.
The United Arab Emirates said it would resume air drops “immediately”.
‘Starving civilians’
A number of Western and Arab governments carried out air drops in Gaza in 2024, when aid deliveries by land also faced Israeli restrictions, but many in the humanitarian community consider them ineffective.
“Air drops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”
Israel’s military insists it does not limit the number of trucks going into Gaza, and alleges that UN agencies and relief groups are not collecting aid once it is inside the territory.
But humanitarian organisations accuse the army of imposing excessive restrictions, while tightly controlling road access within Gaza.
A separate aid operation is under way through the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But it has faced fierce international criticism after Israeli fire killed hundreds of Palestinians near distribution points.
Naval blockade
Yesterday evening, the live feed on the Handala boat belonging to pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla showed Israeli troops boarding the vessel.
The soldiers moved in as the boat approached Gaza and three video live feeds of the scene broadcasting online were cut minutes later.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The Israeli campaign has killed 59,733 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
