Israel to open Gaza humanitarian corridors as aid drops begin
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Israel’s military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza as hunger grows
Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday. Most of them shot dead while seeking aid, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official said the recall of the delegations was a pressure tactic and called the pause temporary and that talks would resume next week. It was not immediately clear what role the recently created and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — meant as an alternate to the U.N. aid system — might play in the cease-fire talks. The U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday, but did not say when they would be back on the field of play. The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which called on Israel to resume the talks, said they would not give up.
The statement issued late Saturday followed months of experts’ warnings of famine. International criticism, including by close allies, has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid.
The military’s statement did not say when the humanitarian corridors for U.N. convoys would open, or where. It also said the military is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas.
The statement added that the military “emphasizes that combat operations have not ceased” in Gaza against Hamas. And it asserted there is “no starvation” in the territory.
Witness accounts from Gaza have been grim. Some health workers are so weakened by hunger that they put themselves on IV drips to keep treating the badly malnourished. Parents have shown their limp and emaciated children.
Palestinians mourn during the funeral of people who were killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel, at Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) Photo:
The Israeli military statement said the airdrops would be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations. It was not immediately clear where they would be carried out. And it was not clear what role the recently created and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — meant as an alternate to the U.N. aid system — might play.
At least 53 killed
Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, most of them shot dead while seeking aid, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service.
Deadly Israeli gunfire was reported twice within hours close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north. In the first incident, at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat” and it was not aware of any casualties.
A witness, Sherif Abu Aisha, said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realized it was Israel’s tanks. That’s when the army started firing, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle was among those killed.
“We went because there is no food … and nothing was distributed,” he said.
On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering U.N. convoy, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa hospital, told the AP.
“We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,” he said. There was no immediate Israeli military comment.
Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. Another Israeli strike killed at least eight, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital.
Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital’s morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Stalled ceasefire talks
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks. A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of the delegations a pressure tactic.
Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when.
“Our loved ones do not have time for another round of negotiations, and they will not survive another partial deal,” said Zahiro Shahar Mor, nephew of hostage Avraham Munder, one of 50 still in Gaza from Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Mor spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Children starving to death
Inside Gaza, children with no preexisting conditions have begun to starve to death.
“We only want enough food to end our hunger,” said Wael Shaaban at a charity kitchen in Gaza City as he tried to feed his family of six.
While Israel’s army has said it’s allowing aid into the enclave with no limit on the trucks that can enter, the U.N. says it is hampered by military restrictions on its movements and criminal looting. The Hamas-run police had provided security for aid delivery, but it has been unable to operate after being targeted by airstrikes.
Israel on Saturday said over 250 trucks carrying aid from the U.N. and other organizations entered Gaza this week. About 600 trucks entered per day during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March.
Israel faces growing international pressure. More than two dozen Western-aligned countries and over 100 charity and human rights groups have called for an end to the war, harshly criticizing Israel’s blockade and a new aid delivery model it has rolled out.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near the new aid sites run by the GHF, an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office says.
The charities and rights groups said their own staff struggled to get enough food.
“Stand for Gaza, for silence is a crime, and indifference is a betrayal of humanity,” said Father Issa Thaljieh, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as religious figures and the mayor called for prayers to end the war.
Turning to airdrops, with a warning
The airdrops were requested by neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official said the airdrops mainly will be food and milk formula. The United Arab Emirates said airdrops would start “immediately.” Britain said it plans to work with partners to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance.
But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians” and won’t reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion.
More than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Israel to open Gaza humanitarian corridors as aid drops begin
Israel says it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza. Announcement comes amid growing international pressure for Israel to let more aid into Gaza amid warnings of mass starvation. Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May. Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis as “man-made mass starvation”
Israel denied what it called “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.
The announcement came amid growing international pressure for Israel to let more aid into Gaza amid warnings of mass starvation following months of limited supply to the territory’s two million people.
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said had allowed air drops of humanitarian aid to resume, the first of which consisted of seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food provided by international organisations.
Israel has said it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza, following weeks of international pressure and a growing hunger crisis.
The IDF said it had “begun a series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, and was “prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas”.
It also stated that it had resumed supplying power to a desalination plant in Gaza, which it said would “serve about 900,000 residents”.
Reuters late on Saturday reported Palestinian sources as confirming air drops had resumed in northern Gaza.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May.
Along with the US, it backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and allowed it to operate in Gaza.
There have been almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses have told the BBC most have been shot by Israeli forces.
The UN, aid groups and some of Israel’s allies have blamed the country for a growing food crisis in Gaza, and called for the unrestricted entry and delivery of aid as the Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. On Saturday it put the toll from the last few days at 125, including 85 children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis as “man-made mass starvation”.
The IDF said in its statement that it gave responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza “lies with the UN and international aid organisations” and added the they must “ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas”.
Israel’s military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza
Israel’s military has announced that airdrops of aid will begin on Saturday night in Gaza. humanitarian corridors will be established for UN convoys. It follows months of experts’ warnings of famine in the Gaza Strip. International criticism has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid. Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering UN convoy, a hospital director said. Israeli military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat” and it was not aware of any casualties. Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the US and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering ‘alternative options to ceasefire talks’ Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week.
The statement late Saturday followed months of experts’ warnings of famine.
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International criticism, including by close allies, has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid.
The military’s statement did not say when the humanitarian corridors for UN convoys would open, or where.
It also said the military is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas.
International criticism about the situation in Gaza has been growing (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
The statement added that the military “emphasises that combat operations have not ceased” in Gaza against Hamas and it said there is “no starvation” in the territory.
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Witness accounts from Gaza have been grim. Some health workers are so weakened by hunger that they put themselves on IV drips to keep treating the badly malnourished.
Parents have shown their limp and emaciated children.
The Israeli military statement said the airdrops would be conducted in co-ordination with international aid organisations.
It was not immediately clear where they would be carried out and it was not clear what role the recently created and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, meant as an alternative to the UN aid system, might play.
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Israeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 53 people in Gaza overnight and into Saturday, most of them shot dead while seeking aid, according to Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service.
Witness accounts from Gaza have been grim (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
Deadly Israeli gunfire was reported twice within hours close to the Zikim crossing with Israel in the north.
In the first incident, at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed, said staff at Shifa hospital, where bodies were taken.
Israel’s military said it fired warning shots to distance a crowd “in response to an immediate threat” and it was not aware of any casualties.
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A witness, Sherif Abu Aisha, said people started running when they saw a light that they thought was from aid trucks, but as they got close, they realised it was Israel’s tanks.
That is when the army started firing, he told The Associated Press. He said his uncle was among those killed.
“We went because there is no food and nothing was distributed,” he said.
On Saturday evening, Israeli forces killed at least 11 people and wounded 120 others when they fired toward crowds who tried to get food from an entering UN convoy, Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa hospital, told the AP.
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Palestinians carry the bodies of people who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza that has been used as a shelter (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
“We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,” he said. There was no immediate Israeli military comment.
Elsewhere, those killed in strikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, hospital staff and the ambulance service said.
Another Israeli strike killed at least eight, including four children, in the crowded tent camp of Muwasi in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the Nasser hospital.
Also in Khan Younis, Israeli forces opened fire and killed at least nine people trying to get aid entering Gaza through the Morag corridor, according to the hospital’s morgue records. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were at a standstill after the US and Israel recalled negotiating teams on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday his government was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks.
A Hamas official, however, said negotiations were expected to resume next week and called the recall of the delegations a pressure tactic.
Egypt and Qatar, which mediate alongside the United States, called the pause temporary and said talks would resume. They did not say when.
Israel Announces Gaza Airdrops Amid Growing Starvation
Israel’s military announced Saturday it will begin airdropping humanitarian aid and plans to open corridors for United Nations convoys in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed four in a Gaza City apartment building and eight more—including four children—in a tent camp in Khan Younis. The violence comes as ceasefire talks have stalled. Israel insists combat operations continue and denies starvation is occurring in Gaza, despite growing evidence and expert warnings to the contrary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government is considering “alternative options.” Israel offered no immediate comment on the cease-fire talks, which are expected to continue for a few more weeks. The U.S. and Israel withdrew negotiating teams from negotiations in Cairo, while the U.N. and Qatar have stated the pause in negotiations is temporary but offered no timeline. The UN and humanitarian organizations have warned for months that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is only going to get worse. The situation on the ground paints a far more dire picture than it did earlier in the week.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Quick Looks
Israel’s military announced aid airdrops would begin Saturday night in Gaza
Humanitarian corridors for UN convoys are planned but lack clear timeline
Israel insists combat operations continue and denies starvation is occurring
Palestinian health officials say 53 killed in 24 hours, many seeking food
At least 11 were killed during an attempt to reach a UN convoy Saturday
Witnesses say Israeli forces opened fire near aid sites in Zikim and Khan Younis
Children with no health issues are now dying of starvation, UN confirms
Ceasefire talks have collapsed; U.S. and Israel withdrew negotiating teams
Over 1,000 Palestinians killed seeking aid since May, UN says
International pressure is mounting; over 100 aid groups condemn blockade
Israel allowed 250 aid trucks into Gaza this week, far below pre-war levels
Airdrops by Jordan, UAE, and UK expected, though UN warns they’re insufficient
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 59,700 killed since the war began
UN urges immediate humanitarian pause and restoration of aid channels
Deep Look
In response to intensifying international criticism and the worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza, Israel’s military announced Saturday it will begin airdropping humanitarian aid and plans to open corridors for United Nations convoys. The decision comes amid harrowing scenes of children dying from starvation and scores of Palestinians being killed while trying to access food.
The Israeli military’s statement, released late Saturday, did not specify when or where the UN corridors would open but said it is prepared to initiate humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas. It emphasized that combat against Hamas continues and insisted that “there is no starvation” in Gaza, despite growing evidence and expert warnings to the contrary.
The situation on the ground paints a far more dire picture. Overnight and into Saturday, at least 53 people were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire, according to Palestinian health officials and ambulance services. Most were civilians, many gunned down while trying to reach aid near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, bodies continued to arrive. Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiyah said at least 11 were killed and 120 wounded Saturday evening when Israeli troops opened fire on crowds approaching a UN convoy. “We are expecting the numbers to surge in the next few hours,” he said. Israel offered no immediate comment.
The shootings near Zikim followed a deadly pattern. Earlier in the week, over 80 Palestinians were killed in a similar incident. Eyewitness Sherif Abu Aisha described a panicked crowd running toward what they thought was an aid truck—only to discover it was an Israeli tank. “That’s when they started firing,” he said. “We went because there is no food.”
Additional fatalities occurred across Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed four in a Gaza City apartment building and eight more—including four children—in a tent camp in Khan Younis. Nine more civilians were reported dead after Israeli fire near the Morag corridor.
The violence comes as ceasefire talks have stalled. U.S. and Israeli teams were recalled from negotiations in Cairo, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government is considering “alternative options.” Hamas officials maintain talks will resume soon and that the walkout was a pressure tactic.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar have stated the pause in negotiations is temporary but offered no timeline. In the meantime, conditions continue to deteriorate rapidly. The UN and humanitarian organizations have warned for months that Gaza is at risk of famine. Now, children without underlying health conditions are beginning to starve.
“We only want enough food to end our hunger,” said Wael Shaaban at a Gaza City charity kitchen, trying to feed his six family members.
The Israeli military claims it places no limit on aid entering the enclave, reporting 250 aid trucks delivered this past week. But that figure falls far short of the 600 trucks per day that entered during the brief ceasefire Israel ended in March. The UN, meanwhile, says movement is heavily restricted by Israeli checkpoints and widespread looting—exacerbated by the collapse of local security forces following targeted airstrikes on Hamas police units.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have died trying to reach aid since May, according to the UN human rights office. Many were killed near the newly established aid points managed by an American contractor under Israel’s revised distribution model. Over 100 humanitarian organizations and rights groups have condemned the system, calling it unsafe and unsustainable.
International pressure is growing. A coalition of more than two dozen Western nations, along with religious leaders and aid groups, have called for an immediate end to hostilities and the restoration of safe humanitarian corridors.
At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Father Issa Thaljieh called the ongoing suffering “a crime against humanity.” “Stand for Gaza,” he said during a joint prayer with local leaders. “Silence is a crime, and indifference is a betrayal of humanity.”
With land routes proving dangerous and inadequate, Israel agreed for the first time in months to allow airdrops, at the request of neighboring Jordan. A Jordanian official confirmed the airdrops would include food and infant formula. The United Arab Emirates also said its air drops would begin “immediately,” and the U.K. announced plans to coordinate with partners to deliver aid and evacuate medically vulnerable children.
However, UN officials issued a stark warning: airdrops are not a viable long-term solution. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), called them “expensive, inefficient, and dangerous.” He stressed that only unrestricted ground access and secure aid corridors could prevent full-scale famine.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023—following Hamas’ deadly cross-border attack—Gaza’s Health Ministry reports more than 59,700 Palestinians have been killed. The figure includes both militants and civilians, but health officials say over half of the dead are women and children. Though the ministry operates under Hamas, the UN and other international agencies rely on its casualty figures due to a lack of alternatives.
As of Saturday night, aid efforts remain limited, ceasefire talks are suspended, and Gaza’s humanitarian crisis continues to spiral. With tens of thousands displaced, food stocks exhausted, and medical infrastructure collapsing, aid groups warn that time is running out.
More on World News
Israel to open Gaza humanitarian corridors as aid drops begin
Israel has said it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza. Announcement comes amid growing international pressure for Israel to let more aid into Gaza amid warnings of mass starvation. Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May. Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. On Saturday it put the death toll from the last few days at 125, including 85 children. The World Health Organization (WHO) chief described the crisis as “man-made mass starvation”
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said had allowed air drops of humanitarian aid to resume, the first of which consisted of seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food provided by international organisations.
The announcement came amid growing international pressure for Israel to let more aid into Gaza amid warnings of mass starvation following months of limited supply to the territory’s two million people.
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Israel denied what it called “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.
The IDF said it had “begun a series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, and was “prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas”.
It also stated that it had resumed supplying power to a desalination plant in Gaza, which it said would “serve about 900,000 residents”.
Reuters late on Saturday reported Palestinian sources as confirming air drops had resumed in northern Gaza.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May.
Advertisement Advertisement
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Along with the US, it backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and allowed it to operate in Gaza.
There have been almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses have told the BBC most have been shot by Israeli forces.
The UN, aid groups and some of Israel’s allies have blamed the country for a growing food crisis in Gaza, and called for the unrestricted entry and delivery of aid as the Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. On Saturday it put the toll from the last few days at 125, including 85 children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis as “man-made mass starvation”.
Advertisement Advertisement
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The IDF said in its statement that it gave responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza “lies with the UN and international aid organisations” and added the they must “ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas”.