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Israel has announced a daily “tactical pause in military activity” in three areas of Gaza to enable more aid to reach people, amid growing international outrage over starvation in the territory.

The Israeli military said the move would “refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.”

The pause – which will also see the military open up corridors to facilitate aid delivery by the UN and other agencies – has come too late for dozens of Palestinians, with officials in Gaza reporting more deaths from malnutrition and among people desperately trying to get aid from convoys and distribution sites.

And while the “tactical pause” has been welcomed by UN agencies, there are questions over whether it will be enough after months in which far too little aid has reached Gaza. Here’s what we know.

How did we get here?

There’s long been a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In nearly two years of war that followed the Hamas attacks of October 7, the vast majority of the population of Gaza has been displaced multiple times. Tens of thousands are living in the streets or makeshift tents. As Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, access to water and power has become more difficult.

Above all, the delivery of humanitarian food aid has been interrupted by the fighting, by difficulties in distributing aid and by restrictions ordered by the Israel military.

Before the conflict, some 3,000 aid and commercial trucks would enter Gaza every week. Afterwards, numbers have plummeted.

During a ceasefire at the beginning of this year, an average of several hundred trucks crossed daily. But that didn’t last.

The situation dramatically worsened in early March, when Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza in an effort to force Hamas to release the hostages it still held.

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, on Thursday. Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters

Hunger was already widespread in Gaza and in the following months only grew. Bakeries and community kitchens closed, and prices in markets soared well beyond what most Gazans could afford. The United Nations warned that malnutrition was on the rise while nearly 6,000 aid trucks sat at the border.

At the end of May the blockade was partially lifted, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a private venture backed by the US and Israel – opened food distribution sites in southern Gaza. But the UN and others have criticized the GHF for violating basic humanitarian principles and for not being able to meet Gazans needs. GHF says it have distributed more than 90 million meals and blamed the UN for not coordinating with them.

More than 1,000 people have been killed since May in desperate efforts to obtain food for their families, the UN says, almost all of them by the Israeli military.

In May, the UN reported that the entire population was facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with 500,000 people facing starvation and more than 70,000 children set to require treatment for acute malnutrition.

To date, 133 people have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the conflict began, Palestinian health officials say, nearly 90 of them children. The majority of those deaths have occurred since March.

Images of children dying of acute malnutrition have provoked global outrage, with the United Kingdom, France and Germany saying last week that the crisis was “man-made and avoidable.”

Two-year-old Yezen Abu Ful continues to lose weight as his condition worsens due to severe food shortages caused by the blockade and Israeli attacks, in Gaza City, Gaza on July 13. Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu/Getty Images

What has Israel announced?

The tactical pauses announced by the Israeli military cover three areas along the Mediterranean coast – Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and part of Gaza City – much of which were already supposed to be safe areas where the population could flee. The Israeli military published a map showing the areas where the pause would take effect but marked the rest of the Strip in red as a “dangerous combat zone.”

The pause began Sunday and will last ten hours, from 10am to 8pm local time. It will continue every day “until further notice,” the military said.

An important aspect of the Israeli announcement is that designated “secure routes” will be established from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time, to enable UN and humanitarian organization convoys to safely distribute food and medicine. Hundreds of trucks have been looted in recent months, often by desperate people but sometimes by criminal gangs, and getting aid safely to warehouses in Gaza will be a major challenge.

Israel carried out an airdrop of aid into Gaza on Saturday night, having previously announced it would permit foreign countries to carry out operations. Jordan and the UAE carried out one on Sunday.

An airplane drops humanitarian aid over Gaza as seen from northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters

But airdrops are regarded by aid agencies as expensive, inefficient and sometimes dangerous. UNICEF spokesman Joe English told CNN Sunday: “We do airdrops in places around the world but it works where there are remote communities in big, wide open spaces. That’s not the case in the Gaza Strip.”

The IDF said it had also connected the power line from Israel to the desalination plant in Gaza, which would supply about 20,000 cubic meters of water per day – 10 times the current amount.

How quickly could things improve?

Trucks have begun to roll towards Gaza, including convoys from Egypt and Jordan. But the volume of aid needed is huge.

Thousands of trucks are ready to enter Gaza with food and medical supplies, but the main crossing point at Kerem Shalom is already choked with truckloads of aid waiting to be distributed. There are only two crossing points into Gaza – Kerem Shalom and Zikim in the north.

UN agencies have said that security and a lack of permissions from the Israeli military frequently hold up distribution.

A convoy of aid trucks on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip awaits permission to drive toward the besieged Palestinian territory on Sunday. STR/AFP/Getty Images

The UNICEF spokesman told CNN that the agency “cannot work miracles” with last-minute windows for getting aid into Gaza, because malnourished children require sustained care.

The World Food Programme welcomed the Israeli announcement, saying it has enough food in – or on its way to – the region to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for almost three months. It said it had received assurances that quicker clearances would be granted by Israel to allow for a surge in food assistance.

The decision to enable aid to flow has already sparked dissent within the Israeli government coalition.

The far-right National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he had not been consulted and the “only way to win the war and bring back the hostages is to completely stop the ‘humanitarian’ aid, conquer the entire strip, and encourage voluntary migration.”

The Hostages Families Forum said the tactical pauses should be part of a broader agreement to secure the return of the hostages. “This is what the failure of the partial deals strategy looks like,” it said, demanding the government reach “a comprehensive agreement to release all the kidnapped and end the fighting.”

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it will conduct daily “local tactical pauses of military activity” in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

The pauses will take place from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m. in areas where the IDF is currently not operating with ground troops, including al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, “every day until further notice,” the army said.

The announcement came as several Arab countries resumed humanitarian aid deliveries with Israel’s permission, amid mounting concerns of mass starvation in the enclave.

The move aimed to “increase the scope of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip,” the army said, noting that the decision was coordinated with the United Nations and other international organizations.

Additionally, the IDF said that “secure routes” will be designated from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. “to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip.”

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During a visit to the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev Desert on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies” while claiming that Israel has “done this until now.”

He also accused the UN of lying about Israel: “It says we are not allowing humanitarian supplies to enter. It is allowed. There are secured convoys. There have been all along, but today it is official. There will be no more excuses. We will continue to fight, we will continue to act until we achieve all of our war goals — until complete victory.”

The UN called for the IDF to implement humanitarian pauses last week, claiming Israel had been hindering access to aid by failing to provide enough route alternatives for UN convoys. Daily pauses in military activity would allow “the scale up of humanitarian assistance,” the organization said.

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Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Friday that at least 56 people died of causes related to malnutrition in the previous three weeks, including 22 children. That was up from 10 children who died from such causes during the five previous months, according to the agency.

Israeli authorities have denied claims of widespread famine in the enclave, but acknowledged issues with food access, blaming shortages on a “lack of cooperation” by the UN and other international organizations.

Those claims were echoed Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that that UN “says we are not allowing humanitarian supplies to enter. It is allowed. There are secured convoys. There have been all along, but today it is official. There will be no more excuses. We will continue to fight, we will continue to act until we achieve all of our war goals — until complete victory.”

Many Gazans expressed tentative relief about Sunday’s announcement, but said the fighting must end permanently.

“People are happy that large amounts of food aid will come into Gaza,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a business owner. “We hope today marks a first step in ending this war that burned everything up.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir lambasted the aid decision, which he said was made without his involvement on Saturday by Netanyahu and defense officials.

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“This is a capitulation to Hamas’s deceitful campaign,” he said in a statement, repeating his call to choke off all aid to Gaza, conquer the entire territory and encourage its Palestinian population to leave. He stopped short of threatening to quit the government.

Arab countries resume trucking, airdropping aid

Already on Sunday, Egyptian trucks carrying aid crossed into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it was sending more than 100 trucks carrying over 1,200 metric tons of food aid to southern Gaza through the crossing.

Egypt had delivered aid during the early months of the war via the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt but halted it after Israel took control of the crossing in May 2024.

During the ceasefire in January 2025, Egypt resumed sending aid through Kerem Shalom. But Sunday was the first time that Egypt delivered aid in that manner during active fighting.

The days leading up to Egypt’s aid resumption saw a growing online campaign criticizing its government for not reopening the Rafah crossing to allow aid in amid the severe humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Protests have also taken place in recent days outside Egyptian embassies in Lebanon, Syria, the UK, Denmark, Canada and other countries.

In a more modest undertaking, Jordan and the UAE airdropped 25 tons of aid into the Gaza Strip via three aircraft, Jordan’s official news agency announced Sunday.

Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said Saturday that his country would resume aerial aid deliveries, stating that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had reached “a critical and unprecedented stage.”

In early July, the European Union announced it had struck an agreement with Israel to reopen aid corridors from Jordan and Egypt, as part of a broader deal to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

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UAE representatives also began work on the construction of a water pipeline from a desalination facility in Egypt to the al-Mawasi area on the coast of the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are currently concentrated.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit announced the move Sunday, saying it had approved the Emirati initiative “intended to serve approximately 600,000 residents in the area.”

Construction is expected to last several weeks. The pipeline will operate independently of Israeli water infrastructure, the agency added.

IDF airdrops food for first time

The Egyptian aid deliveries came hours after the IDF, in the early morning, announced it had carried out an airdrop of seven pallets of food, “as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip.”

It was the first time Israel had airdropped aid into Gaza since the current war began, after previously having only permitted other countries to carry out such operations.

Unusually, the statement was only issued in English, and wasn’t featured on the IDF’s X pages in either Hebrew or English.

A video circulated by media outlets in Gaza showed dozens of Palestinians scrambling for the airdropped food and celebrating the aid’s arrival, in footage whose exact location in the Strip was unclear.

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Herzog calls on international agencies to ‘do their part’

President Isaac Herzog welcomed the decision to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza and called on United Nations bodies to “do their part.”

“Israel is doing its utmost to improve the flow of vital supplies through designated corridors, airdrops, and expanded humanitarian zones,” he wrote on X. “I call on UN agencies and international organizations working with @COGATonline to do their part and ensure that aid reaches those in need without delay — as Israel has demanded for some time.”

He called it “unacceptable that aid delivered to Gaza remains undistributed or is hijacked by Hamas, even as they falsely accuse Israel of blocking it.”

I welcome the major steps announced by the Israeli leadership and military to strengthen and upgrade the humanitarian response in Gaza — particularly the decision to implement humanitarian pauses to protect civilian lives and allow the safe delivery of aid. In coordination with… — יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 26, 2025

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said that UN teams will step up efforts to feed Palestinians in Gaza during the humanitarian pauses, vowing on X to do the utmost “to reach as many starving people as we can in this window.”

The charity Oxfam’s regional policy chief Bushra Khalidi called the move a “welcome first step” but warned it could prove insufficient.

“Starvation won’t be solved by a few trucks or airdrops,” she said. “What’s needed is a real humanitarian response: ceasefire, full access, all crossings open, and a steady, large-scale flow of aid into Gaza.”

Shortly after the first pause began Sunday, officials in Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza City killed a woman and her four children. The IDF had no immediate comment.

Health officials said at least 37 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes from late Saturday into Sunday, including 22 people seeking aid.

Four soldiers wounded in Rafah explosion

Meanwhile, an explosive device injured four IDF soldiers, including a senior commander, during operations in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Sunday, the military announced.

The commander of the Desert Reconnaissance Unit — commonly known as the Bedouin reconnaissance unit — who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel, was seriously wounded in the incident.

A reservist tracker in the unit was also seriously wounded, and two other officers were listed in moderate and light condition, according to the IDF.

The four troops were taken to hospitals and their families were notified, the army adds.

The IDF also announced the same day that its troops had demolished a 500-meter (1,640-foot) Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.

The tunnel was located in recent days by reservists of the 646th Paratroopers Brigade, as part of efforts to uncover Hamas’s underground infrastructure in the area. Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit demolished it.

A Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun is demolished by troops, in a video issued on July 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

On Saturday, two IDF soldiers were killed and an officer moderately wounded by an explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip’s Khan Younis.

The slain soldiers were named as Cpt. Amir Saad, 22, from Yanuh-Jat and Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, from Kiryat Tiv’on. Both were in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit.

Israel announced on Sunday it would begin a daily “tactical pause” in military operations in three densely populated areas of Gaza-al‑Mawasi, Deir al‑Balah, and Gaza City-from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time (07:00-17:00 GMT), ostensibly to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery in coordination with the UN and international organizations.

These targeted corridors also include designated secure routes operating from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., intended to allow convoys carrying food, medicine, and essential supplies safe passage into the enclave.

Humanitarian Intentions vs. Ongoing Carnage

While Israel characterized the pauses as a necessary effort to address mounting hunger amid international outcry, attacks outside the pause zones have continued unabated. At least 53 Palestinians were killed in Israeli operations across Gaza since early Sunday, according to live updates from Al Jazeera.

In parallel, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that an additional six people died of malnutrition, bringing the total famine-related death toll since the conflict began to more than 130-including 85 children.

Scale of the Crisis

International aid agencies have warned of looming famine conditions. The World Food Programme has identified nearly half a million Gazans in famine-like circumstances, with urgent malnutrition treatment needed for tens of thousands-most of them women and children.

Since March, Israel imposed a near-total blockade on postsupply routes, resuming limited access only in May under strict controls. Aid entry remains significantly below UN estimates, with only a fraction of the 500-600 trucks per day required for basic survival entering Gaza.

Meanwhile, aid airdrops resumed-seven packages containing staples like flour, sugar, and canned food were dropped on Sunday by Israeli forces, after months of delay and mounting international pressure.

Unanswered Questions & Stark Realities

Critics argue that the humanitarian pauses are far too limited. The pause zones cover only a fraction of Gaza’s territory, while bombardments continue elsewhere. Moreover, the timing overlaps with the hottest hours of the day, leaving many still vulnerable outside designated areas.

Humanitarian experts stress Israel still restricts essential aid transit, and that the continuation of strikes outside the pause zones undermines the stated purpose. The pause does nothing to halt ongoing civilian casualties, nor does it guarantee equitable distribution of aid to the most desperate populations.

On the Ground: Reactions and Fallout

Aid officials, including UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, welcomed the announcement but emphasized the urgency of seizing the pause window effectively:

“Our teams on the ground … will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window”.

Residents of Gaza City and Deir al‑Balah expressed cautious relief-but many voiced concern over whether aid would actually reach them safely amid ongoing uncertainty and insecurity.

Though Israel frames the pause as a gesture of humanitarian responsibility, its critics argue it stops short of a ceasefire, with no guarantee of cessation beyond select zones.

Ceasefire negotiations remain stalled, and if broader or permanent suspension is not forthcoming, the humanitarian gains from these pauses-and the lives at stake-are likely to remain perilously limited.

Speaking to reporters on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, a senior officer in Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says only limited aid is entering the Strip because of a “lack of cooperation from the international community,” while also dismissing Hamas’s “famine narrative” as a tactic used in the ongoing hostage talks.

Col. Abdullah Halabi, head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, says that approximately 1,000 trucks’ worth of aid are piled up inside the Strip, awaiting collection by the United Nations and aid groups.

He says truckloads are waiting on the Gaza side of the crossing “due to a lack of cooperation from the international community and international organizations.”

“We have seen in the last two days a slight improvement in their work, especially in the UN’s position and the UN’s organizations. We invited them here as we have done several times to continue to encourage them, to check together with them what can be done to transfer this aid in,” he says.

The UN has repeatedly claimed that COGAT has refused its requests for collection and distribution authorization, and that dangerous and complex conditions inside Gaza made aid distribution very difficult.

Halabi says Israeli moves in recent weeks to facilitate the delivery of aid include “expanding” the Kerem Shalom Crossing, and opening up three other terminals in the north and center of the Strip.

“We allowed longer work hours, and we took all the necessary steps to allow the international community to bring a very large amount of humanitarian aid into [Gaza], to combat the famine narrative, which Hamas uses to fight against us,” he says.

“The State of Israel allows the entry of humanitarian aid beyond the standards of international law, without restriction. As long as the international community makes an effort to bring in the aid, we will allow them to bring it in,” he continues.

According to Halabi, the military and COGAT have identified an “intense and violent campaign” by Hamas against Israel’s humanitarian aid mechanism.

“This campaign is based on lies,” he says, referring to claims of widespread starvation in Gaza. “It was created not to help Gaza’s population receive the aid, but primarily to improve Hamas’s standings in the [hostage] negotiations that are taking place over the last few days, and it is using different means, in particular the famine narrative, to improve their standings.”

Halabi notes recent reported attacks by Hamas against the new aid distribution sites, run by the Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, accusing Hamas of working “to create chaos and to create a reality in which the humanitarian situation is depicted poorly.”

There have been repeated reports of mass killings outside aid sites, most of them blamed on Israeli fire. Israel has admitted firing warning shots at groups of civilians getting too close to troops.

The depiction of the humanitarian situation in Gaza “doesn’t correspond with the 4,500 trucks that entered in the last two months, carrying everything, from personal humanitarian aid for families to medical equipment, hygienic supplies, and more,” he claims.

“We, the army and COGAT, will continue doing whatever is possible and necessary, improve the relevant conditions, strengthen our relationship with the international community and with the different humanitarian organizations, and help them to allow the entry of aid,” he continues.

“We are fighting Hamas, we will continue to fight Hamas. We will not allow a reality in which Hamas uses anything, whether it is humanitarian aid or any other means, to strengthen its interests or itself,” Halabi says.

Amid claims by Hamas of unprecedented starvation in the Gaza Strip in recent days, a senior Israeli security official says that the military has not identified famine, but stresses that actions need to be taken to “stabilize the humanitarian situation.”

The official, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, acknowledges that recently there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching civilians in the Strip, blaming United Nations bodies for not collecting and distributing the food and supplies.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military and defense ministry body responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, says that some 950 trucks worth of supplies are waiting to be collected by the UN from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.

???? WATCH: 950 trucks worth of aid, currently waiting in Gaza❗️for international organizations to pick up and distribute to Gazan civilians. This is after Israel facilitated the aid entry into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/aQTR7Sryhs — LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) July 22, 2025

The official says that the aid waiting at the crossings for collection alone is enough to supply the Strip’s food needs for two and a half weeks.

“We have not identified starvation at this current point in time, but we understand that an action is required to stabilize the humanitarian situation,” the official says, adding that there may be difficulties with accessibility to food in some areas.

The official says that COGAT has sat down with the UN to try and work out the deliveries of the mounting aid that has been allowed into Gaza but not distributed.

The official says there are no issues with the aid reaching the crossings and entering Gaza, but the main bottleneck is the distribution itself. During the recent meetings, the official says it was agreed that the UN would distribute 70-80 trucks today, but in practice only 30 were taken in.

The UN has repeatedly claimed that COGAT has refused their requests for collection and distribution authorization, and that dangerous and complex conditions inside Gaza made aid distribution very difficult.

According to the UN, Israel’s restrictions and permit rejections are the reason for the mounting stockpiles of aid at the crossings, as aid organizations are regularly barred from transferring aid to warehouses and distribution sites. Convoys that don’t coordinate their travel with Israeli authorities and obtain hard-to-obtain approvals come under deadly IDF fire.

The official says that the UN has made requests that COGAT cannot agree to with regard to the deliveries, such as demanding that Hamas police escort the convoys, or that they be allowed to bring in communication devices that Israel fears could end up in Hamas’s hands.

Regarding the famine claims, the official says that Hamas is taking advantage of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and carrying out a propaganda campaign as part of a pressure tactic amid the ongoing hostage negotiations: “This is a cynical and timed move aimed at creating international pressure on Israel,” the official says.

The official says Israel is able to determine that there is no widespread famine in Gaza based on how much aid is actually entering the Strip, along with speaking with Palestinians and other intelligence.

In the past two months, some 4,500 trucks of aid have entered Gaza, according to COGAT. Half of those trucks have headed to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites, while the other half were taken to warehouses belonging to the UN and other approved aid organizations. In the past month, an average of 71 trucks entered Gaza each day, COGAT says.

Still, the official says that nearly all of the aid trucks heading to the UN warehouses were looted by Gazan mobs, not Hamas.

Since the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2, Israel has established a new mechanism to prevent aid trucks from being taken over by Hamas, the official says.

The mechanism only allows for international aid bodies that are registered with Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry to bring aid into Gaza, after rigorous security checks at the crossings. The mechanism also places sanctions on aid groups and individuals who do not abide by Israel’s requirements.

The official says Hamas is trying to do everything it can to undermine the new aid mechanism, including the GHF distribution sites. International organizations have said that Israel’s refusal to name a viable alternative to Hamas has created a chaotic and desperate situation on the ground that has significantly marred aid distribution.