Middle East: Aid trucks begin entering Gaza from Egypt

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday warned that malnutrition is on "a dangerous trajectory" in Gaza.

"Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives," WHO said in a statement posted on X.

In 2025, there were 74 malnutrition-related deaths — 63 of them occurred in July, including 24 children under five.

"WHO calls for urgent, sustained efforts to flood the Gaza Strip with diverse, nutritious food and to expedite the delivery of therapeutic supplies for children and vulnerable groups, as well as essential medicines and supplies," according to the statement.

It stressed that the flow needs to be "consistent and unhindered to support recovery and prevent further deterioration." 

The United Nations World Food Programme called on Israel to increase "without further delays" food assistance to Gaza residents after the first aid trucks arrived in the Palestinian territory from Egypt.

In a post on X, the WFP said it had enough food or on its way to the region to feed the entire Gaza population of 2.1 million for almost three months.

The post said WFP teams had "delivered 350 truckloads of food aid into Gaza last week under extremely challenging circumstances that put civilians and aid workers at tremendous risk."

But it warned that the figure represents just over half the number of convoys the UN agency had asked to deliver.

Food aid is the only real way for most people inside Gaza to eat. The UN estimates that some 470,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions.

Israeli forces have seized the pro-Palestinian activist boat Handala in international waters and detained the crew before escorting the vessel into port.

The operator, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said the Israeli military "violently intercepted" the ship in international waters about 40 nautical miles from Gaza, cutting the cameras and communication, just before midnight Saturday.

"All cargo was non-military, civilian and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade,'' the group said in a statement.

The legal rights center Adalah told AFP news agency that Israeli authorities had confirmed the vessel was taken to Ashdod port.

"Despite repeated demands, Israeli authorities have refused to allow Adalah's lawyers access to the detained activists to provide legal consultation," it continued.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the Handala was seized to stop it from entering the coastal waters off Gaza. 

A previous boat, the Madleen, carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, was also intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters on June 9 and towed to Ashdod.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Gaza, Israel's military said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X that Israel had "lost three young heroes," also referring to a third soldier who had died on Saturday of wounds sustained last week.

Katz said the soldiers "gave their lives for the security of our state and the return of all our hostages."

The latest deaths were 20 and 22 years old, and served in the Golani Infantry Brigade's 51st Battalion.

Israeli military sources said they were killed when their armored vehicle exploded in the city of Khan Younis.

Several Israeli media outlets said the blast was caused by a militant emerging from a tunnel carrying an improvised explosive device.

The deaths bring the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, 2023, to 898.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher has welcomed Israel's announcement of secure land routes into Gaza for humanitarian aid.

"Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through," Fletcher wrote on X.

The UN emergency relief coordinator said he was "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."

Aid trucks have begun entering Gaza from Egypt, Egyptian state-linked media reported, hours after Israel bowed to mounting pressure to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

"Egyptian aid trucks begin to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing," Al-Qahera News posted on X, alongside footage of convoys moving in the border area.

Israel said Saturday it had begun airdrops of aid after months of accusations that it was restricting aid supplies to the war-devastated territory.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said "humanitarian corridors" would allow United Nations aid trucks to deliver food and other vital supplies to Gaza residents.

The military also promised "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting in densely populated areas.

Aid organizations warned last week of mass hunger among Gaza's population, despite Israeli denials that it was restricting food deliveries.

Dozens of Palestinians have died of malnutrition in the past few weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza in March, before resuming them in May with new restrictions.

Israel's military said Sunday it would begin a "tactical pause" in fighting in three areas of Gaza to help aid agencies deliver food and other supplies.

The decision follows huge international pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Experts have warned of a famine in Gaza due to Israel's curbs on aid supplies.

Several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach food distribution sites.

The pause will take place daily in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10 a.m. local time (0700 GMT/UTC) to 8 p.m. (1700 GMT/UTC) until further notice, the military said.

Israel also said its military was not active in those areas, but there had been fighting and strikes in recent weeks.

The statement added that Israel would designate secure routes to help aid agencies make vital deliveries to people across Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has airdropped humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

"The IDF recently 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," the military posted on Telegram in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The drop included seven crates of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food, it added.

Footage provided by the IDF showed white parachutes opening from the crates as they were dropped from a plane into the darkness over Gaza. 

In a statement posted on X late Saturday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced it would "apply a 'humanitarian pause' in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors to enable the distribution of aid supply" in Gaza.

The Foreign Ministry again blamed the United Nations for failing to distribute assistance in the enclave.

It added that "Israel rejects the false accusations of 'starvation' propaganda initiated by Hamas." 

UN officials have rejected responsibility for the failure to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying aid workers have not received the permissions necessary to provide food, water and other humanitarian aid safely. 

The pro-Palestinian activist group Freedom Flotilla said Saturday that Israeli forces had intercepted its latest Gaza-bound aid boat, the Handala.

"The Israeli army is here. We are throwing our phones into the sea. See you soon. Stop the genocide," Emma Fourreau, a French member of the European Parliament and part of the Handala crew, posted on X. 

A livestream broadcast by the group showed the activists sitting on deck with their hands up as Israeli soldiers boarded the boat. 

The Handala had already sailed closer to Gaza than the group's previous vessel, the Madleen, which was intercepted by Israeli forces last month.

At the start of the ongoing war, Israel tightened it maritime blockade of the Palestinian territory, which went into place when Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

An X post has been removed from this blog entry that did not meet DW's editorial guidelines. DW apologizes for its inclusion.

The Israeli military has announced that airdrops of aid to Gaza would resume and that humanitarian corridors would be established for United Nations convoys.

"The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organizations," it said in a statement.

The military's statement did not specify when the humanitarian corridors would open or where.

It said the military "emphasizes that combat operations have not ceased" in Gaza against Hamas.

The statement also added that there is "no starvation" in the territory.

International health and aid organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about the dire conditions and severe shortage of essential supplies in Gaza during the 21-month conflict.

Experts have also criticized airdrops of aid as vastly insufficient for the some 2 million Palestinians in Gaza in desperate need of food, water, medicine and other supplies.

Before the start of the war in Gaza, 500 truckloads of goods crossed into the Palestinian territory each day, according to the United Nations

The Emirati foreign minister said on Saturday that the United Arab Emirates will resume airdrops to deliver aid to Gaza at once.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a critical and unprecedented level," Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan posted on X.

"We will ensure essential aid reaches those most in need, whether through land, air or sea. Airdrops are resuming once more, immediately." 

His remarks follow Israel's announcement on Friday that it would allow airdrops of aid by foreign countries into Gaza to alleviate starvation in the Palestinian territory.

The relatives of 50 hostages still in Gaza are growing more frustrated.

Some are losing faith that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ever strike a deal to bring them home.

DW's Tania Krämer met Yehuda Cohen in front of the Likud party's Tel Aviv headquarters at a sit-in organized by families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. His son, Nimrod, has been held captive for 22 months.

The United Kingdom is working with Middle Eastern allies including Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip and evacuate children in need of medical care, the office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday.

"The prime minister set out how the UK will be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," read a statement after Starmer held a three-way phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday.

During the conversation, the three leaders agreed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "appalling" and that it would be "vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to the Downing Street readout.

"They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan ... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region," it continued. "They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it."

In Berlin, Chancellor Merz's office spoke of "large agreement" on the call – despite Germany so far refusing to criticize Israel to the extent that the UK and France have done, with the latter even set to officially recognize Palestinian statehood later this year.

"We will be coordinating very closely in the coming days to take the next steps," said Merz.

The phone call came a day after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in Gaza, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience."

For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. An official in Amman said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula.

But the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are "expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians" and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion.

"A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will," he said, demanding: "Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need."

Some 40 people have died while trying to access humanitarian aid, including 16 who were shot by Israeli forces, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to local Palestinian authorities and medics.

Doctors at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said 16 people were killed and another 300 injured as they were waiting for trucks carrying aid near the northern Zikim border crossing.

One witness told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops opened fire "while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point." The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired "warning shots to distance the crowd" after identifying an unspecified "immediate threat."

Elsewhere, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency said nine people were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, 11 in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Younis and two in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp.