LAST UPDATE | 27 Jul 2025

The United Nations said it would try to reach as many starving people as possible in Gaza after Israel announced it would establish secure land routes in for humanitarian convoys.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said it had enough food in, or on its way to, the region to feed the 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip for almost three months.

The Israeli military announced a “tactical pause” in operations in certain areas of Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid this morning.

The pause will take place daily until further notice in areas where the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are not currently active: Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City.

Secure routes will be designated to allow safe passage for humanitarian convoys, according to the Israeli military.

The IDF stated it would continue to support humanitarian efforts while maintaining “ongoing manoeuvering and offensive operations against terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip to protect Israeli civilians”.

It also said it was prepared to expand the scale of the pause if necessary.

Aid trucks have since began entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt, according to news agency AFP.

Egyptian state-linked media had earlier confirmed the movement of convoys, sharing footage of trucks at the border area.

Trucks crossing the Rafah border however cannot enter Gaza directly as the Palestinian side of the crossing was seized by the Israel military last year and has been badly damaged.

As well as trucks, two Jordanian and one Emirati plane have dropped 25 tonnes of humanitarian aid over Gaza, the Jordanian army said in a statement.

The United Nations’ aid chief welcomed Israel’s announcement Sunday of secure land routes into Gaza for humanitarian convoys, 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.

Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through. 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.

— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) July 27, 2025

WFP said the pauses and corridors should allow emergency food to be safely delivered.

“Food aid is the only real way for most people inside Gaza to eat,” it said in a statement.

It said a third of the population had not been eating for days, and 470,000 people in Gaza “are enduring famine-like conditions” that were leading to deaths.

WFP said more than 62,000 tonnes of food assistance was needed monthly to cover the entire Gaza population of two million.

The agency noted that, on top of today’s ‘pause’ announcement, Israel had pledged to allow more trucks to enter Gaza with quicker clearances along with “assurances of no armed forces or shootings near convoys”.

“Together, we hope these measures will allow for a surge in urgently needed food assistance to reach hungry people without further delays,” it said.

Malnutrition deaths

The announcement of a ‘pause’ by the IDF comes amid escalating concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.

On Friday, Palestinian health officials reported five more deaths due to malnutrition, bringing the total to 127, two-thirds of whom were children.

Among the latest deaths was a five-month-old girl who weighed less than at birth. A doctor at Nasser Hospital described it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.

Medical staff have also been affected, with some resorting to IV drips to continue treating patients.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, calling the lack of food and water “unconscionable”.

The UN estimates that Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 people attempting to access food, the majority near militarised aid distribution points under the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, described the hunger crisis as “manmade” and criticised aid air drops as expensive and inefficient. “Lift the siege, open the gates, and guarantee safe movement and dignified access to those in need,” he urged.

Lazzarini added that 6,000 trucks loaded with aid are waiting in Jordan and Egypt for permission to enter Gaza.

In response to mounting pressure, the IDF said it had carried out a humanitarian airdrop containing “seven pallets of aid including flour, sugar and canned food”, coordinated with international organisations.

Israel has faced increasing international criticism over the deepening crisis, after imposing a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March. Though a limited flow of aid resumed in late May, aid agencies warn it falls far short of what is needed to curb rising malnutrition.

Despite this, the IDF maintains that there is “no starvation” in Gaza.

Additional reporting from AFP