Israel announced the opening of routes to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza sector and has already begun dropping containers by parachute. Reuters reported this.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, in accordance with the instructions of the political leadership and "to refute false claims about deliberate starvation in the Gaza sector," humanitarian routes will be established to ensure the safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine.
Shortly after, the dropping of aid by parachute resumed, a representative of the IDF told Reuters. The army's statement mentioned, in particular, the dropping of "seven containers loaded with flour, sugar, and canned goods provided by international organizations." Reuters' sources in Palestine also confirmed that parachutes carrying loads were observed in northern Gaza.
However, humanitarian organizations emphasize that airdropping aid is an extremely inefficient method.
This week, more than 100 organizations warned of worsening famine in Gaza. The Israeli army denied this in its statement, calling such claims a "false campaign previously promoted by Hamas."
"The responsibility for distributing aid to the population of Gaza lies with the UN and international humanitarian organizations. Therefore, efforts are expected from them to improve the efficiency of aid distribution and prevent it from falling into the hands of Hamas," the Israeli army's statement said.
The statement also noted that electricity supply has been restored to a water desalination plant that "serves 900,000 residents of the area."
Israel halted all humanitarian aid to Gaza in March, and in May, aid was resumed with new restrictions: food distribution was handed over to the U.S.-Israel Humanitarian Fund in Gaza. According to UN data, frequent incidents around aid centers established by this fund have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. Witnesses, including former guards of these centers, blame Israeli forces for the majority of these deaths.
Israel, however, attributes the problems faced by civilians to Hamas.
On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 127 people, including five children, have died since the beginning of the year due to starvation.
