Updated July 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM CDT
Israel's military will pause fighting for ten hours each day in Gaza's largest population centers in order to allow more food aid into the besieged areas, the country announced over the weekend. On the first day of the pause, limited aid supplies were delivered into Gaza.
The daily respite in military operations began Sunday at 10 a.m. and will continue daily through 8 p.m. in Gaza City, Deir al Balah and Al-Mawasi, a large tent camp along the coast. Those are the areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to shelter from the ongoing violence.
The major change in Israel's offensive in Gaza follows growing international criticism over Israel's restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid. The World Health Organization says Gaza is facing mass starvation, and the head of the U.N. World Food Program said last week that the hunger crisis there has reached "new and astonishing levels of desperation."
According to Gaza's health ministry, 133 Palestinians have died from hunger and malnutrition since the beginning of the war in October 2023, including 87 children.
The Israeli military has denied that there is starvation in Gaza and says that is a "false campaign promoted by Hamas."
Israeli officials have blamed Hamas for stoking chaos around aid distribution sites in Gaza. Last Sunday, the Israeli military killed at least 94 Palestinians across Gaza who were seeking food aid, according to local health authorities and hospital morgue officials.
The U.S. pulled out of the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha, Qatar, last week, the most recent attempt to end the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said in a statement that Hamas "does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith" and that the U.S. would "consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza." He did not elaborate on what those options might be.
Israel said its decision to pause fighting to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid was made in coordination with the U.N. and other international organizations.
Airdrops containing flour, sugar and canned food would resume, Israel said, and it announced it had boosted water output in Gaza by reconnecting a power line to a desalination plant. Israel also said it was designating secure routes for U.N. aid trucks to distribute food and medicine across Gaza.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said Sunday that it had carried out three airdrops with 25 tons of food aid and humanitarian supplies in Gaza, one of which was done in coordination with the United Arab Emirates. Jordan was also sending 60 trucks carrying food supplies into the area, according to the BBC.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said it dispatched a caravan of more than 100 aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday, carrying over 1,200 tons of food, about 840 tons of flour and more.
Also over the weekend, Israel intercepted an aid ship bound for Gaza operated by the activist group The Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Israel said its navy had blocked the ship from "illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza." Activists say the vessel, known as Handala, carried humanitarian supplies including food, medicine, baby formula and diapers.
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