FOCUSING on aid air drops into Gaza is a grotesque distraction that will do little to reverse the enclave’s deepening starvation crisis, said leaders of humanitarian agencies today.

This came after Israel’s military responded to growing international pressure over its attacks on the Palestinians by announcing a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza — for 10 hours a day.

The Israeli military said the “tactical pause” in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas with large populations, would increase humanitarian aid, including by parachute, entering the territory. 

The Israelis said the pause will run from 10am to 8pm daily until further notice.

“Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

As the military had warned, combat operations continued otherwise. 

Health officials in Gaza said Israeli strikes had killed at least 38 Palestinians from late on Saturday into Sunday, including 23 seeking aid. 

An air attack on a Gaza City apartment killed a woman and her four children. Another killed four people, including a boy, his mother and grandfather, in the eastern Zaytoun neighbourhood.

Israel’s military had no immediate comment. But after more than 100 aid organisations and rights groups warned last week that the Palestinians in Gaza are facing mass starvation, Ciaran Donnelly of the International Rescue Committee said that the aid drops could “never deliver the volume or the quality” of aid required to address the crisis.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said a third of Palestinians in Gaza have not eaten for days, and nearly half a million are enduring “famine-like conditions.”

A statement from the WFP said: “An agreed ceasefire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza with critical food supplies in a consistent, predictable, orderly and safe manner — wherever they are across the Gaza Strip.”

Head of the United Nations refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned that the air drops were “a distraction” that will fail to properly address growing starvation levels in Gaza and could actually endanger Palestinians.

He said air drops are “expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians” if they go wrong.

Mr Lazzarini said Unrwa had “the equivalent of 6,000 trucks” in Jordan and Egypt being blocked by the Israelis from entering.

He called on the Israelis to “lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer interrupted United States President Donald Trump’s golfing trip to Scotland today where the two leaders discussed the crisis in Gaza.

Sir Keir has said that Britain will join the air drop efforts after coming under mounting pressure over continuing support to the Israeli war machine and as images of starving Palestinians flood social media screens.

He confirmed that the government was “urgently accelerating efforts” to evacuate children to Britain who needed critical medical assistance.

The Prime Minister also said he will convene the Cabinet in the coming week, while Parliament is in recess, to discuss Gaza.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, government minister James Murray described the situation in Gaza as “utterly horrifying and appalling.”

“Starvation, access to food, must never be used as a means of war. It’s completely unjustifiable and it must end,” he said.

Mr Murray added that parachuting aid into Gaza was “not going to solve the problem” of malnutrition, and called on the Israelis to lift all restrictions so more aid could reach Palestinians.

Israeli authorities deny they have placed restrictions on aid getting into Gaza, with a government spokesperson even suggesting, without evidence, that the UN is in league with Hamas to disrupt aid distribution.

The UN and Hamas both reject the accusation and say Israel is obstructing the ability of Palestinians to receive aid.

Hamas said the air drops are a “deceptive move” to avoid addressing calls to lift its siege of aid deliveries and “whitewash its image.”

“The occupation’s plan to control aid through airdrops and corridors represents a form of starvation management that puts the lives of civilians at risk.

“Ending the crime of starvation requires stopping the aggression, breaking the siege, and opening land crossings for the flow of aid under UN supervision,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas added that Israel’s control of aid deliveries in Gaza through the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has led to the deaths of “more than 1,000 people and the wounding of nearly 6,000 others, in a clear war crime.”

Former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness says Israel announced its “tactical pauses” for humanitarian purposes because the “horses of genocide and ethnic cleansing” have left the stables.

“Gaza’s land borders must immediately be opened 24/7, making these undignified airdrops unnecessary.”

Mr Gunness added: “Israel has shown itself, time and time again, to say it’s going to be letting in aid. Then of course, it gets delayed, they get rerouted, the convoys get shot at. 

“Once they arrive, the warehouses and the food distribution services and centres have been destroyed and damaged by Israel.” 

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has once again intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship seeking to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Some 21 international activists and journalists were detained by the Israelis and all cargo, including baby formula, food and medicine was seized, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said today.

The coalition that operates the vessel Handala 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 on Saturday.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment. 

The Handala was brought to the port of Ashdod by Israeli forces. A regional human rights group, Adalah, said the raid on the vessel violated international law. It demanded the immediate release of the 21 activists, including lawmakers and human rights campaigners, from 10 countries.

“The flotilla never entered Israeli territorial waters, nor was it intended to do so; it was headed toward the territorial waters of the state of Palestine, as recognised under international law,” Adalah said in a statement. 

“Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority over the international waters in which the vessel was sailing.”