ISRAEL was allowing foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza, according to Israeli army radio and media reports today.

Tel Aviv has been forced to back down from its refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza as images continued to be shared across social media of starving Palestinians.

A senior Israeli military official source said: “Starting today, Israel will allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza.

“Starting this afternoon, the World Central Kitchen (WCK) began reactivating its kitchens.”

The WCK paused its aid operation in Gaza in November after a number of its workers were killed by an Israeli air strike last year.

The mercenary-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been part of a food distribution scheme in Gaza backed by the United States and Israel since the end of May.

But more than 1,000 starving Palestinians have been killed by the Israelis as they attempted to reach the aid distribution points.

Meanwhile, Hamas said today that they expected ceasefire talks with Israel to resume next week.

Hamas official Bassem Naim said he was told that an Israeli delegation would depart for consultations early next week. 

His comments come a day after the US and Israel recalled their negotiating teams from Qatar.

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said that Hamas's latest response to the negotiations showed a “lack of desire” to reach a truce.

Hamas said that Mr Witkoff’s remarks were meant to pressure the group for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s benefit during the next round of talks. 

Mr Naim said that good progress had been made in recent days towards a ceasefire, guarantees to pave the way towards a permanent agreement and processes for how humanitarian aid would be delivered.

Israel's government didn't immediately respond to whether negotiations would resume next week.

But Mr Netanyahu said Israel is “considering alternative options” for bringing hostages home from Gaza.

In recent days more than two dozen Western-aligned countries and more than 100 aid groups have called for an end to the war, slammed Israel's blockade as well as GHF’s role in aid distribution.

The groups said even their own staff were struggling to get enough food.

Gaza’s health ministry said nine more people died today from malnutrition, bringing the total of such deaths to 122.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise Palestine as a state in September, saying: “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.”