Gaza - Israel declared a "tactical pause" in its attacks in parts of Gaza on Sunday and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

The military also said it had begun air-dropping food into the territory amid growing allegations that it is using starvation as a weapon against Palestinian civilians.

In a statement, the army said it coordinated its decisions with the UN and international organizations to "increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip."

There was no immediate official response from the UN or non-governmental aid agencies operating in Gaza, and privately skeptical humanitarian sources said they were waiting to see the results on the ground of the Israeli announcement.

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The pause in fighting would be limited to areas where the military says Israeli troops are not currently operating – Al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah, and Gaza City – and last from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM every day.

The Israeli statement added that "designated secure routes" had been opened across all of Gaza to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine.

The Israeli military claimed these operations should disprove "the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip."

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume while continuing the near-total blockade, amid warnings of a wave of starvation.

Before Israel announced the airborne delivery of seven pallets of food, the United Arab Emirates had said it would restart aid drops, and Britain said it would work with partners including Jordan to assist them.

On Saturday alone, the Palestinian civil defense agency said over 50 more Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes and shootings, some as they waited near aid distribution centers.

"We ask God and our Arab brothers to work harder to reach a ceasefire before we all die," Gaza resident Hossam Sobh told AFP, adding that he had feared death as he recovered a bag of flour under the nose of an Israeli tank.

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Also on Saturday, Israeli troops boarded a boat in international waters carrying activists from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as it attempted to approach Gaza from the sea to challenge the brutal naval blockade.

The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory has gravely deteriorated in recent days, with more than 100 NGOs warning this week that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza.

Humanitarian chiefs are deeply skeptical that air drops can deliver enough food safely to tackle the deepening hunger crisis facing Gaza's more than two million inhabitants.

A number of Western and Arab governments carried out air drops in Gaza in 2024, when aid deliveries by land also faced Israeli restrictions, but many in the humanitarian community consider them ineffective.

"Air drops will not reverse the deepening starvation," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. "They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians."

Humanitarian organizations accuse the Israeli army of imposing excessive restrictions on aid delivery, while tightly controlling road access within Gaza.

A separate aid operation is under way through the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but it has faced fierce international criticism as its distribution points have been described as Israeli "death traps."

Israel has killed at least 59,733 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, according to the territory's health ministry, although the true number is believed to be far higher.