Helen Catt
Political correspondent

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to raise the situation in Gaza when he meets US President Donald Trump in Turnberry tomorrow.

He is likely to welcome US efforts to bring about a ceasefire with partners in the region and to discuss what more can be done to urgently get a ceasefire in place and end the suffering in Gaza.

The two leaders are also expected to talk about trade and bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.

Image source, Reuters

For several days, we've been reporting on international warnings about food shortages and a starvation crisis in Gaza.

Today, Israel has said it will allow some aid to enter the Strip via "humanitarian corridors". Here are the key points you need to know:

• Israel has announced a limited "tactical pause in military activity" in parts of Gaza - here's when and where it happens
• It also says secure routes will be set up "permanently" to allow for the safe passage of aid
• Separately, the Israeli military says it has dropped seven packages of aid into the Strip - which led to Palestinians fighting each other to get them, our Gaza correspondent reports
• Aid agencies have criticised the air drop plan for offering a fraction of what is needed to address malnutrition
• Countries including UAE, Jordan and Egypt are now delivering aid to Gaza by land and air, with Egypt's aid already crossing the border

We'll keep monitoring the situation and bring you all the latest updates. Stay with us.

Another aid air drop will take place between 12:00 local time (10:00 BST) and 14:00 local time (12:00 BST) in northern Gaza, according to a United Arab Emirates official.

This follows aid drops over north-west Gaza overnight, which caused fighting to break out as desperate people clashed over access to food and supplies.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has responded to Israel's "tactical pause", calling for "urgent measures to save lives" - including the entry of aid supplies and evacuation of the wounded.

Munir al-Barsh, Director General of Gaza's Ministry of Health, says Israel's latest announcement is a chance to save lives.

He urges emergency medical evacuations for people who are seriously hurt - such as those with brain and spinal injuries - and calls for the entry of medical and nutritional supplies, including therapeutic milk for children, concentrated glucose solutions, and proteins like meat, eggs, and dairy products.

"Every delay is measured by a new funeral," the statement says.

The Israeli Defences Forces (IDF) have released this video it says shows aid being dropped into Gaza. The drop contained sugar, flour and canned food, it says.

But international NGOs have warned about the dangers of dropping food onto densely populated areas.

Shaina Low from the Norwegian Refugee Council says that on previous occasions when aid was supplied by air drop, boxes had "crushed people" as they fell from the sky, or caused "chaos" on the ground.

"People were fighting over the aid. People were getting injured," she says.

No significant sign Israel will authorise more aid to be distributedpublished at 08:55 British Summer Time

08:55 BST

Emir Nader
Reporting from Jerusalem

According to a map published by the IDF, the tactical pauses are mostly in places that should already be safer zones than elsewhere in Gaza - places where the Israeli military has told Palestinians to move to.

To me, the more significant announcement is the "humanitarian corridors" for aid convoys.

Aid agencies have repeatedly asked for Israel to allow its convoys to move unimpeded without the military attacking the crowds of civilians that gather around them, like we saw in the deadly events at Zikim yesterday morning, when at least a dozen people waiting for aid trucks were killed, with Palestinians saying the military fired directly on them. The IDF says it fired only "warning shots" into the crowd.

Similar scenes took place last Sunday too.

I think most importantly, we don’t see any specific commitment in the announcements that Israel will allow a significantly greater amount of aid to be authorised for distribution by aid agencies.

I think we’ll need to see how these secure routes play out and whether Israel does grant permissions for more trucks to be delivered in Gaza. The number of deliveries will also be affected by the availability of fuel and lorries in Gaza.

Image source, EPA-EFE

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells the BBC World Service’s Weekend programme that the Israeli military’s newly announced tactical pause is “an improvement” and “proves that we didn't do enough until now”.

Olmert, who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military action in Gaza - and wrote in an Israeli newspaper in May that Israel is committing war crimes - says the pause comes too late.

“Because the whole world is pissed off with us, and I think that they have a good reason for it," he says.

“So we have to make sure that the humanitarian needs are provided completely, effectively, smoothly, without any risks to the lives of the Palestinians trying to get some food to eat.”

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Image source, Reuters

This tactical pause in fighting has been welcomed by people on the ground who see it as step in the right direction.

We expect 180 trucks to come in from Egypt and 60 trucks from Jordan.

Last night, we saw an air drop of parcels onto the north west Gaza, and it was a very chaotic situation as desperate people fought each other to get food.

But the issue is not just about food shortages but about the food quality.

Only flour and canned food have been allowed in.

People were hoping to get fresh vegetables and fruit, and they haven't eaten protein for weeks.

I have spoken to my family in Gaza and other people there who say they have only eaten carbohydrates for about four months now.

People want this humanitarian crisis to end.

We can now bring you some of the first images of trucks carrying aid entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing in Rafah, Egypt.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Jordan’s security agency has posted a video on social media, external, purportedly showing a line of aid-loaded trucks moving along the road.

“Happening now, huge Jordanian relief convoys are moving towards Gaza,” the Public Security Directorate says on X.

Earlier, Egypt's al-Qahera News also reported that aid lorries have now started moving towards the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.

Israel’s announcement of a "tactical pause" in military operations in parts of Gaza today is a significant development - but it’s not unprecedented.

Earlier in the war, the Israeli military regularly announced “tactical pauses” in specific areas. These usually lasted hours, not days, and were often put in place to allow UN humanitarian operations.

For example, in November 2024, during a mass polio vaccination campaign, the Israeli military said it carried out “tactical humanitarian pauses in order to facilitate the distribution of the vaccines”.

And in June 2024, Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said they allowed a “tactical pause to make sure that the international organisations will understand we are creating a safe pathway” for aid to enter Gaza.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN's food programme warned last week that almost one in three people in the Gaza Strip are going for days without eating.

"Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment," the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.

Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said "more than 100 people, the vast majority of them children, have reportedly died of hunger".

Harrowing pictures of children suffering from severe malnutrition have been emerging from the territory.

Israel has said there is no restriction on aid getting into Gaza and pointed to stocks inside Gaza which have not been distributed. Its government spokesman, David Mencer, last week blamed Hamas for "engineering" a famine in Gaza.

Emir Nader
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Israel denies there’s a hunger crisis in Gaza and says it wants to refute the claim it is deliberately starving Palestinians.

The Israeli military says its planes dropped seven packages of aid into Gaza early this morning, containing flour, sugar and canned food.

Air drops are a spectacle – and critics warn they’re done more to ease political pressure on Israel than relieve the hunger of Gaza’s two million Palestinians.

More significantly, Israel says it will implement humanitarian corridors to enable the safe movement of UN convoys in Gaza.

International aid agencies have repeatedly said safe passage is essential and their ability to distribute aid is endangered by Israeli troops attacking convoys and the civilians who crowd around them.

They also say that only a huge increase in aid entering by land will avert mass starvation in Gaza.

Over the last few minutes we've heard from the Israeli military that there will be "a local tactical pause in military activity" in three areas of Gaza.

The move comes as concerns are growing over the humanitarian situation facing Palestinians in the Strip.

The Hamas-run health ministry has said five more deaths were recorded in Gaza due to malnutrition on Friday - bringing the total number of people who have died from a lack of food to 127.

Two thirds of them are children, the ministry added.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini has described this hunger crisis as "manmade". He also criticised air drops of aid as expensive and inefficient.

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has just issued a statement, saying that "a local tactical pause in military activity will take place for humanitarian purposes from 10:00 to 20:00 (07:00-17:00 GMT), starting today (Sunday)" in the Gaza Strip.

It says "the pause will begin in the areas where the IDF is not operating: al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, every day until further notice.

"This decision was co-ordinated with the UN and international organisations following discussions regarding the matter.

"In addition, designated secure routes will be in place permanently from 06:00 to 23:00 to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip."

The IDF adds that it "will continue to support humanitarian efforts alongside ongoing manoeuvring and offensive operations against terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, in order to protect Israeli civilians."

The IDF adds that it is prepared to expand the scale of this activity as required.

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last week that the UK was working with Jordan on plans to drop aid into Gaza by air.

That came after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state.

A small team of British military planners and logisticians was being made available to help Jordan get aid into the territory, as we've reported.

Before the air drops were resumed, Palestinians had been relying on food aid distributed by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Earlier, BBC Verify has examined these GHF food boxes:

The GHF has said these boxes also contain some ready-to-eat food, like halva bars - a popular snack made from blending tahini or sesame paste and sugar. It occasionally includes substitute items like tea, biscuits, and chocolate, and is also delivering potatoes and onions.

Aid experts, however, have raised concerns about their nutritional value, as they were deficient in calcium, iron, zinc, and some vitamins.

You can read the full BBC Verify report here.

As we have just reported, the pro-Palestinian group Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says Israeli troops have boarded a boat that was trying to bring food aid to the Gaza Strip by sea.

It says the Handala vessel was intercepted in international waters.

Video footage purportedly shows activists on board with their hands up as several armed soldiers took control of the vessel.

The Israeli foreign ministry says the country's navy stopped the boat "from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza" and breaking the blockade there.

It adds that the ship "is safely making its way to the shores of Israel" and that "all passengers are safe".

The FFC says Handala's crew of 19 activists and two journalists from various countries - including Australia, France, the UK and the US - had been "kidnapped" by Israeli soldiers.

Egypt's al-Qahera News website is reporting that aid lorries have now started moving towards the Gaza Strip from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.

The media outlet published a photo showing a long line of open-top lorries loaded with what appears to be packages of humanitarian aid.

Egyptian officials are yet to publicly comment on the issue.

Earlier, Israel said it was prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza.

Image source, Getty Images

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) says it will resume air drops of aid into Gaza immediately - after Israel said it would allow foreign countries to drop supplies into the Strip.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a critical and unprecedented level," UAE's Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a post on X.

"The United Arab Emirates remains at the forefront of efforts to deliver life-saving assistance to the Palestinian people.

"We will ensure essential aid reaches those most in need, whether through land, air or sea. Air drops are resuming once more, immediately."