Joe Inwood
World news correspondent

There’s been much fanfare about the idea of airdrops, with government press releases soon followed by dramatic images of aid drifting through the sky and into Gaza.

But, how much food can they actually deliver? We’ve been looking at the numbers and the answer is not enough, on their own.

When they flew similar missions last year, each C-130 cargo plane carried about 12,500 “meals” per trip, according to official figures released by US Central Command.

It’s worth pointing out we don’t know exactly what definition they used for a meal.

But, at that rate, approximately 160 flights would be needed just to provide a single meal for each of Gaza’s approximately two million people.

Given that the Jordanian and UAE Air Forces are thought to have about 20 C-130s between them, the challenges of using airdrops as a way of feeding the population are evident.

It’s also why the potentially far more significant part of last night’s announcement is the news that “humanitarian corridors” will be opening.

If, that is, they operate in a way that allows trucks carrying aid into the Gaza Strip in real numbers.

Image source, Reuters

We're starting to see reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan have begun a fresh round of airdrops over Gaza.

A little earlier, we reported that an air drop was expected at some point between 12:00 local time (10:00 BST) and 14:00 local time (12:00 BST) in northern Gaza, according to an Emirati official.

Image source, Getty Images

A new clean water pipeline has been approved between Egypt and Gaza, Cogat, the Israeli military body which oversees the entry of aid into the Strip, has said.

The new pipeline will flow from a desalination facility in Egypt to the Al-Mawasi area along Gaza's coastline.

"The pipeline is intended to serve approximately 600,000 residents in the area and will operate independently of Israel’s water pipelines," Cogat says.

"Construction of the pipeline will commence in the coming days and is expected to continue for several weeks."

It comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also announced on Saturday that a power line from Israel to a Gaza desalination plant has been reconnected, which it suggested would boost "daily water output to 20,000 cubic metres".

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent in Istanbul

Image source, Reuters

Residents of Gaza have cautiously welcomed reports of a temporary humanitarian pause allowing food and medicine to enter the besieged enclave, but many say the relief must be the beginning of a broader, lasting solution to the deepening crisis.

For months, Gaza’s population of more than two million has faced extreme shortages of food, clean water, and basic medical supplies as bombardment and border closures have brought daily life to a standstill.

“Of course I feel a bit of hope again, but also worried that starvation would continue once the pause is over,” says Rasha Al-Sheikh Khalil, a mother of four in Gaza City.

“One convoy of aid or a few air drop packages won’t be enough. We need a real solution an end to this nightmare an end to the war,” she says.

“This isn’t just about quantity of food it’s about quality,” says Neveen Saleh, a mother of six.

“We haven’t eaten a single fresh fruit or vegetable in four months. There’s no chicken, no meat, no eggs. All we have are canned foods that are often expired and flour."

The total number killed and injured in Gaza

In today's casualties update, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 88 people have been killed and a further 374 injured due to "Israeli aggression" in the past 24 hours.

It says this brings the death toll to 59,821, with another 144,851 injured since the war began on 7 October 2023.

Deaths and injuries at aid collection points

The health ministry also says that an additional 11 people have been killed while collecting aid in the last day. It adds that 36 more were injured.

The health ministry says this brings the total number of deaths at such locations to 1,132 and the number injured to 7,521.

Malnutrition deaths

As we reported a little earlier, the health ministry in Gaza says that six new deaths due to malnutrition have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

This, it says, brings the total number of deaths from malnutrition to 133, including 87 children.

• As a reminder, international journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, so it is difficult to verify the number of reported malnutrition deaths

Israel's humanitarian pause comes after growing pressurepublished at 12:19 British Summer Time 27 July

12:19 BST 27 July

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Israel was facing international outrage as images of emaciated children, accounts of people fainting from hunger and reports of Palestinians starving to death in Gaza spread across the world.

There was growing pressure from the UN and aid agencies, which have been warning of mass starvation in the territory, and even some of Israel’s allies who have blamed the country’s restrictions on the entry and distribution of aid for this crisis.

Israel, which as an occupying power has the obligation under international law to protect civilians, has categorically rejected the allegations.

But it had blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into the territory between March and May, in what was then described as a strategy to put pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal, which did not happen. It was accused of using food as a weapon, a war crime, which it also denied.

Then, it created a controversial new system for the distribution of supplies, which requires people to walk to a handful of militarised hubs, often at great risk.

It said the system, which largely bypassed the UN and other agencies with decades of experience, was needed to prevent the large-scale diversion of aid from Hamas, although it has never provided evidence that this was happening. The UN described the mechanism as insufficient and inhumane, calling it “death traps”: it says more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid under the system.

As a result, a limited amount of food was getting in, and what was there was not reaching everyone.

It is still not clear how much food will now enter Gaza, and to how many people. For some, any help will probably arrive too late

We've just received some new pictures from northern Gaza, showing people in Beit Lahia carrying bags of aid.

This follows an announcement from Israel of a tactical pause in fighting in some areas to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians.

Crowds were seen climbing onto aid trucks and carrying large sacks on their shoulders.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We’ve now got more details on Jordan’s aid delivery to Gaza.

A convoy set off towards the Strip on Sunday, with 60 trucks carrying essential food supplies, according to the country’s state-run news agency Petra.

The relief effort was organised through coordination between the Jordanian Armed Forces, the UN's World Food Programme and World Central Kitchen.

“Today’s convoy addresses immediate food insecurity and is expected to be followed by additional shipments in the days ahead, ensuring continued support for those most affected.”

Image source, EPA-EFE

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's minister of national security, says he was "deliberately" left out of discussions by the prime minister's office on today's measures to increase aid in Gaza.

In a social media post, he says an official told him a security consultation was held without him on Saturday night, with the excuse of not wanting him to "desecrate Sabbath".

The far-right minister describes Israel's air drop as a "shame and disgrace", saying he will fight the decision.

Image source, EPA

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) says it welcomes Israel's move to implement pauses in military action in parts of Gaza, as well as the creation of humanitarian corridors for aid to enter.

The organisation says it has enough food to feed the entire population of 2.1 million Gazans for almost three months.

Alongside Israel's earlier assurances - like allowing more trucks in and promising no armed forces or shooting near convoys - the WFP says it hopes "these measures will allow for a surge in urgently needed food assistance to reach hungry people without further delays".

However, UN body adds that "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."

Image source, Reuters

In Beit Lahia, north Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians are carrying bags of humanitarian aid.

“The way of aid distribution is very harmful and dangerous, but we go out for the sake of children, because a child cries, telling you: ‘Uncle, I want a loaf of bread’. It breaks your heart,” Mohammed al-Masry tells Reuters.

“It feels like a million knives into your heart, a million knives in your heart. We bring a bag of flour with a million deaths, but we go for the sake of the children.

“We are calling upon the Arab nations, we are calling upon the entire world, everyone with a consciousness, everyone with humanity, for God’s sake, have a look at these poor people,” says Mohammed.

“I swear to God, one dies a million deaths to get his family’s food. It is unfair.”

Rushdi Abualouf
BBC News Gaza correspondent in Istanbul

An Israeli airstrike hit a residential apartment in western Gaza City on Sunday, just an hour after a temporary humanitarian pause was announced for the area, according to eyewitnesses.

Local residents reported that war planes targeted a high-rise building west of Gaza City, despite Israel’s declaration of a limited pause in military activity to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza.

A local journalist told the BBC that rescue teams pulled two bodies and several injured people from the rubble of the targeted apartment.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the reported strike.

The humanitarian pause, which came into effect earlier in the day, was intended to facilitate the entry of food and medicine into Gaza, where more than two million people face a deepening humanitarian crisis after months of war.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says there have been six deaths due to malnutrition in the last 24 hours.

This brings the total number of deaths due to malnutrition to 133, including 87 children, since the start of the war.

Rushdi Abualouf
BBC News Gaza correspondent in Istanbul

At least nine Palestinians were killed and 54 others wounded in an Israeli shooting apparently targeting civilians gathered at an aid convoy route along Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, according to medical officials.

The spokesman of al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat says that the victims were brought in following an Israeli shooting which hit civilians waiting for humanitarian assistance.

Local sources say the incident happened near the Netzarim Corridor, and that many people had gathered there earlier in the day in anticipation of incoming aid convoys.

The IDF has been approached for comment about the incident.

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 airdrop 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 aiddrops 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 27 July

08:55 BST 27 July

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.