said would 'improve the humanitarian response.' It is allowing airdrops of aid, carrying out the first one itself during the night and allowing the United Arab Emirates air force to follow with another later on Sunday. The IDF also announced that it would allow a 'tactical pause in military activity' in some areas and set up 'designated humanitarian corridors… to refute the false claim on international starvation.' Hamas has condemned the moves as a "deception". Israel, it said, was "whitewashing its image before the world".

Israel later carried out an airstrike during the 'tactical pause.' Reports from the scene say a mother called Wafaa Harara and her four children, Sara, Areej, Judy and Iyad were killed. While Israel continues to insist it is not responsible for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and does not impose restrictions on aid entering Gaza, those claims are not accepted by its close allies in Europe, or the United Nations and other agencies active in Gaza. The new measures might be a tacit admission by the Israelis that they need to do more. More likely they are a gesture to allies who have issued strong statements blaming Israel for starvation in Gaza. (BBC)