Sawt Falasteen - Food arrives in Gaza after Israel pauses some fighting

With Gaza's population of more than two million facing famine and malnutrition, Israel bowed to international pressure at the weekend and announced a daily "tactical pause" in fighting in some areas.

"For the first time, I received about five kilos of flour, which I shared with my neighbour," said 37-year-old Jamil Safadi, who shelters with his wife, six children and a sick father in a tent near the Al-Quds hospital in Tel al-Hawa.

Safadi, who has been up before dawn for two weeks searching for food, said Monday was his first success. Other Gazans were less fortunate; some complained aid trucks had been stolen or that guards had fired at them near US-backed aid centres.

"I saw injured and dead people. People have no choice but to try daily to get flour. What entered from Egypt was very limited," said 33-year-old Amir al-Rash, still without food and living in a tent.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza on March 2 after talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down. Nothing was allowed into the territory until late May, when a trickle of aid resumed.

Now, the Israeli defence ministry's civil affairs agency says the UN and aid agencies had been able to pick up 120 truckloads of aid on Sunday and distribute it inside Gaza, with more on the way Monday.

- Basic supplies -

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have begun air-dropping aid packages by parachute over Gaza, while Egypt has sent trucks through its Rafah border crossing to an Israeli post just inside Gaza.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, cautiously welcomed Israel's "humanitarian pauses" but warned Gaza needed at least 500 to 600 trucks of basic food, medicine and hygiene supplies daily.

"We hope that UNRWA will finally be allowed to bring in thousands of trucks loaded with food, medicine and hygiene supplies. They are currently in Jordan and Egypt waiting for the green light," the agency said.

"Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly denied Israel was deliberately starving civilians as part of its intense 21-month-old war to crush the Palestinian group Hamas.

Military spokesmen say the UN and aid agencies should quickly make use of the lull in fighting and secure aid routes, urging them to pick up and distribute aid delivered to Gaza border crossings.

"An additional 180 trucks entered Gaza and are now awaiting collection and distribution, along with hundreds of others still queued for UN pickup," said COGAT, a defence ministry body that oversees Palestinian affairs.

"More consistent collection and distribution by UN agencies and international organisations equals more aid reaching those who need it most in Gaza."

UNRWA insisted it was ready to step up distribution, with 10,000 staff inside Gaza, waiting for deliveries.

"According to our latest data one in every five children is malnourished in Gaza City. More children have reportedly died of hunger; bringing the death toll of starving people to over 100," the statement said.

Over the weekend aid trucks began arriving from Egypt and Jordan and dropping their loads at distribution platforms just inside Gaza, ready to be picked up by agencies working inside the war-shattered territory.

But their number still falls far short of what is needed, aid agencies warn, calling for a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of more border crossings and a long-term large-scale humanitarian operation.

- Field hospital C-section -

Truce talks between Israel and Hamas -- mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States -- have stumbled, and Netanyahu remains determined to push on with the campaign to destroy Hamas and recover Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said they included five people killed in an overnight strike on a residential building in the southern Gaza district of Al-Mawasi.

A pregnant woman was among the dead, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which said its teams saved the woman's foetus by performing a Caesarean section in a field hospital.

The violence in Gaza came against the backdrop of a UN conference in New York where France and Saudi Arabia will lead a diplomatic effort to revive the moribund push for a two-state peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

O.Mousa--SF-PST