Israel announces 'tactical pause' to fighting & says it will open aid corridors

[Twiglets1]

As reported by the BBC the IDF has 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.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ckg42k37e2pt

Also reported today:

Military pause comes as hunger crisis fears deepen

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.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ckg42k37e2pt

Aid trucks begin entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing

BBC Live reporting that this tactical pause in fighting has been welcomed by people on the ground and "We expect 180 trucks to come in from Egypt and 60 trucks from Jordan".

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.

Air drops are not very effective, just a distraction if we are honest. The tactical pauses for safe passage is a good step IF the Israeli government allow an increase in aid with it. They were allowing in on average 60-70 trucks a day when the UN have said atleast 500 a day is needed to avert famine.

This also shows that the Israeli government were capable of doing alot more earlier and that international pressure does make somewhat of a difference.

Yes absolutely @Kakeandkake . These moves are not enough to change the course of starvation but it shows how pressure makes a difference. Hopefully nobody will be distracted by this and the pressure will be continued.

I agree with you that international pressure has made some difference.

Also that air drops are not very effective, though better than nothing as I said on another thread.

Now the IDF has announced the tactical pauses and safe passage for aid ( & lorries full of aid are already coming in from Egypt & Jordan already) it makes the air drops seem less important. Though they will still have a role to play in some areas.

Agreed.

I hope this step makes it more likely for a ceasefire to be agreed on too.

Yes I hope so.

Anything that deescalates tension can only be a good thing.

I do think Hamas probably took strength from the anti Israel feeling the shortage of humanitarian aid in Gaza was provoking. Even from a purely propaganda point of view, the government should have done this sooner. As well as from a humanitarian point of view, obviously.

Thanks for the update @Twiglets1

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

So as long as these steps by Israel continue, it seems that the course of starvation can be changed.

The total number of people who have died from a lack of food reached 127 on Friday, according to Hamas.

Response from United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher:
“Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through,” Fletcher, the United Nations’ Emergency Relief Coordinator, posted on X. “In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window.”

UN World Food Programme also positive about the move:
“These new commitments to improve operating conditions come on top of earlier assurances from Israel to strengthen facilitation of humanitarian assistance,” the programme said in a statement.
But, it added, an “agreed ceasefire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza.”

Joe English for Unicef provided a more cautious response:.
“This is a short turnaround in terms of the notice that we have and so we cannot work miracles,” he told CNN’s Polo Sandoval. “We are able to prevent malnutrition, we are able to treat malnutrition but it will not happen in a day.”

edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-news-07-27-25

Trump was today talking about the 60 million, he has just given Gaza.

I saw that ... almost felt sorry for him. He kinda has a point that someone should say thank you. But that would normally be the government of the country you are giving aid to and of course Hamas will never thank the US.

“You know, we gave $60 million two weeks ago and nobody even acknowledged it, for food,” he said.
“And you really want at least someone to say ‘thank you’. No other country gave anything. It makes you feel a little bad when nobody talks about it.”
He said that “none of the European countries have given anything”, before adding that “it would be nice to get at least a ‘thank you’.”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-says-us-gave-60-170624173.html

Did anyone see that this morning the IDF made a big song and show about air dropping aid to appease the EU and other critics.

It has now come to light they airdropped aid in an area of Gaza which they have explicitly marked as a dangerous combat zone.

They also shot at civilians during today's 'tactical pause'

The IDF didn't do all the air drops, though they did carry out an airdrop of seven pallets of food into northern Gaza overnight.

In addition, two Jordanian air force planes and a UAE aircraft have carried out three airdrops, delivering 25 tonnes of food and basic necessities into the territory.

Air drops aren't the best method, I think everyone agrees on that. One problem is you can't control exactly where the aid lands. But maybe countries like Jordan and the UAE should be thanked for at least trying to help? Also Egypt who delivered aim by trucks today. All the Palestinian people have is the help of other countries since their own government don't do anything for them.

It was the IDF footage which revealed that their air drop was actually in a dangerous combat zone. When they were questioned if it mistakenly landed there, they refused to answer.

It's a well known problem with air drops that you can't control where they go which is why they would not be a sufficient source of aid distribution on their own.

It is challenging and they have a large drop zone but there is control. They can be dropped from very high off the ground, if there is a risk of attack for example or from as little as 100 m off the ground. Generally there would be team on the ground also co-ordinating with the air team. They can’t just drop them Willy nilly. It’s a really big, expensive operation and a total last resort as they are really inefficient.

There isn’t that much control seeing as in the past some of them have landed in the sea. Agree it’s a last resort though.

Despite the tactical pause, Israel still shot and killed dozens of aid seekers yesterday.

Just one incident of desperate aid seekers killed yesterday whilst trying to get food. The IDF haven't even denied shooting at them.

"The UN's World Food Programme said a 25-truck convoy carrying food crossed the Zikim border yesterday morning aiming to reach communities in northern Gaza.
It said the convoy encountered "large crowds of civilians anxiously waiting to access desperately needed food supplies".
"As the convoy approached, the surrounding crowd came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire"."

The tactical pause is in 3 specific areas to enable the distribution of humanitarian aid in areas where the IDF is not currently active.

And as is typical in Gaza, civilians getting shot at is He said/ She said.

The IDF have denied shooting at civilians. They have said they fired warning shots at an aid distribution site.

When civilians get shot we never know who caused it: the IDF, Hamas or criminal gangs. Everyone has ideas based on their own bias but we can’t hope to know the truth from outside Gaza.

"The IDF is aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area, and the details of the incident are still being examined," it added, without disclosing casualty figures.

They know that people have been killed after they shot at them as they do on a almost daily basis.

The member from the UN World Food Programme said the civilians came under fire from 'tanks, snipers, and other gunfire'

Be realistic, does that sound like warning shots to you?

I don’t believe what the UN say anymore but obviously you do. I don’t believe they couldn’t have distributed the aid before now, but now the Israel government has opened these aid corridors with tactical pauses in fighting so they have no excuses left. But still they are criticising - wow, it’s almost like they don’t want this aid distributed at all.

I do believe the IDF tell the truth most of the time ( I accept that individual soldiers have lied in the past). This is where we fundamentally differ so will never be able to agree, unfortunately.

In which case you should read this and enlighten yourself.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-us-humanitarian-envoy-pans-israeli-claim-that-un-allowing-aid-to-amass-on-gaza-border/