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The military also said Sunday that it carried out aid airdrops into Gaza, which included packages of aid with flour, sugar and canned food.

Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule, without providing evidence for that claim. Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have fanned global criticism of Israel, , who have called for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has spawned.

Israel said the new measures were taking place while it continues its offensive against Hamas in other areas. Ahead of the pause, health officials in Gaza said at least 16 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes.

Israel has restricted aid to Gaza throughout the war

The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas . On Friday, Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, blaming Hamas, and Israel said it was considering “alternative options� to ceasefire talks with the militant group.

After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 1/2 months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages.

Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the U.N. and other aid groups to distribute. The average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the U.N. says are needed for Gaza. The U.N. says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving trucks.

As a way to divert aid delivery away from the U.N.'s control, Israel has backed the , which in May opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the U.N. human rights office says.

Israel has railed against the U.N. throughout the war, saying that its system allowed Hamas to steal aid. The U.N. denies that claim and says its delivery mechanism was the best way to bring aid to Palestinians.

The military said the new steps were made in coordination with the U.N. and other humanitarian groups. There was no immediate comment from the U.N.

Much of Gaza’s population, squeezed by fighting into ever tinier patches of land, now relies on aid.

At least 16 Palestinians killed in latest strikes, health officials say

One strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the Asdaa area, northwest of the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least nine people, according to Nasser Hospital. The dead included a father and his two children, and another father and his son, the hospital said.

In Gaza City, a strike hit an apartment late Saturday in the city’s western side, and killed four people, including two women, said the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service. Four others were wounded, it said.

Another strike killed a couple and a woman in the central town of Deir al-Balah early Sunday, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. The strike hit a tent close to a desalination plant, it said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.

The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Hamas still holds 50 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Magdy from Cairo.

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