KEY POINTS
- Israeli strikes killed 53 Palestinians on Sunday despite announced “tactical pauses.”
- Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 59,821 killed and 144,851 injured since October 2023.
- UN and aid groups warn of worsening starvation and limited access to relief.
- PRCS says 127, including 85 children, have died from hunger since the war began.
- Egypt, Jordan and UAE send aid; WFP urges increase in food deliveries.
- Britain and US call for a full ceasefire and release of hostages.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 53 Palestinians, including 32 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli air and ground attacks across Gaza since dawn, the territory’s health ministry said on Sunday, despite the Israeli military’s announcement of daily “tactical pauses” to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
According to the Israeli army, these limited pauses in the offensive are intended to enable aid convoys to move through parts of the besieged Palestinian territory where Israeli forces are not operating.
The pause, announced by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Sunday via X, applies to specific areas including Al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah, and parts of Gaza City, and will run daily from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm until further notice.
In accordance with directives from the political echelon, and as part of the IDF’s ongoing effort, led by COGAT, to increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, a local tactical pause in military activity will take place for humanitarian purposes from 10:00 to 20:00,… pic.twitter.com/y7gTmtfidj
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 27, 2025
Designated secure routes have also been established to facilitate access for humanitarian convoys, the army said.
However, the continued Israeli bombardment has raised questions about the effectiveness and sincerity of these pauses, as the death toll continues to rise.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
The United Nations welcomed the announcement of humanitarian pauses but stressed the urgency of delivering aid at scale.
“Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher posted on X, adding, “We are in contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as possible in this window.”
Welcome announcement of humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow our aid through. 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.
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) July 27, 2025
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had earlier warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “already catastrophic and deteriorating fast,” with the starvation crisis reaching critical levels.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) issued an urgent alert on Sunday, warning that 127 people, including 85 children, have died from hunger and severe malnutrition since the start of the war.
“Life in Gaza has become nearly unliveable,” the PRCS said in a post on X, accusing Israel of enforcing a “systematic starvation policy” through a blockade and restrictions on aid.
🚨The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) issues an urgent alert about the rapidly deteriorating and catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the #Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation continues to enforce a systematic #starvation policy, implemented through a suffocating blockade… pic.twitter.com/0iUAyMKKsL
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 27, 2025
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that one in four children under five, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, are now malnourished.
“This is not just hunger — it is deliberate starvation, manufactured by the Israeli authorities,” MSF stated, calling for unrestricted access to food and medical aid.
“Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The latest update from our colleagues in Gaza: https://t.co/aW5tnlXvtO
— MSF International (@MSF) July 27, 2025
Death toll continues to mount
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that Israeli attacks have now killed at least 59,821 Palestinians and wounded 144,851 others since the offensive began in October 2023.
In the past 24 hours alone, at least 88 people were killed and 374 injured. Six more deaths from malnutrition were also recorded, bringing the total number of such fatalities to 133, including 87 children.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed that two of its soldiers, aged 20 and 22, were killed in southern Gaza on Sunday.
Defence Minister Israel Katz paid tribute to them on X, saying, “We have lost three young heroes… who gave their lives for the security of our state and the return of all our hostages.”
מרכין ראש בכאב גדול על נפילתם של לוחמינו הגיבורים סרן אמיר סעד, קצין בסיירת גולני, סמל ינון נוריאל ואנה, לוחם בסיירת גולני, ורס"ם (מיל׳) בצלאל יהושוע מסבכר, לוחם בגדוד ההנדסה הקרבית 749 שנפטר מפצעיו הקשים כשבוע לאחר שנפצע בקרב ברצועת עזה.
מדינת ישראל איבדה שלושה צעירים גיבורים,… pic.twitter.com/TraoBp4N6g
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 27, 2025
The soldiers were reportedly killed when their armoured vehicle exploded in Khan Younis, possibly from a tunnel-launched improvised explosive device.
Limited aid deliveries
Egyptian state-linked media reported that aid trucks began entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing following the announcement of the tactical pause.
Footage aired by Al-Qahera News showed convoys moving near the border.
In a separate effort, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates conducted a rare airdrop of 25 tonnes of aid into Gaza — their first in months.
A Jordanian official told Reuters that while helpful, air drops are not a substitute for land deliveries.
The World Food Programme (WFP) expressed hope that the pause would allow for a “surge” in food aid.
The WFP said it has enough supplies in or en route to the region to feed Gaza’s 2.1 million residents for nearly three months.
🔵WFP Statement | #Gaza
WFP welcomes the news that Israel is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses, and that designated humanitarian corridors will be created, to facilitate the safe movement of UN convoys delivering emergency food supplies and other aid to people in Gaza.… pic.twitter.com/e4WlI4htRb
— World Food Programme (@WFP) July 27, 2025
International pressure for ceasefire
International calls for a ceasefire continue to intensify. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Israel’s announcement of daily pauses was “essential but long overdue” and insufficient to meet the needs on the ground.
“We need a ceasefire that can end the war, for hostages to be released and aid to enter Gaza by land unhindered,” he said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that ceasefire negotiations had made “a lot of progress” and that a deal could happen “any day now.”
Rubio said the proposed agreement includes the release of at least half the hostages, including the deceased, followed by the release of the remaining captives within 60 days.
