The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas appeared to be in doubt.

Twenty Palestinians were killed Wednesday in the crush of a crowd at a food distribution site run by an Israeli-backed American organization in the Gaza Strip, the group said, the first time it has acknowledged deadly violence at its operations.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees warned that airdrops are 'expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians' and won’t reverse the increasing starvation.