Overview

• The Israel Defense Forces began renewed airdrops of flour, sugar and canned goods and reconnected a power line to Gaza’s desalination plant, boosting water output to nearly 22,000 cubic yards per day.
• World Food Programme officials reported that half of their requests to retrieve aid from holding sites were denied and that approved convoys sometimes waited up to 46 hours for security clearance.
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says more than 1,000 civilians have been killed or injured after Israeli troops opened fire on crowds attempting to collect relief supplies.
• The IDF insists there is no famine in Gaza and blames Hamas for promoting false hunger reports, while U.S. Agency for International Development investigators found no evidence of systematic aid theft by the militant group.
• Widespread malnutrition persists across the Gaza Strip, with desperate families resorting to eating grass and animal feed as food prices soar.