T he announcement was an admission of failure. On July 26th the Israel Defence Forces ( IDF) said that it would parachute food into Gaza and implement daily “humanitarian pauses” in parts of the still depopulated areas of the devastated strip, allowing international aid organisations to bring in convoys.

Gaza is slipping into famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly 22-month war had topped 60,000.The Hamas-run territory's health ministry said Israel's campaign had now killed 60,

The U.N.-developed panel, known as IPC, said conditions “worsened dramatically” in recent months, with food consumption at its lowest level since the conflict began.