Israel has long restricted aid to Gaza on the argument that Hamas steals it to use as a weapon of control over the population. On Saturday, the Israeli military announced new airdrops of aid.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusations that staff with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Palestinian militants Hamas,

Two senior Israeli army officers have told The New York Times there is no evidence that Hamas looted UN humanitarian aid in Gaza, undermining a central Israeli justification for severely restricting food deliveries to over two million people and driving the population towards famine.