The focus on air drops into Gaza is a "grotesque distraction" that will not reverse the territory's deepening starvation crisis, aid agency leaders have warned. Israel's military said early on Sunday that it had airdropped humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, after also announcing humanitarian corridors for UN aid convoys.

Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service say Israeli airstrikes and gunfire have killed at least 42 people in Gaza.

Israel has long restricted or completely blocked aid to Gaza on the argument that Hamas steals it to use as a weapon of control over the population.

Families say mothers Mary Sheikh al-Eid and Khadija Abu Anza were shot while seeking aid from GHF station in southern Gaza.