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.

It will be the first known visit in months for Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s lead on the cease-fire and hostage talks. Since his last trip, conditions in the enclave have worsened.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said, “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.”

Humanitarian aid organizations and international bodies have warned that Gaza is facing "critical" levels of hunger and that famine is "imminent" in parts of the strip.

The Gaza Strip is experiencing famine conditions, a group of global food-insecurity experts said, the most dire assessment of the enclave’s deepening hunger crisis since the war began.“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,