Israel 'pause' in Gaza had no impact on aid supplies — WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland — The "pause" that the Israeli military had declared in Gaza to facilitate aid flows has had no impact on deliveries of the badly-needed aid, the UN's health agency said on Friday.

"So overall, we the UN can say that we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in since that, I will say, unilateral announcement of this technical pause," said Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization representative in the Palestinian territories.

"That is the overall assessment," he said.

The Israeli military had over the weekend announced a daily humanitarian "pause" in fighting on a key road in eastern Rafah, but a United Nations spokesman said days later that "this has yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need".

More than eight months of war, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, have led to dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory and repeated UN warnings of famine.

The October Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 41 are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 37,431 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.