Fletcher said in a statement that initial reports indicate that more than 100 truckloads of aid were collected from crossings to be transported into Gaza. “This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,” he said.

Israel has given a tour of a large storage site within Gaza containing what it claims to be 1,000 lorries-worth of aid that the United Nations (UN) has failed to deliver.

Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and allow new aid corridors as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies into the enclave, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.