Israel says that it has air-dropped aid into the Gaza Strip and would open humanitarian corridors, as it faces growing international condemnation over the deepening hunger crisis in the Palestinian territory, AFP reports.

On Telegram, the Israeli military announced it “carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid as part of the ongoing efforts to allow and facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip”.

This would improve the humanitarian situation, and disprove “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”, it added.

Humanitarian chiefs are deeply sceptical that air drops can deliver enough food to tackle the deepening hunger crisis facing Gaza’s more than two million inhabitants. They are instead demanding that Israel allow more overland convoys.

“Air drops will not reverse the deepening starvation,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. “They are expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”