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.

Scores of aid groups say starvation is fast spreading in Gaza, and Israel suspended some military operations to allow the movement of relief convoys.