Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel allowed 90 lorries carrying critical aid into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the UN said, as international pressure intensifies over the Israeli military's renewed offensive and blockade on the enclave.
Three days after Israel announced it would permit limited deliveries, the UN collected goods from the Karam Abu Salem crossing and sent them into Gaza, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.
In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid lorries, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.
Five lorries entered Gaza on Monday with the first delivery of aid for the Palestinian territory's 2.3 million people since Israel imposed a blockade on March 2.
The first aid distributions in Gaza since early March came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire”, but the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.
In Geneva, the Palestinian health minister said that 29 children had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more were at risk.
"In the last couple of days we lost 29 children," Palestinian health minister, Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters, describing them as "starvation-related deaths".
Asked to react to earlier comments by the UN aid chief that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said that "The number 14,000 is very realistic, may be even underestimating" the scale.
He added it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action” in Gaza.
Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies. Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment, with Gaza's Health Ministry reporting on Wednesday that the bodies of 82 people were taken to hospitals across the territory over the previous 24 hours.
Hundreds of lorries were entering Gaza each day during a ceasefire from January to March but the stockpile has run low and the blockade has resulted in shortages of food and medicine.
Mounting pressure
This month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Gaza's entire population was at risk of famine. Health authorities in the enclave have said dozens of people, many of them children, have died from hunger.
Far-right members of Israel's government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both settlers, are strongly opposed to the move, which they say would be a “gift to Hamas”.
A US-backed private group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which will use contractors, said that it will start moving aid into the territory in “coming days”. The UN and traditional agencies have said they will not co-operate with the foundation which some have accused of working with Israel.
The GHF has said it will distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
Israel has faced mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza. EU foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc's co-operation accord, which includes trade, with Israel.
Sweden said it would press the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.
Pope Leo XIV described the situation in Gaza as “worrying and painful” and called for “the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid”.
Gaza's health ministry said at least 3,509 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall death toll to 53,655, mostly civilians.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
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