The international community's hopes of getting more aid into the Gaza Strip were boosted on Thursday by the completion of a temporary harbour and Israel allowing 365 lorries into the Palestinian territory.
The West has pleaded with Israel to avoid another humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza by attacking the southern city of Rafah, which borders Egypt and has seen waves of refugees from areas of the coastal strip already bombarded by Israeli troops.
Israel says it is searching for Hamas members and has already begun its Rafah operation. Benjamin Netanyahu's government, however, is still keen to show the world that aid is reaching Gaza.
A total of 365 lorries carrying supplies passed through the Kerem Shalom and Eretz West border crossings on Thursday to bring aid into the strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
The shipments included 38 trucks with flour for the bakeries of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Gaza, an IDF spokesman reported.
On Wednesday, 76,000 litres of fuel had already been delivered for the generators of these bakeries.
Also on Thursday, 17 Jordanian trucks carrying humanitarian aid were transferred to Gaza, the army said on its Telegram channel.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) wrote on X that it was "almost impossible" to distribute aid within the Gaza Strip due to fuel shortages, disrupted telecommunications and ongoing fighting.
To further help the humanitarian situation, the US military has been building a temporary harbour in Gaza for the delivery of supplies.
On Thursday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that it was ready, but stressed that US soldiers had not entered the embattled coastal strip.
"Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days," it said. "The United Nations will receive the aid and coordinate its distribution into Gaza."
The temporary harbour, which took weeks to complete, is to serve as a hub for the delivery of aid supplies as Gaza itself has no harbour deep enough for larger cargo vessels.
According to earlier Pentagon statements, around 90 lorry loads per day will initially reach the Gaza Strip via the floating pier. At a later stage, up to 150 lorry loads per day are expected.
The best solution to the humanitarian crisis is an end to the conflict but a ceasefire still looks distant.
The Arab League on Thursday called for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to help bring about an end to the war.
At a summit meeting of the 22-member organization in Bahrain, the group also strongly condemned the Israeli advance on Rafah. Irreversible steps towards a two-state solution must be taken, it said in the summit's final declaration.
The Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, emphasized that the "fierce aggression" against Palestinian brothers must be stopped.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa called for an international peace conference for the Middle East while the secretary general of the Arab League, Egyptian Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israeli aggression against Gaza represented an historic turning point.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who attended the summit, once again called for a ceasefire, describing the conflict as "an open wound" for the region.
Earlier Israel confirmed five Israeli soldiers had been killed and three seriously injured in an incident in northern Gaza.
According to media reports, the soldiers were killed by friendly fire from Israeli tanks during battles against militants on Wednesday.
The tanks reportedly fired on a building in the refugee camp of Jabalia where the soldiers were staying. Those operating the tanks had apparently mistaken the soldiers for armed Palestinians.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the armoured vehicles had been shot at with dozens of anti-tank grenades in battles with extremist Palestinians. As a result, all the viewing slits and the top hatch of the tanks were said to have been closed for protection.
According to the army, Wednesday's incident brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the Gaza war on October 7 to 626. Around 3,500 others have been injured.
An unprecedented terrorist attack led by Islamist extremist organization Hamas on Israel on October 7, which killed some 1,200 people and led to another 250 being taken hostage in the Gaza Strip, triggered a massive military response by the Jewish State.
On Thursday Israel said two of the Thai hostages kidnapped are dead, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said said the two, who were farm workers, were killed on October 7 and their bodies were in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.
Israel's Foreign Ministry had informed their famlies. Hagari said 39 Thai national were murdered and 31 kidnapped in the massacre.
The Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza says some 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting since.