JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/GAZA - The Palestinian government on Saturday urged the international community to increase pressure on Israel to reopen Gaza's border crossings fully, as Israel said fresh aid packages continued to be airdropped throughout the strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said 90 aid packages containing food supplies were airdropped on Saturday throughout the Gaza Strip, as part of broader efforts to enhance humanitarian aid in the territory.

The airdrops were conducted in coordination with Egypt, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with Germany and France, both of which joined the aid operation on Friday.

The IDF stated it will keep working with the international community to improve humanitarian efforts in the Strip, while denying allegations of deliberately causing starvation.

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Meanwhile, the Palestinian government on Saturday urged the international community to increase pressure on Israel to fully reopen Gaza's border crossings, amid the backlog of thousands of aid trucks at the entrances to the Strip, according to an official statement.

"The food insecurity levels in the Gaza Strip have reached 100 percent, according to reports from specialized UN organizations," the government said, stressing the need to "stop the escalating use of hunger as a weapon to kill the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

Earlier on Saturday, Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported that 18 Palestinian aid seekers were killed by Israeli fire in two incidents in the central Gaza Strip.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip recorded seven new deaths in the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, including one child, bringing the total number of starvation victims since October 2023 to 169, including 93 children, Gaza-based health authorities said on Saturday.

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In a separate statement on Saturday, the IDF said it struck over 130 militant targets across the Gaza Strip over the weekend.

In the northern Gaza Strip, IDF armored troops killed four Hamas militants in an airstrike. In the south, IDF troops killed militants and dismantled militant infrastructure and weapons, according to the statement.

The military also announced the killing of Salah al-Din Za'atra in a July 24 airstrike. Za'atra, identified as the deputy commander of Hamas' Al-Furqan Battalion, was accused of orchestrating attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Hamas

Also on Saturday, Hamas affirmed its refusal to disarm until the establishment of the State of Palestine, in response to statements by US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Hamas said in a statement that, "The resistance and its weapons will not be abandoned until our full national rights are restored, foremost among which is the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state."

During his meeting with the families of Israeli hostages at a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Witkoff said, "Hamas has said that they are prepared to be demilitarized."

"Multiple Arab governments are now demanding that Hamas demilitarize... So we are very, very close to a solution to end this war," Witkoff added, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In a separate statement, Hamas accused Witkoff's visit to aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip of being "a pre-scripted theatrical performance designed to mislead public opinion, whitewash the occupation's image, and provide political cover for its starvation policies and systematic killing of innocent children and civilians in Gaza."

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The statement said the US administration is "fully complicit in these starvation crimes."

Witkoff visited the Gaza Strip on Friday, where he inspected a controversial aid distribution center of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.  

Hostages' families

Protesters gathered in Tel Aviv's "Hostage Square" on Saturday, urging the Israeli government to secure a ceasefire deal that would bring home the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.

The demonstration followed the release of new videos by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier this week, showing Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in visibly fragile condition.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, one of the groups behind the protest, called on the Israeli and US governments to "stop this nightmare and bring them out of the tunnels and home.”

Witkoff visited the plaza on Saturday amid the demonstrations, just a day after touring a controversial US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza.

Speaking with families of the hostages, Witkoff emphasized the need for a shift in negotiations -- from phased agreements to a comprehensive deal that would see all hostages released at once.

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 According to the Hostages Forum, Witkoff assured the families that the United States would "get your children home," hold Hamas accountable for "any bad acts," and also "do what's right for the Gazan people."

Israel has been waging a massive war in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023, which has killed more than 60,000 people and injured over 148,000. A total of 169 people, including 93 children, have died from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza-based health authorities said Saturday.