‘Our children are dying slowly’

• UN says no aid distributed in enclave
• Israel allowing 'ridiculously inadequate' aid into Gaza: MSF
• Israeli troops open fire during diplomats' tour in West Bank

Father of four Mahmoud al-Haw and other Palestinians crowd around a soup kitchen in war-ravaged Gaza, surging forward and frantically waving pots.

Small children, squashed at the front, are in tears. One of them holds up a plastic basin hoping for some ladles of soup. Haw pushes forward in the scrum until he receives his share.

Haw does this every day because he fears his children are starving. He sets out through the ruins of Jabalia in northern Gaza in search of food, waiting in panicked crowds for up to six hours to get barely enough to feed his family.

Some days he gets lucky and can find lentil soup. Other days he returns empty-handed, reports Reuters.

"I have a sick daughter. I can't provide her with anything. There is no bread, there is nothing," said Haw, 39. "I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person."

"I wish everyone would stand by us. Our children are dying slowly," he said.

With air strikes and tank fire continuing to pound the enclave, killing 82 people yesterday, local bakers and transport operators said they had yet to see fresh supplies of flour and other essentials.

Fewer than 100 aid trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, after Israel agreed to allow limited humanitarian deliveries to resume following mounting international pressure. But, the United Nations said no aid had been distributed.

The amount of aid Israel has started to allow into the enclave is not nearly enough and is "a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over," the MSF aid group said yesterday.

"The Israeli authorities' decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving," said Pascale Coissard, Medecins Sans Frontieres ( Doctors Without Borders) emergency coordinator in Gaza's Khan Yunis.

In a separate development, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani yesterday slammed the firing of shots on diplomats visiting the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin and called on Israel to "immediately clarify", reports AFP.

Israel's military said troops fired "warning shots" after the diplomats deviated from an approved route during a visit to the occupied city, adding that no injuries were reported and the army "regrets the inconvenience caused".

The United Arab Emirates has reached an agreement with Israel to allow the delivery of "urgent humanitarian aid" to the besieged enclave, according to a statement released on Emirati state media.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas yesterday hailed international rejection of Israel's "blockade" and "starvation" of Gaza, after the European Union ordered a review of its cooperation deal with Israel.