The aid flotilla has reportedly already made it closer to the Strip than the Madleen flotilla that was stopped by Israeli forces last month. Activists aboard the Handala ship said on Saturday that they are approaching the coast of the Gaza Strip and have already passed the point where the Madleenflotilla was stopped last month.

An analysis compiled by USAID officials says they failed to find evidence that Hamas engaged in widespread diversion of assistance in Gaza, ABC News has learned.

In another effort, the military and COGAT say that in the Israel Electric Corporation connected a power line from Israel to a desalination plant in the Strip’s south, which is is expected to supply “approximately 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, up from the 2,000 cubic meters supplied until now, to serve about 900,000 residents in the area.”

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Jehad Alshrafi is a 23-year-old freelance photojournalist working with The Associated Press since May 2024 in the Gaza Strip. He documents the humanitarian crisis and the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on Gaza.

Israel will coordinate airdrops of aid into Gaza from foreign countries in the coming days, an Israeli security official confirmed to ABC News.

The Handala was carrying 19 activists, including European politicians, and two Al Jazeera journalists. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Palestinian health officials and the local ambulance service say Israeli airstrikes and gunfire have killed at least 42 people in Gaza.

Global leaders and international aid organizations have been issuing escalating warnings about famine in the war-torn region.