By Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military said on Tuesday it was delivering hundreds of packages of food to cut-off areas in northern Gaza as fighting intensified ahead of a U.S. deadline for Israel to send more aid to the Palestinian enclave or face cuts. He said he did. in military aid.

At least 37 people were killed in Israeli attacks in various parts of the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday, Palestinian medics said, including 10 at a house in Beit Hanoun and two others in the nearby town of Beit Lahiya.

The army said four Israeli soldiers were killed in northern Gaza.

Eleven Palestinians died in an Israeli attack in Rafah later Tuesday, medics said. In an attack on a house in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, Hamas leader Waleed Aweida and his grandson were killed in the city. Three people, including his wife, were still under the rubble.

Israeli soldiers have been besieging the northern tip of Gaza for more than a month; The army says its purpose is to suppress Hamas militants who are reforming the area around the town of Jabalia.

The military says it has killed or captured hundreds of fighters, but Israel faces mounting international pressure over the dire humanitarian situation facing civilians who have been largely cut off from aid for weeks.

“We are witnessing alarming cases of malnutrition among both children and adults. We are struggling to provide even one meal a day for our hospital staff amid severe shortages of food and medical supplies,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. .

“We are losing lives every day due to lack of specialized care and resources,” he added.

This week, the outgoing US administration is expected to decide whether Israel did enough to meet last month’s request for more aid to Gaza.

Last week, a committee of global food security experts warned that there was a strong possibility that famine was imminent in certain parts of northern Gaza, but Israel rejected the claim.

As a Washington-imposed 30-day deadline approaches, Israeli officials are rushing to meet some of the US demands, but it remains unclear whether enough has been done to meet US requirements.

On Tuesday, the military said it had opened a fifth crossing into Gaza, one of the US demands, which it said would help provide food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to central and southern Gaza.

It was stated that hundreds of food packages and thousands of liters of water were delivered to the distribution centers for civilians in the Beit Hanoun region at the northern end of Gaza the day before.

It was stated that 741 trucks of aid have been delivered to northern Gaza from the Erez crossing since October, and 244 patients were evacuated for treatment. International aid groups said efforts fell short of what was needed and Israel’s military operation in northern Gaza had worsened the situation.

THE FIGHT CONTINUES

Even as the military announced the deliveries, the prospect of a deal to stop the fighting seemed more remote than ever with the return of Donald Trump as US President, giving way to hardliners in the Israeli government.

Outgoing President Joe Biden has offered strong support to Israel since Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel last October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. But as the toll of Israel’s relentless campaign in Gaza mounts, relations with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have become increasingly tense.

More than 43,500 Palestinians were killed in Gaza last year, turning Gaza into a wasteland of ruined buildings and piles of rubble, where more than 2 million Gazans seek shelter wherever they can.

Israel’s campaign in northern Gaza and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the area has increased Palestinian accusations that it is clearing the area for use as a buffer zone and the potential return of Jewish settlers.

On Tuesday, residents said Israeli tanks advanced deeper into Beit Hanoun and surrounded four displaced families before ordering them to leave towards Gaza city.

The Israeli military has denied any such intention, and Netanyahu has said he does not want to reverse the settlers’ 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. Hardliners in his government have spoken openly about returning.

On Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he hoped Israel, with the support of the next Trump administration, would annex parts of the occupied West Bank as early as next year, although no decision has yet been made by the cabinet.

The call was condemned by Qatar, which said it would halt efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of hostages until both sides showed “willingness and seriousness”.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Peter Graff)