Israel's military announced that airdrops of aid would begin Saturday night in Gaza, and humanitarian corridors will be established for United Nations convoys, after increasing accounts of starvation-related deaths.

The focus on air drops into Gaza is a "grotesque distraction" that will not reverse the territory's deepening starvation crisis, aid agency leaders have warned. Israel's military said it would allow aid to be dropped into Gaza on Saturday night, while also announcing humanitarian corridors for UN aid convoys.

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

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.

The Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said at least 54 people have starved to death in Gaza just this week. Twenty-eight western nations, more than a hundred humanitarian aid organizations, and top UN officials have all said Israeli policies are to blame.