The Israeli military has intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship, detaining 21 international activists and journalists and seizing all cargo, including baby formula, food, and medicine, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

Israel committed to a daily 10-hour pause in military operations for "humanitarian purposes" after aid agencies warned of spreading starvation in Gaza.

Israel has long restricted aid to Gaza on the argument that Hamas steals it to use as a weapon of control over the population. On Saturday, the Israeli military announced new airdrops of aid.

An analysis compiled by USAID officials examining more than 150 reported incidents involving the theft or loss of U.S.-funded humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip says it failed to find any evidence that Hamas -- the militant rulers of the Palestinian enclave -- engaged in widespread diversion of assistance,

Israel has said foreign nations will be able to air drop supplies into Gaza as international pressure mounts in the face of widespread starvation.

Hundreds of weary Palestinians carried sacks of flour on their shoulders after they managed to fetch them from a truck envoy that entered Gaza.

The World Food Programme hopes that an Israeli humanitarian pause in designated areas of the Gaza Strip will allow for a surge in urgently needed food aid to the region, it said on Sunday.