In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Israel has begun transferring some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax money it’s frozen for more than a year. The initial sum of $120 million is just a fraction of the total amount Palestinians are owed. The money will go to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, with none to Hamas-controlled Gaza. Hamas says Israel is trying to intensify the Palestinian divide by increasing Gaza’s isolation. Meanwhile, aid convoys into Gaza continue to move at a trickle pace.

U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator John Ging: “There never was a greater need for us, and yet it was never more difficult to deliver the assistance. But that is our challenge, and we will strive to succeed in that challenge. And I hope that all others, in their respective challenges, the political challenge and so on and so forth, that they too succeed to find solutions that will take the situation forward to a better future.”