Hamas said on Sunday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers.

Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting air strikes during the distribution of aid.

According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organisations from having any kind of access to the hostages, and families have little or no details of their conditions.

On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David.

In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole that, he says in the video, is for his own grave.

The arm of the individual holding the camera, which can be seen in the frame, is of a regular width.

Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday, as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war.

The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said.

Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, stated later in the day that four tankers of UN fuel had entered to support operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services.

There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt.

Gaza’s health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients.

UN agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said.

France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid.

LOOTED AID TRUCKS

The Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July.

However, witnesses and sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs.

More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive.

Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday.

Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said.

Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at its headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building.

Israel’s air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.