Israeli authorities prevented Ayed Ayoub from escaping Gaza's hunger and war with his family for an academic fellowship in France. He finally left last month, after Israel unexpectedly eased its tight control of the border.

After the trip by US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar last week, Israel has launched what it called the “final” conquest of Gaza amid far-advanced US planning for the forcible resettlement of the Palestinian people outside their historic homeland.

A limited amount of food was delivered to desperate Gazans for the first time since early March on Wednesday, but senior United Nations officials warned the supply was “nowhere near enough” to forestall the worsening humanitarian crisis.

No humanitarian aid has yet been distributed in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said on Wednesday, two days after Israel lifted an 11-week blockade and began allowing limited deliveries into the enclave through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

About 90 trucks carrying flour, baby food and nutritional supplements entered the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, local officials and the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency said, the first tranche of aid to reach the besieged territory in more than two months.