Israel appears to be changing tack as pressure mounts to get more aid into Gaza, and may let aid groups operating in the battered enclave take charge of non-food assistance.

Israel has begun allowing a trickle of food and medicine into the Gaza Strip after sealing the territory’s 2 million Palestinians off from all imports for more than 2 1/2 months.

Palestinians crowded a charity kitchen in southern Gaza on Friday, waiting for food with hunger and desperation heightened by Israel's three-month aid blockade.