Israel to allow ‘basic amount of food’ into Gaza after announcing start of ‘extensive’ new ground operation
Israel has announced it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza following a near three-month blockade – just hours after the country launched an “extensive” ground operation in the north and south of the territory.
Facing mounting pressure over an aid blockade it imposed in March and the risk of famine, Israel has stepped up its campaign in Gaza, where Palestinian health officials said hundreds have been killed in attacks in the past week.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a basic amount of food would be supplied to ensure a “famine crisis does not develop” after the military announced the latest offensive, part of Operation “Gideon’s Chariots”, on Sunday after a lack of progress in indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar.
“At the recommendation of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
Ahead of the ground operation, overnight airstrikes reportedly killed at least 130 Palestinians across the enclave, where global experts have warned of famine after Israel imposed a blockade on aid on 2 March.
It is not yet clear when the aid will enter Gaza, or how, but Mr Netanyahu said distribution would not be controlled by Hamas.
Confirming the development, Eri Kaneko, a spokesperson for UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said his agency has been approached by Israeli authorities to allow limited aid delivery, adding that discussions are ongoing about the logistics “given the conditions on the ground”.
Israel made its announcement after sources on both sides said there had been no progress in a new round of indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Qatar.
Mr Netanyahu said the talks included discussions on a truce and hostage deal as well as a proposal to end the war in return for the exile of Hamas militants and the demilitarisation of the enclave – terms Hamas has previously rejected.
The Israeli military suggested in a later statement that it could still scale down operations to help reach a deal in Doha. Military chief Eyal Zamir told troops in Gaza that the army would provide the country’s leaders with the flexibility they need to reach a hostage deal, according to the statement.
The IDF has continued to escalate its attacks on Gaza in recent days, with at least 464 Palestinians killed between 11-17 May, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. One report over the weekend suggested Israel is looking to divide Gaza into three tightly controlled strips of land if no ceasefire is agreed, while another claimed the US is developing a plan to relocate a million Palestinians to war-torn Libya.
Israel had warned an expanded assault would go ahead if no hostage deal was agreed with Hamas by the conclusion of US president Donald Trump’s trip to the Middle East, which ended on Friday.
One of Israel’s overnight strikes hit a tent encampment housing displaced families in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, killing women and children, wounding dozens and setting several tents ablaze. Medical officials said a family in northern Gaza lost at least 20 of its members, and three journalists and their families are also among the dead.
Hamas described the strike as a “new brutal crime” and blamed the US administration for the escalation.
