ReutersIsrael says that it has enabled five UN trucks to have humanitarian aid, including baby foods, in the Gaza Strip after 11 weeks of blockade.
The UN humanitarian leader welcomed this decision, but stressed that it was only “a drop in the ocean of what is urgent” by the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory torn by the war, where global experts warn of an imminent famine.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to temporarily allow a “minimum” quantity of food to follow the allies’s pressure in the US Senate.
“We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and diplomatic point of view,” he said in a video in response to the criticism of the decision in Israel.
Netanyahu said food deliveries would only continue until the Israeli military and private companies have created hubs to distribute the aid of a plan supported by the United States rejected by the UN.
He also said that Israeli forces “would take control of all regions” of Gaza as part of the extended ground offensive against Hamas that the Israeli army began on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people across the territory on Monday, according to the first speakers and hospitals.
A strike would have killed five people in a school used as a refuge for families displaced in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had struck “Hamas terrorists” who operated in a region of command and control in the region.
He also ordered the evacuation of the southern city of Khan Younis and his eastern suburbs, warning the residents that he was about to launch an “unprecedented attack”.
Israel arrested all humanitarian aid and commercial supplies in Gaza on March 2 and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas.
He said the stages had to put pressure on the armed group to release the hostages still held in Gaza.
The Israeli bombing and the exploitation of the land would have killed more than 3,000 people and moved 400,000 others, while the UN says that the blockade caused serious shortages of food, medicines and fuel.
Last week, the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas reported that 57 children have died of the effects of malnutrition in the past 11 weeks, and an assessment of the classification of the integrated food security phase (IPC) supported by the UN (IPC) warned half a million people faced.
The UN said that Israel was forced to humanitarian international law to ensure food and medical supplies of the Gaza population. Israeli officials said there was no shortage of help because thousands of truck charges had entered Gaza during the ceasefire. They accused Hamas of having stolen supplies, which the group denied.
But after having increased the pressure of the Israeli allies, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced Sunday evening that it “would allow a fundamental quantity of food to be brought for the population in order to ensure that no famine crisis is developing in the Gaza Strip”.
Israeli politicians and activists quickly assaulted the sudden change in politics. The far-right minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir called this “a serious error” which “would feed Hamas and give it oxygen while our hostages languished in the tunnels”.
In a video published Monday on social networks in response to criticism, Netanyahu did not make humanitarian arguments when he explained the decision to let in food.
“Since the start of the war, we have said that to win the victory – overcome Hamas and release all our hostages, two missions that are intertwined – there is a necessary condition: we must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and diplomatic point of view,” he said.
He said that he had blocked aid deliveries via the UN and other humanitarian organizations due to looting by Hamas, and that he was now pursuing a “different method” involving a non-governmental organization supported by the United States, the Gaza Humaninitarian Foundation, distributing the aid of hubs protected by security entrepreneurs and the defense forces of Israel (IDF).
However, he warned that a “red line” was approaching now and “our best friends in the world, [US] The senators I know as a supporter passionate about Israel “had expressed concerns.
“They come to me and say this:” We give you all the support to obtain victory … But there is one thing that we cannot accept. We cannot manage famine images “.”
“And therefore, to win the victory, we must solve this problem. Until we establish these distribution points, and until we build a sterile area under FDI control to distribute food and medication, we must provide a minimum basic bridge-just enough to prevent hunger,” he added.
The Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, another far right leader, sought to smooth the decision by urging the Israeli public to focus on the overview.
Smotrich – which advocates building new Israeli colonies in Gaza – said that the military offensive was supposed to force the Palestinians in the south of the territory “and from there, with the help of God, to third countries”, by moving them definitively.
On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada, said that the decision to authorize a fundamental quantity of food in Gaza was “completely inadequate”.
In a joint statement, they said: “If Israel would not cease the renewed military offensive and do not raise its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take other concrete actions in response.”
Netanyahu responded with a statement accusing the three leaders of asking Israel to “put an end to a defensive war for our survival”, saying that, in doing so, they “offered a huge price” for the attacks of October 7 while “inviting more atrocities”.
“Israel accepts the vision of President Trump and urges all European leaders to do the same,” he added.
EPAOn Monday evening, the Israeli military body Cogat announced five UN trucks with humanitarian aid, including food for babies, entered Gaza via the passage from Kerem Shalom “following the recommendation of professional officials of TDI and in accordance with the political level directive”.
The United Nations humanitarian leader Tom Fletcher said that it was a “welcome development” that the Israeli authorities had enabled him to resume the delivery of limited aid and said that nine of his trucks had been authorized to enter via Kerem Shalom Crossing.
“But it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgent, and much more aid must be allowed to enter Gaza, from tomorrow morning,” he warned.
He also declared that Israel had reassured the UN, his work would be facilitated by the existing mechanisms and that it was “determined that our aid succeeds in those who need it most and that the risk of flight by Hamas or other armed groups is minimized”.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that no help had been recovered in the designated area inside Gaza because it was “already dark” and due to “security problems, we cannot operate under these conditions”, according to the AFP news agency.
The Director General of the Israeli Foreign Affairs, Eden Bar Tal, told journalists earlier than “in the coming days, Israel will facilitate the entry of dozens of aid trucks”.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official said that the preparations for the aid plan mentioned by Netanyahu would be completed in approximately a week – a complaint that has been questioned by the head of the charitable organization based in the United States World Central Kitchen.
“It is not true. I will take weeks,” wrote Chef José Andrés.
The UN and other aid agencies said they had about 8,900 charges of humanitarian aid trucks already in position and ready to enter Gaza, as well as what Fletcher described as “a clear plan, based on principles and practical to save large -scale lives” and reduce looting.
They also insisted that they will not cooperate with the Israeli plan to distribute the aid of centers located mainly in the south of Gaza, claiming that it contradicts their fundamental humanitarian principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.
They warned that this would practically exclude people with mobility problems, including disabled and elderly, will still force the trip, expose thousands of people to harm, facilitate aid to political and military objectives and establishes an unacceptable precedent for help from the world.
A displaced Palestinian man living in the Al-Mawasi coastal region west of Khan Younis with his wife and two children, nine years old and two, said they could currently eat one meal per day thanks to “significant rationing”.
“Access to food, drugs and hygiene products has become extremely difficult – almost impossible – due to the shortage of these items and their high prices if they are available,” Abd al -Fatah Hussein told BBC in a message.
Mohammed Abu Rijleh said that his charity, Shabab Gaza (Gaza youth), could only distribute 2,500 meals on Monday – much less than usual.
He told the BBC by phone that it had been difficult to find ingredients to cook, forcing him to buy them at high prices on the local markets.
Netanyahu also said that Israeli forces have engaged in “massive fights” in Gaza and made progress.
“We are going to take control of all the areas of the strip, that’s what we are going to do,” he said.
He said that “the main objective” of the extended offensive was to defeat Hamas and that it would lead to the release of the remaining 58 hostages, 23 of which are considered alive.
On Sunday, TDI spokesperson, the Gen Défrin, said that five divisions were involved in an operation which would include “the division of the territory and the distancing of the population for its safety”. “The only thing that can stop us is the return of our hostages,” he added.
While the negotiators for Israel and Hamas remain in Qatar, the two parties say that there has been no breakthrough in a new series of indirect talks on a release contract of ceasefire and hostage.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the cross -border attack in Hamas on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 53,475 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,340 since the Israeli offensive resumed, according to the Ministry of Health of the Territory.
