Israel will 'take control of all' of Gaza, PM says

Israel will 'take control of all' of Gaza, PM says

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip

Israel said Monday it will "take control" of the whole of Gaza, where aid entered for the first time in more than two months as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive.

With the Gaza Strip under a total Israeli blockade since March 2, the World Health Organization said the besieged territory's "two million people are starving".

Israel, facing mounting criticism over the humanitarian crisis, has announced it would let limited aid into Gaza and said the first five trucks entered Monday, carrying supplies "including food for babies".

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement that nine trucks had been "cleared to enter... but it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed."

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who was unable to confirm the exact number of trucks inside Gaza, said that "none of the aid has been picked up" at a designated zone as it was "already dark" and due to "security concerns, we cannot operate in those conditions".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited "practical and diplomatic reasons" for the resumption of aid, saying that "images of mass starvation" could harm the legitimacy of Israel's war effort.

In southern Gaza, the Israeli military issued an evacuation call to Palestinians in and around Khan Yunis city ahead of what it described as an "unprecedented attack".

The call came after the military announced it had begun "extensive ground operations" in an expanded offensive against Hamas militants, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Gaza's civil defence agency said 52 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Monday across the territory.

Netanyahu, in a video posted on Telegram, said that "the fighting is intense and we are making progress." 

"We will take control of all the territory of the strip," the Israeli leader added.

The UN's OHCHR rights office decried actions that are "in defiance of international law and tantamount to ethnic cleansing", citing the latest attacks, displacement, the "methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods" and denial of humanitarian aid.

Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel "will not give up. But in order to succeed, we must act in a way that cannot be stopped", justifying to his hardline supporters the decision to resume aid.

- Famine risk -

Israel said its blockade was aimed at forcing concessions from Hamas, while UN agencies have warned of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

"Tonnes of food is blocked at the border, just minutes away", World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid."

Last week US President Donald Trump acknowledged that "a lot of people are starving", adding "we're going to get that taken care of".

A group of 22 mostly European countries, including France and Germany, said in a joint statement on Monday that Gaza's population "faces starvation" and "must receive the aid they desperately need".

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued against any resumption of aid, saying on X that "our hostages receive no humanitarian aid".

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also of the far right, defended the decision, stressing no supplies would be allowed to reach Hamas.

"This will allow civilians to eat and our friends in the world to keep giving us diplomatic protection," he said.

Israel's military said on Monday it had struck "160 terror targets" in Gaza over the past day.

- 'Like apocalypse' -

Khan Yunis resident Mohammed Sarhan told AFP that Gaza's main southern city "felt like the apocalypse" on Monday.

"There was gunfire coming from every apartment, fire belts, F-16 warplanes and helicopters firing," he said.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee earlier called on Gazans in the city and nearby areas to "immediately" leave the "dangerous combat zone".

AFPTV footage showed a helicopter over the city, while at Nasser Hospital, a young boy in a tracksuit was being treated as two other boys, both barefoot and bleeding, sat on the floor.

Further north in Deir el-Balah, Ayman Badwan mourned the loss of his brother in an attack.

"We are exhausted and drained -- we can't take it anymore," he told AFP.

Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza's health ministry said Monday at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,486.

As negotiators met in Qatar in recent days, Netanyahu on Sunday signalled that Israel was open to a deal that would include "ending the fighting", with all hostages released, Hamas leaders exiled and Gaza disarmed.

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Originally published as Israel will 'take control of all' of Gaza, PM says