Israel says it will allow ‘basic’ amounts of food into Gaza after 10 week blockade
We are continuing the Guardian’s live coverage of developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel decided on Sunday to resume the entry of a “basic quantity” of food into Gaza, after coming under increasing international pressure to lift its devastating blockade of the Strip, which had lasted for 10 weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said:
On the recommendation of the IDF and based on the operational need to enable the expansion of the military operation to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow a basic quantity of food to be brought in for the population in order to make certain that no starvation crisis develops in the Gaza Strip.
Israel imposed its blockade in early March, cutting off all supplies including food, medicine, shelter and fuel in what has been condemned as the collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza.
Amid Israel’s blockade, most community kitchens have now shut down. The main food providers inside Gaza – the UN’s World Food Programme and World Central Kitchen — say they are out of food. Vegetables and meat are inaccessible or unaffordable. Crowds queue for hours for a small scoop of rice.
Axios cited two senior Israeli officials on Sunday saying that the resumption of aid flow will come through existing channels until a new mechanism is implemented.
It came after the Israeli army announced the start of an expanded assault on Gaza, describing “extensive ground operations” to seize “operational control” of swaths of the territory.
Key events
Israeli attacks have reportedly killed over 20 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn
Palestinian news agency Wafa, meanwhile, reports that at least 23 Palestinian people have been killed since dawn today in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Rescuers said as many as 130 people, including many women and children, were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes overnight on Saturday and through Sunday on neighbourhoods in the north, centre and south of the territory.
The relentless bombing campaign came after Israel announced an intensification of its assault on Gaza late on Friday, in what it claimed was a fresh effort to force Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, to release hostages (an estimated 58 hostages remain in Gaza; up to 23 are believed to be alive).
So-called operation Gideon’s Chariot could lead to the seizure of swaths of Gaza and the displacement of much of the population to its south, in what would effectively amount to ethnic cleansing.
The Israeli military said yesterday there were five divisions operating in the Gaza Strip, aiming for “complete control” in “the places where we operate”. The civilian population would be moved from conflict areas, the military said.
Israel bombs southern Gaza’s Nasser hospital – report
Al Jazeera is reporting that Israeli forces have bombed the pharmaceutical laboratory of the Nasser medical complex in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis after launching a barrage of air attacks on the city that killed at least six people.
The attack reportedly happened while Palestinian people who were injured or killed in other Israeli airstrikes were being brought to the hospital.
Israeli forces have targeted the Nasser hospital and its surroundings numerous times over the war.
Hospitals in Gaza say more than 100 Palestinian people were killed by Israeli attacks in the past day, with northern Gaza’s Indonesian hospital and the Jabalia refugee camp among the targets.
The territory’s health ministry yesterday accused Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”, after Israeli forces sieged the Indonesian hospital which was knocked out of service.
It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli airstrikes last year forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoun hospitals to stop offering services.
Following Israel’s announcement on aid yesterday, it was not immediately clear how much would be allowed in, or when, or how.
Aid workers are wrestling with moves by Israel and the US to impose a controversial new aid system, which would limit distribution to a few locations and put it under armed private contractors – to prevent theft by Hamas, Israel claims.
Humanitarian workers, however, say it won’t meet Gaza’s needs and violates humanitarian principles. The UN denies that significant aid diversion takes place.
The plan has also been described as unworkable, dangerous and potentially unlawful by aid agencies because it could lead to the forced mass transfer of populations.
Israel says it will allow ‘basic’ amounts of food into Gaza after 10 week blockade
We are continuing the Guardian’s live coverage of developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel decided on Sunday to resume the entry of a “basic quantity” of food into Gaza, after coming under increasing international pressure to lift its devastating blockade of the Strip, which had lasted for 10 weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said:
On the recommendation of the IDF and based on the operational need to enable the expansion of the military operation to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow a basic quantity of food to be brought in for the population in order to make certain that no starvation crisis develops in the Gaza Strip.
Israel imposed its blockade in early March, cutting off all supplies including food, medicine, shelter and fuel in what has been condemned as the collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza.
Amid Israel’s blockade, most community kitchens have now shut down. The main food providers inside Gaza – the UN’s World Food Programme and World Central Kitchen — say they are out of food. Vegetables and meat are inaccessible or unaffordable. Crowds queue for hours for a small scoop of rice.
Axios cited two senior Israeli officials on Sunday saying that the resumption of aid flow will come through existing channels until a new mechanism is implemented.
It came after the Israeli army announced the start of an expanded assault on Gaza, describing “extensive ground operations” to seize “operational control” of swaths of the territory.
