Israel permits first assist vans to enter Gaza as Netanyahu says forces will take full management of territory | EUROtoday

The first vans carrying humanitarian assist have been allowed into Gaza by Israel – as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu broadcasts his forces will take full management of the Gaza Strip as a part of their newest, expanded offensive in opposition to the territory.

Five assist lorries entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Monday – ending a close to three-month blockade by Israel – after Mr Netanyahu agreed to permit a “limited” quantity of assist within the face of a famine from meals safety specialists.

The transfer, welcomed by the United Nations, got here on the identical day the prime minister revealed that Israel had plans to “take control of all” of the Gaza Strip following the most recent spherical of airstrikes in Gaza.

“The fighting is intense, and we are making progress. We will take control of all the territory of the strip,” Mr Netanyahu stated in a video posted to his Telegram channel. “We will not give up. But in order to succeed, we must act in a way that cannot be stopped.”

Mr Netanyahu added that lifting the blockade on assist coming into the territory was for “practical and diplomatic reasons” that centred on pacifying Israel’s worldwide critics. The blockade has been in place since a truce fell aside in March.

The Israeli army stated forces engaged in a brand new marketing campaign dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” have been lively throughout Gaza, searching for to remove Hamas’s army and governing capabilities and to carry again the remaining hostages seized in October 2023.

Over the weekend, Israeli forces introduced they have been launching “extensive” operations within the north of Gaza, in the direction of the Jabaliya refugee camp, and southwards in the direction of town of Khan Younis.

Palestinians in Khan Younis have been ordered to “evacuate immediately” on Monday morning forward of what Israeli forces described as an “unprecedented attack to destroy” Hamas.

“From this moment, Khan Younis will be considered a dangerous combat zone,” Israel spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated on Telegram.

Previous Israeli air and floor offensives have already prompted heavy harm to town. Almost the whole inhabitants of two.3 million Palestinians residing in Gaza, who’re barred from leaving the territory, have been displaced by Israel’s fixed assaults. Many have been pressured to relocate quite a few occasions as Israel returns for additional army operations.

Palestinian well being officers stated greater than 500 individuals have been killed in assaults prior to now eight days.

Nedal Hamdouna a journalist who was pressure to flee bombing for the eight time over the weekend stated the scenario was a nightmare.

“While I was evacuating I saw people screaming and crying as they received the news of the killing of their sons in an Israeli airstrike,” he advised The Independent. “I passed by the cemetery road where I saw some young men burying their relatives who were killed this morning,” he stated.

Israel’s floor and air conflict has killed greater than 53,000 individuals, lots of them civilians, in line with Gaza’s well being authorities.

The conflict erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities close to the border with Gaza on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and seizing 251 hostages, in line with Israeli tallies.

The Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, stated there was “no end date necessarily” for the newly expanded and intensified operation in Gaza, including that the military had hit over 800 targets in Gaza in “recent days” and that there have been 5 divisions working there, after tens of hundreds of reservists have been mobilised.

On Monday, Cogat, the Israeli military unit given the duty of delivering assist to the occupied territories, stated: “Following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, 5 UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including food for babies, were transferred today via the Kerem Shalom Crossing into the Gaza Strip.

“All aid was transferred following a thorough security inspection by personnel from the Ministry of Defense’s Crossing Points Authority.”

Israeli army spokesperson Lt. Colonel Shoshani declined to substantiate or deny whether or not the Israeli army would indefinitely maintain areas of Gaza, as urged by the Israeli premier.

The army spokesperson advised reporters the principle aim of the brand new operation was “to target Hamas’ command and control systems, to target their commanders, to target their remaining capabilities.” However, he acknowledged that this implies forcing civilians to flee once more — with out confirming how many individuals have been requested to maneuver.

Palestinian well being officers, in the meantime, stated greater than 500 individuals have been killed in assaults prior to now eight days as Israel has stepped up its ferocious army marketing campaign.

The well being ministry in Gaza stated a number of hospitals had been hit or surrounded. In a message posted to Telegram teams right now, the Ministry of Health stated Israeli forces fired immediately on the intensive care unit on the Indonesian Hospital and bombed the European Gaza Hospital with 14 rockets, “complicating the hospital’s chances of reopening.”

When The Independent requested the Israeli army about these reviews, Lt. Colonel Shoshani replied that the military “does not attack hospitals” and that they have been “operating according to international law.”

Dr Khaled El-Serr who’s head of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, stated his was the final working medical centre within the south of Gaza after the Israeli army issued new pressured evacuation orders.

“The situation in the hospital is disastrous… we are overwhelmed with patients. We’ve had to place injured people in the paediatrics and obstetrics wards because there is no space left in the surgical departments,” he stated.

“Some patients are being treated in tents and other unsuitable areas where proper care and monitoring are impossible,” he advised The Independent as Israeli drones whined within the background.”

The director basic of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated on Monday morning that greater than 2 million individuals, out of a complete inhabitants of two.3 million, are presently ravenous in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu stated it was necessary for Gaza to not “reach a state of starvation, both from a practical and a diplomatic perspective”, as a result of Israel’s worldwide backers “simply will not support us [and ] we will not be able to complete the mission of victory”.

US president Donald Trump, who’s considered as one in every of America’s most pro-Israel leaders, stated final week on the ultimate day of his Gulf tour that individuals have been ravenous in Gaza and urged that the US would have the scenario “taken care of”. European allies, together with the UK, have additionally voiced critical considerations in regards to the dire humanitarian scenario.

Private US firms, underneath the safety management of Israeli forces, will ultimately administer the help, in a transfer that has been criticised by humanitarian teams as unlawful. Until then, the United Nations will lead “limited” efforts to revive deliveries into Gaza.

Hardline nationalist ministers in Mr Netanyahu’s cupboard who had beforehand opposed all assist to the strip endorsed the transfer. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, echoing Mr Netanyahu’s message, urged it was obligatory to make sure the continued conflict.

“I understand the anger and the stomach aches,” he stated on Monday morning. “Until the last of the kidnapped people returns, not even water should be brought in, but the reality is different.”

Israel made its announcement on assist after sources on either side reported no progress had been made in a brand new spherical of oblique talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar.

Israel has additionally been pounding Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen. Shoshani stated the Israeli army deployed 15 plane, together with fighter jets, to strike seaports and the airport in Yemen.

“They were successfully conducted… and they disabled the ports and reduced the Houthis’ capabilities to transfer their core equipment or anything funding terror into Yemen.”