Israel’s prime minister has said his decision to allow a “minimal” amount of food into Gaza after 11 weeks of blockade followed pressure from allies in the US Senate.
“We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint,” Benjamin Netanyahu stressed in a video in response to criticism of the move in Israel.
He said food deliveries would continue only until Israel’s military and American companies had set up hubs to distribute aid under US-backed plan that the UN has rejected.
Netanyahu also declared that Israeli forces would “take control of all areas” of Gaza as part of the expanded ground offensive against Hamas that the Israeli military began on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes killed at least 20 people across the territory on Monday, according to first responders and hospitals.
The Israeli military said it had struck more than 160 targets over the past day.
It also ordered the evacuation of the southern city of Khan Younis and its eastern suburbs, warning residents that it was about to launch an “unprecedented attack” there.
Israel stopped all deliveries of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the armed group to release the hostages still held in Gaza.
The resumed Israeli bombardment and ground operation have reportedly killed more than 3,000 people and displaced 400,000 others, and the UN says that the blockade has caused severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Last week, the Hamas-run health ministry reported that 57 children had died from the effects of malnutrition over the past 11 weeks, and an assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that half a million people – one in five Gazans – faced starvation.
The UN said Israel was obliged under international law to ensure food and medical supplies for Gaza’s population. But Israeli officials repeatedly said there was no shortage of aid because thousands of lorry loads had gone into Gaza during the ceasefire, and accused Hamas of stealing supplies.
But after pressure from its allies increased, the Israeli prime minister’s office announced on Sunday night that it would “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”.
Key members of the cabinet strongly opposed the move. Among them were far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called it a “grave mistake” that would “fuel Hamas and give it oxygen while our hostages languish in tunnels”.
In a video posted on social media on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu defended himself from the criticism.
“Since the beginning of the war, we said that in order to achieve victory – to defeat Hamas and to free all our hostages, two missions that are intertwined – there is one necessary condition: We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint,” he said.
The prime minister said he had blocked aid deliveries via the UN and other humanitarian organisations because of looting by Hamas, and that he was now pursuing a “different method” involving American companies distributing aid from hubs secured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
However, he warned that a “red line” was now approaching and “our best friends in the world, [US] senators whom I know as passionate supporters of Israel” had expressed concern about a looming famine.
“They come to me and say this: ‘We’re giving you all the support to achieve victory… But there’s one thing we cannot accept. We cannot handle images of starvation.'”
“And so, in order to achieve victory, we must somehow solve this problem. Until we establish those distribution points, and until we build a sterile area under IDF control for distributing food and medicine, we need to provide a minimal, basic bridge – just enough to prevent hunger,” he added.
Israeli Army Radio reported that nine lorries carrying humanitarian aid, including baby food, would cross into Gaza on Monday, but there was no immediate confirmation from Cogat, the Israeli military body that controls crossings.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) meanwhile said it had been “approached by Israeli authorities to resume limited aid delivery, and we are in discussions with them now on how this would take place given the conditions on the ground”.
UN and other aid agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with the Israeli-US plan to distribute aid, saying it contradicted fundamental humanitarian principles.
Netanyahu also said Israeli forces were engaged in “massive fighting” in Gaza and were making progress.
“We are going to take control of all areas of the Strip, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.
He said the “main objective” of the expanded offensive was to defeat Hamas and that it would lead to the release of the 58 remaining hostages, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive.
While negotiators for Israel and Hamas remain in Qatar, both sides say there has been no breakthrough in a new round of indirect talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 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 territory’s health ministry.
