Humanitarian aid was delivered by air to Gaza yesterday with the aim of alleviating the humanitarian crisis and hunger that has so far claimed dozens of lives.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that it had allowed limited aid delivery to Gaza by air and declared what it called a “tactical pause” in certain areas to enable the delivery of aid.
International organizations dismissed this move as a “smokescreen,” accusing Israel of continuing to weaponize hunger by keeping Gaza’s crossings closed since March.
Despite earlier threats to resign over the delivery of aid, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that he would remain in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
On Sunday, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said that the group had shown “maximum flexibility” during the 22 months of the Israeli war, accusing Israel of destroying the latest negotiations in Doha under United States (U.S.) pressure in order to “buy time and exhaust Gaza.”
He said Israel insists on occupying a large part of Rafah in southern Gaza to establish a displacement zone, paving the way for the forced relocation of Palestinians.
Al-Hayya added that Israel also insists on controlling the aid mechanism, which he said has turned into “deadly traps” that have killed and injured thousands of Palestinians.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday that 1.175 people have been killed and 7.758 injured while waiting for aid since May 27th.
On Monday, the ministry stated that in the last 24 hours, another 14 Palestinians had died from hunger and malnutrition, including two children, bringing the total number of deaths from hunger since October 7th to 147, including 88 children.
United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned on Monday that every third Palestinian in Gaza has not eaten for days, calling for urgent and unimpeded delivery of aid.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has been carrying out brutal attacks on Gaza since October 7th, 2023, killing nearly 60.000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave and led to severe food shortages.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide lawsuit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the war in the Palestinian enclave, AA writes.
