Israel will allow a “basic amount” of food into the Gaza Strip, the prime minister office announced Sunday. This decision came following growing international pressure to ease a total blockade that has been in place for more than two months. The announcement was made hours after the military launched “extensive ground operations” as part of an intensified campaign in Gaza. It also coincided with ongoing indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at possible ceasefire. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office said that following a military recommendation, “Israel will authorise the entry of a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip”.Hunger crisis could undermine army’s operation and Israel would take steps to prevent Hamas from seizing the humanitarian aid. Israel has imposed a blockade since 2 March with an aim to pressurize the Palestinian militant group. However, UN agencies have warned of severe shortage of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.Last week, US President Donald Trump, a key ally of Israel said, “a lot of people are starving” promising “we’re going to get that taken care of”.French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barro requested Israel to allow the “immediate, massive and unhampered” flow of aid following the recent announcement.On Sunday, Israel military announced that their army had “begun extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”, and they were “currently being deployed in key positions”.The campaign launched by Israel, aimed at freeing hostages and defeating Hamas, began Saturday as both sides entered indirect talks in Qatar over a possible deal.Netanyahu’s office said that negotiators in Doha are ‘working to exhaust every possibility for a deal — whether according to the Witkoff framework or as part of ending the fighting.”Steve Witkoff is the US Middle East envoy involved in the discussions.Netanyahu asserted that the deal “would include the release of all the hostages, the exile of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip”.Since a two-month ceasefire ended in March, Israel resumed its offensive negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States and have failed to reach a breakthrough.Netanyahu has opposed ending the war without the complete defeat of Hamas while Hamas has refused to disarm. According to A Hamas source, they were willing “to release all Israeli hostages in one batch, provided that a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire agreement is reached”, but Israel “wants to release its prisoners in one batch or in two batches in exchange for a temporary truce”.
22 dead, 100 injured in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza Strip:
Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir told troops in Gaza on Sunday that the military would “provide flexibility to the political echelon to advance any hostage deal.”“A hostage deal is not a halt, it is an achievement. We are actively working toward it,” he added.On Sunday afternoon, air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel. The army said that one of two projectiles launched from Gaza had been intercepted.The military later issued evacuation orders for several parts of Gaza ahead of an attack, warning it would “launch a powerful strike on any area used for launching rockets.”Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that at least 50 people had been killed by Sunday afternoon “as a result of ongoing Israeli air strikes since the early hours”, as reported by AFP. He added, “22 people died and at least 100 others were injured in one strike on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza Strip.” In a statement, the military said that a “preliminary wave” of strikes over the past week had targeted “over 670 Hamas terror sites throughout the Gaza Strip.”
Hospitals went out of service:
Marwan al-Hams, director of field hospitals at Gaza’s health ministry, said that since Israel’s aid blockade began, “57 children have died in Gaza as a result of famine”, adding the number could rise if supplies ran out.The health ministry accused Israel of surrendering the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, cutting off access and “effectively forcing the hospital out of service,” leaving the northern region without a functioning public hospital.Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday at least 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,339.
