GAZA CITY: Israel said on Monday it will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, where rescuers reported more than 50 killed in Israeli strikes as the military pressed a newly intensified campaign.
After more than two months of a total blockade, the World Health Organization issued a stark warning on the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip, saying “two million people are starving”.
Under mounting pressure to lift the blockade it imposed on Gaza on March 2, Israel has announced it would let limited aid into the besieged territory and said a first delivery of “trucks with baby food” would enter Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited “practical and diplomatic reasons” for the resumption, while the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said it had been approached by Israeli authorities about the resumption of aid.
In southern Gaza, the Israeli military issued an evacuation call to Palestinians in and around Khan Yunis city ahead of what it described as an “unprecedented attack”.
The call came after the military announced it had begun “extensive ground operations” in an expanded offensive against Hamas.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said 52 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Monday across the territory.
Netanyahu, in a video posted on Telegram, said that “the fighting is intense and we are making progress.”
“We will take control of all the territory of the strip,” the Israeli leader added.
