Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel will “take control” of the entire territory of Gaza. At the same time, the military operation in Gaza was intensified, as part of which residents were ordered to evacuate by announcing an “unprecedented attack” in the southern city of Khan Yunis. AFP reports.
At the same time, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that “two million people in Gaza are suffering from hunger.” In his words, “tons of food supplies are stuck at the border, just minutes away.”
Earlier, Israel said that it would allow limited aid to enter Gaza. However, the United Nations and various organizations have described this measure as “insufficient” to address the humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu said in a video message, “The fighting is intensifying and we are advancing. We will take control of the entire Gaza Strip,” he added. “We will not retreat. If we want to succeed, we must move forward in a way that we cannot be stopped.”
Israel approved an expanded military plan earlier this May to fully occupy Gaza and “displace the population.”
The conflict over aid: Diplomacy or food?
However, the country’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Giv’er has spoken out against the aid, saying, “Our hostages are not receiving any humanitarian aid.” He wrote this comment in an email to the prime minister.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, on the other hand, justified the approval of limited aid: “This aid will only be given to feed civilians and allow our allies to continue diplomatic support.”
‘Apocalyptic’ attacks: The horror in Khan Younis
The Israeli army said that throughout the day on Monday, the army hit at least 160 targets in Gaza. Eleven people were killed in Khan Younis alone, and another 11 were killed in other areas.
An AFP reporter in Khan Younis saw vehicles rushing to hospitals to rescue the wounded, with wounded children, some in tracksuits, some sitting on the floor with their bare feet covered in blood.
“The whole city is like a ruin, bullets from every flat, rings of fire, F-16s, helicopters, everything is going at once,” said Mohammed Sarhan, a resident of Gaza City.
In the northern city of Deir al-Balah, Ayman Badwan lamented the loss of his brother. “We are very tired, physically, mentally, devastated in every way. We can’t bear it anymore. We have to find a solution now, the world has to intervene.”
Statistics of the disaster: Israeli casualties in Hamas attacks in October 2023: 1,218 (mostly civilians), 251 hostages taken, 57 still in Gaza, 34 of whom are reported dead by the Israeli army.
Deaths in new Israeli attacks in Gaza since March 18: 3,193, total deaths since the start of the war in Gaza: 53,339 (according to Gaza Health Ministry data). – AFP