Netanyahu says Israel will seize all of Gaza
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The news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country plans to take over the entire Gaza strip, as part of Israel’s expanded offensive across the enclave.
The context: In a video released on his Telegram account on Monday, Netanyahu said: "We are engaged in massive fighting - intense and substantial - and there is progress. We are going to take control of all areas of the Strip, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) ordered residents of southern city Khan Younis to immediately evacuate to the so-called al-Mawasi humanitarian zone ahead of what Israel says will be an “unprecedented attack” on the city.
Netanyahu also said that Israel would start to allow aid into Gaza, having imposed a blockade on the enclave to stop food and aid supplies entering since mid-March. Netanyahu said the blockade has been necessary since the start of the war in Gaza for Israel to prevent a famine "both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint".
"Therefore, we decided to provide minimal humanitarian aid during the war. We advanced with this approach, and of course, we discovered that Hamas was looting some of this aid. So we halted the humanitarian aid."
He says a "minimal, basic bridge" is needed, "just enough to prevent hunger".
According to the Integrated Food Security Classification, whose assessments are used for planning by the UN and international aid organisations, around 1.6 million of Gaza’s two million people are now facing an emergency regarding the availability of food.
The numbers: In the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry says that 136 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign in Gaza, bringing the total death toll of Palestinians in Gaza to 53,486 since 7 October 2023.
The sources: IDF X post, Bloomberg, BBC
