After launching ‘extensive’ ground ops, Israel to allow limited food into Gaza

Israel has announced that it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza hours after launching “extensive” new ground operations in the territory on Sunday (May 18).

In a new offensive, airstrikes overnight and into Sunday killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children, hospitals and medics said, and forcing northern Gaza’s main hospital to close.

Later Sunday, days after global experts on food security warned of famine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a “starvation crisis” would jeopardize Israel’s new military offensive in Gaza, and his Cabinet approved a decision to allow a “basic” amount of food into the territory of over 2 million people.

Unclear when aid will enter Gaza

It was not immediately clear when aid would enter Gaza, or how. Israel has been trying to impose a new aid system, despite objections by aid workers. Netanyahu said Israel would work to ensure that aid does not reach militants.

Also read: Airstrikes across Gaza kill 75, including kids, as Israel ramps up its war

Israel imposed the blockade starting March 2, cutting off all food, medicine and other supplies to Gaza, while pressing Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms. Israel resumed the war days later, shattering a two-month truce.

Israel wants Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire that would free hostages from Gaza but not necessarily end the war. Hamas says it wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to ending the war as part of any deal.

Plight of civilians

“When the Jews want a truce, Hamas refuses, and when Hamas wants a truce, the Jews refuse it. Both sides agree to exterminate the Palestinian people,” news agency AP quoted Jabaliya resident Abu Mohammad Yassin as saying.

Yassin was among those fleeing the new offensive on foot or in donkey carts. “For God's sake, have mercy on us. We are tired of displacement.”

Israel’s plans include “dissecting” Gaza Strip

Israel’s military, which recently called up tens of thousands of reservists, said the ground operations are throughout the Palestinian territory’s north and south. Israel’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said that plans include “dissecting” the strip.

Also read: New US-backed group to start aid operations in Gaza within weeks

Airstrikes killed more than 48 people — including 18 children and 13 women — in and around the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which said it struggled to count the dead because of the condition of bodies.

Israel’s military had no immediate comment. Its statement announcing the ground operations said preliminary strikes over the past week killed dozens of militants and struck more than 670 targets. Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militant group operates from civilian areas.

Talks in Qatar

Israel had said it would wait until the end of U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East before launching its offensive, saying it was giving ceasefire efforts a chance. Trump didn’t visit Israel on his trip that ended Friday.

Netanyahu’s office said his negotiating team in Qatar was “working to realize every chance for a deal,” including one that would end fighting in exchange for the release of all remaining 58 hostages, Hamas’s exile from Gaza and the disarmament of the territory.

Hamas has refused to leave Gaza or disarm.

Also read: Strikes across Gaza kill at least 59 as Israel prepares to ramp up offensive

Gaza’s Health Ministry has said almost 3,000 people have been killed since the last ceasefire ended.

Frustration in Israel has been rising. A small but growing number of Israelis are refusing to show up for military service, even risking imprisonment. Other Israelis have been displaying photos of children killed in Gaza during weekly rallies demanding a deal to free all hostages and end the war.

Hospital cites Israeli siege

Health officials said fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” prompted it to shut down. It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli strikes last year forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoun hospitals to stop offering services.

“There is direct targeting on the hospital, including the intensive care unit,” Indonesian Hospital director Dr Marwan al-Sultan said in a statement, adding that no one could reach the facility that had about 30 patients and 15 medical staff inside.

Israel’s military said that troops were operating against militant infrastructure sites in northern Gaza, including the area “directly adjacent” to the hospital.

Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals, accusing Hamas of being active in and around the facilities. Human rights groups and UN-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza’s health care system.

Also read: Missile strike in Israel: Air India suspends Tel Aviv flights till May 6

Houthi rebels launch missile at Israel

In a related incident, the Israeli military said that it intercepted a missile launched early Sunday by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The rebels said that they fired two ballistic missiles — including a hypersonic one — towards Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, whose grounds were struck by a Houthi missile earlier this month.

Israel was left out of a recent US deal to halt attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen in exchange for a stop to strikes on US shipping vessels in the Red Sea. On Friday, Israel struck Yemen for the eighth time since the start of the war in Gaza, in response to the Houthi attacks. The Houthis have said they are attacking in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Thousands protest in The Hague

Tens of thousands of red-clad protesters marched through the Dutch capital on Sunday to demand their government do more to halt Israel’s campaign in Gaza, in what organisers called the country’s biggest demonstration in two decades.

Human rights groups and aid agencies — including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders — estimated the peaceful crowd at more than 100,000 people, and the streets of The Hague were packed with the old, young and even some babies on their first protest.

“We hope this is a wake-up call for the government,” said teacher Roos Lingbeek, attending the march with her husband and their 12-week-old daughter, Dido, who slept in a carrier as her parents brandished a sign simply reading: “STOP.”

The march took the young family past the Peace Palace, headquarters of the United Nations' International Court of Justice, where last year judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza.

(With agency inputs)