Israel allows food into Gaza after expanding its military operations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday that Israel will allow a “substantial amount” of food into Gaza, more than two months after it banned any aid from entering the territory.

This came just hours after the Israeli army announced the launch of a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, a day after confirming the intensification of airstrikes on the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Civil Defense officials reported the deaths of 50 people in raids carried out by Israel.

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that based on the IDF’s recommendation and in light of the operational need to allow for the intensification of the military campaign to defeat Hamas, Israel will allow the entry of a basic amount of food for the population to ensure that a hunger crisis doesn’t occur in the Gaza Strip.

The statement noted that Israel “will work to prevent Hamas from seizing this humanitarian aid”.

Israel has been preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip since early March, while UN organizations and world leaders warn of the risk of famine in the Strip.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump acknowledged that many people are starving in the besieged Gaza Strip, adding, “We’ll work to solve this problem”.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “launched a large-scale ground operation in the north and south of the Gaza Strip as part of the opening of Operation Gideon Chariots,” the name given to the latest offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had expanded its strikes, despite international calls for a ceasefire and warnings about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Israel asserts that its goal in expanding operations is to increase pressure on Hamas and push it to release the hostages.