Key points
- Israeli strike three apartments at northwest of Gaza City: Civil defence agency
- Israel blocked entry of all aid into the besieged Gaza of about 2.4 million people on March 2
- United Nations rejects Israeli scheme
ISLAMABAD: Gaza’s civil defence agency said two Israeli air strikes killed at least 19 Palestinians in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory’s north early Monday.
AFP cited the agency’s spokesman, Mahmud Bassal as saying, “Our teams found 15 martyrs and 10 wounded, mostly children and women, after an Israeli strike on three apartments” northwest of Gaza City.
Four other people were killed and four wounded in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, he said.
Aerial bombardments
Israel has intensified aerial bombardments and expanded ground operations in the Gaza Strip since resuming its offensive in the Palestinian territory on March 18. Israel blocked the entry of all aid into the besieged Gaza of about 2.4 million people on March 2.
Al Jazeera reported that a group of UN and non-government organisations working together to coordinate humanitarian assistance to Gaza has issued a statement rejecting Israel’s plan to sidestep humanitarian organisations after it blocked all goods from entering Gaza for 64 days.
“Israeli officials have sought to shut down the existing aid distribution system run by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners and have us agree to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings,” The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) said in a statement.
UN rejects Israeli scheme
“The UN Secretary-General and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator have made clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” Al Jazeera cited the statement as saying.
They urged world leaders to use their influence to lift the blockade so that “significant stocks” waiting at the border could be delivered.
Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 52,535 people in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
