Key points
- Israel has expanded its brutal ground offensive in northern and southern Gaza: Al Jazeera
- UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food and medicines
- Aid blockade was imposed by Israel
ISLAMABAD: Israeli forces will “take control of all” of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, as his military pressed a newly expanded offensive in the territory, according to AFP.
“The fighting is intense and we are making progress. We will take control of all the territory of the Strip,” he said in a video posted to his Telegram channel. “We will not give up. But in order to succeed, we must act in a way that cannot be stopped.”
Earlier, at least 23 Palestinians were reported killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza since dawn on Monday, according to Al Jazeera.
On Sunday, at least 151 Palestinians were killed as Israel expanded its brutal ground offensive in northern and southern Gaza, it added.
On the ground, rescuers reported heavy strikes in and around the main southern city of Khan Yunis, AFP cited civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal as saying that 11 people were killed and several others wounded, along with one more killed in nearby Abasan.
Strikes on other parts of the territory killed another 11 people, including three members of the same family.
“People are starving”
UN agencies have warned of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel, and medicines as Israel had stopped humanitarian aid to Gaza since March 2.
Last week US President Donald Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people are starving”, adding “we’re going to get that taken care of”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Israel to allow the “immediate, massive and unhampered” resumption of aid.
In his inaugural mass, Pope Leo XIV called on the faithful not to forget “our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war.
“In Gaza, the surviving children, families and elderly are reduced to starvation,” he said.
“No one left”
AFPTV footage from Gaza on Sunday showed people sifting through ruined shelters and rescuers treating the wounded.
“All my family members are gone. There is no one left,” AFP cited a distraught Warda al-Shaer as saying.
“The children were killed as well as their parents. My mother died too, and my niece lost her eye.”
AFP cited Marwan al-Hams, director of field hospitals at Gaza’s health ministry, as saying that since Israel’s aid blockade began, “57 children have died in Gaza as a result of famine”, adding the number could rise as supplies ran out.
The United Nations had warned of the risk of famine in Gaza before the aid blockade was imposed. The health ministry also accused Israel Sunday of besieging the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, cutting off access and “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”, leaving the north without a functioning public hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday at least 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,339.
