Netanyahu plans to start aid delivery to Gaza as supplies still fail to reach affected civilians
With renewed ceasefire talks appearing to make little progress, Netanyahu said he will end the war only if Hamas releases all hostages and steps down from power — and if President Donald Trump's plan to relocate the territory's population outside Gaza is implemented.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country is days away from implementing a new aid system in Gaza that has come under heavy international criticism. He said Israel later plans to create a “sterile zone” there, free of Hamas, where the population, which has repeatedly evacuated and relocated throughout the war, would be moved and receive supplies.
With renewed ceasefire talks appearing to make little progress, Netanyahu said he will end the war only if Hamas releases all hostages and steps down from power — and if President Donald Trump's plan to relocate the territory's population outside Gaza is implemented.
The Palestinians, along with nearly all of the international community, have rejected Trump's plan to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population and place the territory under US control.
Under international pressure, Israel has allowed dozens of aid trucks into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material for nearly three months. But the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the majority of supplies that had entered since Monday had been loaded onto UN trucks, but they could not take them out of the crossing area. He said the road the Israeli military had given them permission to use was too unsafe.
A UN official later said more than a dozen trucks that left the crossing area arrived at warehouses in central Gaza on Wednesday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Israel said 100 trucks had crossed into Gaza on Wednesday. Food security experts have warned that Gaza risks falling into famine unless the blockade ends. Malnutrition and hunger have been mounting. Aid groups ran out of food to distribute weeks ago, and most of the population of around 2.3 million relies on communal kitchens whose supplies are nearly depleted.
(With inputs from AP)