Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will “take control” of all of Gaza, as three key allies attacked his “egregious” escalation of the military campaign and blockade on humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu responded to the message, saying Israel will continue to defend itself until total victory was achieved.
We will take control of all the territory of the Strip,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on Telegram on Monday.
The Israeli military declared all of central Khan Younis city a “combat zone”, ordering civilians to leave.
A Swiss-registered start-up, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which Israeli officials describe as a “US initiative”, will manage the compounds when they are operational.
Following criticism from three important allies for his “egregious” escalation of the military campaign and blockade on humanitarian aid, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would “take control” of the entire Gaza Strip.
In addition to calling the situation in Gaza “intolerable,” Britain, France, and Canada denounced Israel’s war expansion as disproportionate and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign went on.
Later that day, Israel’s military declared a whole city to be a combat zone, over 60 people were killed by airstrikes, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, declared that Israel’s army would “wipe out” what was left of Palestinian Gaza.
The Netanyahu administration’s heinous acts will not be tolerated by us. In a statement released on Monday, the three allied governments threatened to take more decisive action against Israel if it did not stop its renewed military offensive and remove its restrictions on humanitarian aid.
In his reply, Netanyahu stated that Israel would keep defending itself until complete victory was attained. Netanyahu claimed that the leaders of London, Ottawa, and Paris were inviting more atrocities while offering a substantial reward for the October 7 genocidal attack on Israel.
In response to international pressure regarding an impending famine, the Israeli prime minister declared on Sunday evening that he would lift the 11-week siege of Gaza in order to avert a “starvation crisis.”.
Nine trucks of aid were allowed entry, the UN announced almost twenty-four hours later. This represents less than 2% of daily shipments prior to the war, when Gaza’s population was well-fed and had its own agricultural industry. It will have no discernible impact on the current crisis that most of the region’s 23% million residents are facing.
The United Kingdom, France, and Canada referred to Israel’s actions as “completely insufficient,” cautioned that they might violate international law, and demanded “a return to aid delivery in line with humanitarian principles.”.
Some in Netanyahu’s own cabinet were among the far-right critics who attacked his decision to permit even a small amount of food to enter Gaza. On social media on Monday, he posted a video describing how close allies had forced his hand.
Israeli officials maintained that there were “no shortages” in Gaza for weeks. Netanyahu claimed that “senators,” Israel’s “greatest friends in the world,” had threatened to revoke their support for the nation due to pictures of Palestinians going hungry.
“We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger,” they told me. We can’t stand that. “We can’t help you,” Netanyahu declared. Without elaborating, he continued by saying that Israel was moving toward a “red line, to a point where we might lose control” as a result of the growing desperation inside Gaza.
At the conclusion of his trip around the region, which did not include a stop in Israel, Donald Trump stated last week that “many people are starving” in the strip and promised to “take care” of the situation. He did not name his critical “friends.”.
There had been expectations that the US president would mediate a long-term ceasefire for the entire strip after he successfully negotiated the release of a dual US-Israeli national hostage from Hamas last week. Almost immediately after he left the area, Israel instead began a fresh ground offensive inside Gaza.
Hundreds were killed over the weekend by heavy bombardment. The war in Gaza has now claimed 53,486 lives, the majority of them civilians, with strikes also targeting the strip’s damaged hospitals.
“The battle is fierce, but we are winning. In a video that was uploaded to Telegram on Monday, Netanyahu declared, “We will seize all of the Strip’s territory.”.
The Israeli military ordered civilians to evacuate after declaring the entire central area of Khan Younis city to be a “combat zone.”. Most are starving, have been uprooted numerous times, and have nowhere to go because so much of the strip is in ruins.
Far-right critic of any negotiated end to the war, Smotrich, defended Netanyahu’s decision to allow “basic” food aid, arguing that it would allow Israel to continue its military campaign of displacement and destruction in Gaza.
He declared at a press conference, “Now we conquer, cleanse, and stay – until Hamas is destroyed.”. Along the way, the strip’s remnants are also being destroyed. “.”.
The IDF is relocating its population from combat zones as part of the war. According to President Trump’s plan, the population will eventually move south of the Strip and, with God’s assistance, to third countries. “”.
Netanyahu cites Hamas’s theft of food aid from the UN and humanitarian organizations as military evidence for the blockade of Gaza.
Armed groups have been looting warehouses in Gaza, especially as the hunger crisis worsened, but Israeli officials have not released statistics on the amount of aid that is stolen or provided any examples of supply chains that Hamas has compromised.
Humanitarian organizations that have worked in conflict areas for decades and have extensively audited supply chains claim that their aid is not being diverted.
Israel plans to replace its networks throughout Gaza with central distribution compounds that are guarded by Israeli military personnel and run by armed contractors who will distribute aid in boxes to people who are able to carry and walk.
When the compounds are open, they will be run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a Swiss-registered start-up that Israeli officials refer to as a “US initiative.”. Although its director, former US Marine Jake Woods, stated that the GHF would be “up and running before the end of the month,” it is unclear who will cover the costs of the assistance.
Because of its armed contractors and ties to the Israeli military, which violate fundamental principles like neutrality and endanger staff, the UN and other international humanitarian organizations that have been delivering food into Gaza since the start of the conflict have declared that they will not cooperate with GHF.
Regarding financing, representatives of the Israeli foreign ministry declined to comment.
After 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in cross-border Hamas attacks, Israel declared war. Almost two-thirds of the 250 hostages who were taken are believed to be dead, with 58 of them still in Gaza.
