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Gaza City / Tel Aviv — Israel has announced it will allow a “basic amount of food” into Gaza to prevent a full-blown starvation crisis, after more than ten weeks of a near-total blockade that has left the 2.1 million residents of the besieged enclave facing severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.
The decision, issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office late Sunday, comes amid intensified international pressure on Israel to ease restrictions and avert a humanitarian disaster in the coastal strip.
The statement clarified that the move follows recommendations from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and aims to support Israel’s renewed military campaign against Hamas, dubbed Operation Gideon’s Chariot.
“This decision will allow a basic quantity of food to be brought in for the population in order to make certain no starvation crisis develops,” the statement read. “Such a crisis could jeopardize the military operation’s objectives.”
However, the statement added that Israel would act to prevent Hamas from seizing or controlling the distribution of humanitarian aid — a long-standing Israeli concern that has complicated aid deliveries since the war began in October 2023.
The announcement came just hours after the IDF launched what it described as “extensive ground operations” across Gaza, striking targets in both the north and south of the territory. The military offensive, aimed at defeating Hamas and rescuing Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, has seen a sharp escalation in fighting.
Over the last 24 hours, at least 67 Palestinians have been killed and 361 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Airstrikes have hit multiple areas, including Khan Younis in the south, and Beit Lahia and the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp in the north.
In one of the most devastating strikes, Israeli missiles targeted the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza — a location previously designated as a “safe zone” for displaced people. Gaza’s civil defence reported that at least 22 people were killed and around 100 injured in the strike. Footage from the scene showed chaotic efforts to rescue survivors from the rubble.
A woman from Khan Younis told the BBC she had not slept due to the constant bombardment, and that her family was enduring “severe shortages of flour, gas, and food.” Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a looming famine, with images emerging of emaciated children and reports of growing malnutrition among the most vulnerable.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urged Israel on Sunday to allow the “immediate, massive and unhampered” resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza. “The people are suffering. We cannot look away,” he said.
Despite the Israeli government’s latest concession, humanitarian organizations say the situation remains dire and that the amount of food permitted may still be insufficient to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s population.
“We welcome any step that allows aid in,” said a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “but what’s truly needed is sustained, unhindered access across all crossings and a ceasefire that protects civilians.”
As the Israeli offensive intensifies, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains on a knife’s edge.