Israel says it will allow 'basic' aid into Gaza after nearly 3 months of
blockade
[May 19, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and TIA GOLDENBERG
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel announced Sunday it will allow a
limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza after a nearly three-month
blockade, days after global experts on food security warned of famine.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a “starvation crisis” would
jeopardize Israel’s new military offensive in Gaza, and his Cabinet
approved a decision to allow a “basic” amount of food into the territory
of over 2 million people.
It was not immediately clear when aid would enter Gaza, or how. The
Israeli military body in charge of overseeing aid did not comment.
Israel has been trying to impose a new aid system, despite objections by
aid workers. Netanyahu said Israel would work to ensure that aid does
not reach militants.
Israel imposed the blockade starting March 2, cutting off all food,
medicine and other supplies to Gaza, while pressing Hamas to accept new
ceasefire terms. Israel resumed the war days later, shattering a
two-month truce.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel said it launched “extensive” new ground
operations in its new offensive — the largest since the ceasefire.
Airstrikes killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children,
hospitals and medics said. The bombardment also forced northern Gaza's
main hospital to close as it reported direct strikes.
Israel wants Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire that would free
hostages from Gaza but not necessarily end the war. Hamas says it wants
a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to ending the war as part
of any deal.
“When the Jews want a truce, Hamas refuses, and when Hamas wants a
truce, the Jews refuse it. Both sides agree to exterminate the
Palestinian people,” said Jabaliya resident Abu Mohammad Yassin, who was
among those fleeing the new offensive on foot or in donkey carts. “For
God’s sake, have mercy on us. We are tired of displacement.”
Israel's military, which recently called up tens of thousands of
reservists, said the ground operations are throughout the Palestinian
territory's north and south. Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal
Zamir, said that plans include “dissecting” the strip.
Airstrikes killed more than 48 people — including 18 children and 13
women — in and around the southern city of Khan Younis, according to
Nasser Hospital, which said it struggled to count the dead because of
the condition of bodies.
In northern Gaza, a strike on a home in Jabaliya killed nine members of
a family, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency services.
Another strike on a residence there killed 10, including seven children
and a woman, according to the civil defense, which operates under the
Hamas-run government.
Israel's military had no immediate comment. Its statement announcing the
ground operations said preliminary strikes over the past week killed
dozens of militants and struck more than 670 targets. Israel blames
civilian casualties on Hamas because the militant group operates from
civilian areas.
Talks in Qatar
Israel had said it would wait until the end of U.S. President Donald
Trump's visit to the Middle East before launching its offensive, saying
it was giving ceasefire efforts a chance. Trump didn't visit Israel on
his trip that ended Friday.
Netanyahu’s office said his negotiating team in Qatar was “working to
realize every chance for a deal,” including one that would end fighting
in exchange for the release of all remaining 58 hostages, Hamas' exile
from Gaza and the disarmament of the territory.
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Israeli soldiers move tanks around staging area near the border with
the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP
Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Hamas has refused to leave Gaza or disarm.
Gaza's Health Ministry has said almost 3,000 people have been killed
since the last ceasefire ended.
Frustration in Israel has been rising. A small but growing number of
Israelis are refusing to show up for military service, even risking
imprisonment. Other Israelis have been displaying photos of children
killed in Gaza during weekly rallies demanding a deal to free all
hostages and end the war.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants
attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251
others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000
Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s
Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and
combatants in its count.
Hospital cites Israeli ‘siege’
Health officials said fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in
northern Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” prompted it to shut
down. It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli
strikes last year forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoun hospitals
to stop offering services.
“There is direct targeting on the hospital, including the intensive
care unit,” Indonesian Hospital director Dr. Marwan al-Sultan said
in a statement, adding that no one could reach the facility that had
about 30 patients and 15 medical staff inside.
Israel’s military said that troops were operating against militant
infrastructure sites in northern Gaza, including the area “directly
adjacent” to the hospital.
Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals, accusing Hamas of being
active in and around the facilities. Human rights groups and
U.N.-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying
Gaza’s health care system.
In northern Gaza, at least 43 people were killed in strikes,
according to first responders from the Health Ministry and civil
defense. Gaza City's Shifa Hospital said 15 children and 12 women
were among the dead.
A drone strike Sunday afternoon killed at least seven Palestinians
near a school sheltering displaced people northwest of Gaza City,
according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. Other strikes
in central Gaza killed at least 12 people, including two children
and four women, according to hospitals.
In Gaza City, Um Mahmoud al-Aloul lay across the shrouded body of
her daughter, Nour al-Aloul.
“You took my soul with you,” she cried. “I used to turn off my phone
from how much you called.”
___
Magdy reported from Cairo, and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed to this report
from Tel Aviv.
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