Israel has announced it will permit a “basic amount of food” to enter the Gaza Strip, following a 10-week blockade. The move, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, is intended “to ensure that a famine crisis does not develop”.
The announcement came hours after the Israeli military (IDF) stated it had begun “extensive ground operations” throughout the territory. Simultaneously, an evacuation order was issued on Sunday evening for several areas in Gaza, with residents warned of imminent attacks.
The IDF has launched a new offensive, dubbed Operation Gideon’s Chariot, which on Sunday included strikes on targets such as a hospital in northern Gaza. Israel maintains its objectives are to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza and to defeat Hamas.
Palestinian rescuers reported that strikes hit the southern city of Khan Younis, as well as northern towns including Beit Lahia and the Jabalia refugee camp. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza stated that at least 67 people had been killed and 361 injured in the past 24 hours.
A resident of Khan Younis told the BBC that the situation was “very difficult”, with constant bombing and “severe shortages of flour, gas, and food”.
Gaza’s civil defence force reported that the al-Mawasi camp in the south, where displaced people were sheltering and which had previously been designated a “safe zone”, was attacked overnight, resulting in 22 deaths and 100 injuries.
In a broad evacuation order described as a “final warning”, the Israeli army urged residents to “move immediately west to the known shelters in al-Mawasi”, stating it would launch a “powerful strike on any area used for launching rockets”.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry reported that three public hospitals in the North Gaza governorate are now “out of action” amid escalating Israeli air strikes.
Medical staff at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia told the BBC that IDF tanks had positioned themselves outside the facility at around 21:40 local time (20:40 GMT) and were firing at it. They reported that 55 people were inside, including medical personnel and immobile patients unable to evacuate after earlier attacks. Approximately 50 minutes later, staff indicated the IDF had left the hospital’s vicinity.
The IDF has stated its troops are engaged in fighting “terrorist infrastructure sites” in northern Gaza, including areas adjacent to the Indonesian Hospital. Earlier in the day, Gaza’s health ministry accused Israel of besieging the hospital, cutting off access, and “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”. Medics told the BBC that no evacuation order or warning was given before the attacks, and that there were no military targets within the Indonesian Hospital.
The intensified military action comes as negotiators from Israel and Hamas continue efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Qatar. Israeli media quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as saying Israel’s negotiating team was exhausting “every possibility” for a deal on Sunday. Reports suggest Netanyahu’s statement outlined a potential agreement including “the release of all the hostages, the exile of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip”.
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