Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that Israel plans to "take control" of the Gaza Strip as the military continues its heightened campaign in the war-torn territory.
After announcing Israel would permit a small quantity of food into Gaza, Netanyahu said preventing famine was crucial "for diplomatic reasons."
Rescue crews in Gaza said recent bombardments killed at least 22 people, as the military announced "sustained ground operations" against Hamas.
"The battle is intense, and we are gaining ground. We will capture control of all the land in the Strip," Netanyahu stated in a video uploaded to Telegram.
"We will not give in. But in order to be successful, we need to act in a manner which cannot be prevented."
Israel is under increasing international pressure, from even its main ally, the United States, to end the total blockade of Gaza two months ago.
"We cannot allow Gaza's people to be subject to famine for practical as well as diplomatic reasons," Netanyahu said, warning that even Israel's friends would not be able to stomach "images of mass starvation."
A UN-supported report issued recently by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported Gaza's "critical risk of famine," with 22 percent of its population living under an imminent humanitarian "catastrophe."
'Reduced to starvation'
Israel justifies the blockade, begun on March 2, as pressuring the Palestinian militant Hamas movement into making concessions, but UN agencies have sounded the alarm about critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel, and medical equipment.
Last week, US former President Donald Trump admitted "a lot of people are starving" and promised, "we're going to get that taken care of."
Pope Leo XIV, in his first mass, reminded the faithful not to forget "our brothers and sisters suffering due to war."
"In Gaza, the surviving children, families, and elderly are brought down to starvation," he maintained.
Yet Israel's extreme National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was against any new aid, as he tweeted on X: "Mr Prime Minister, our hostages get no humanitarian assistance."
"The Prime Minister is blundering with this step and has no majority behind him. Hamas needs to be defeated—not at the same time supported," he continued.
No breakthrough in negotiations
On Monday, Israel's military announced that the air force had hit "160 terror targets" in Gaza in the last 24 hours, maintaining its extended offensive.
The operation, which Israel claims will liberate hostages and vanquish Hamas, started Saturday as indirect negotiations began in Qatar to negotiate an agreement.
Netanyahu's office reported that Doha negotiators are "trying to leave no option for an agreement—either on the Witkoff model or as part of stopping the fighting."
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has participated in the negotiations.
Netanyahu said any agreement "would involve the release of all hostages, the exile of Hamas terrorists, and disarming the Gaza Strip."
Since a truce fell apart two months ago when Israel began offensive action again, attempts brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the US have failed to deliver a breakthrough.
Netanyahu is against a cessation of hostilities without completing the defeat of Hamas, while Hamas is against demands to disarm.
'No one left'
Intensive bombardments on Monday struck and encircled Khan Yunis, the principal city of southern Gaza. There were 11 reported fatalities and a number of wounded, said civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Bassal also confirmed 11 deaths from strikes elsewhere in Gaza.
AFPTV footage on Sunday captured survivors combing through rubble of destroyed shelters and medics treating the wounded.
"All my family have vanished. No one survived," moaned Warda al-Shaer.
"The children, their parents—all dead. My mother passed away, and my niece lost an eye."
The United Nations had already issued a warning of famine threats in Gaza prior to the aid blockade starting.
Hamas's October 2023 offensive that sparked the war left 1,218 Israelis dead, predominantly civilians, based on AFP's tally of official figures.
In that attack, Hamas abducted 251 hostages; 57 are still held in Gaza, 34 of whom the military reports as killed.
Gaza's health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,193 have been killed since Israel resumed bombing on March 18, taking the overall death toll in the war to 53,339.
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