Israel-Gaza latest: Netanyahu says all of Gaza will be under Israeli control ‘in the end’
UN says it has been unable to distribute food to Gaza despite Israel lifting an 11-week blockade
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that all of the Gaza Strip will be under Israeli security control “in the end”, as dozens more Palestinians are killed in Israeli attacks.
On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister told a press conference that the entire enclave would come under Israeli control eventually, and that Israel had probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar after a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza earlier this month.
The statement comes as Netanyahu is facing growing international pressure, as the UN warns no humanitarian aid has reached starving Palestinians in Gaza yet - even after an 11-week blockade was lifted this week.
Hospital officials said on Wednesday that a newborn baby and several women are among at least 82 people who have been killed in Gaza after Israeli strikes overnight.
A nurse has said conditions at Nasser Hospital are “beyond critical” and the hospital that was once a “major lifeline” is now barely functioning.
“Many patients die simply because we cannot treat them in time,” the nurse, called Ahmad, told The Independent.
Meanwhile, the UK government is facing pressure to sanction ministers in Israel’s government.
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‘No flour, no food, no water’: Israel continues to pound Gaza as aid still struggles to get through
Palestinians in Gaza are still desperately waiting for the food aid to arrive despite mounting pressure on the Israeli government to ease its military offensive and allow more humanitarian supplies into the territory.
The Israeli military continued its renewed attack on Gaza overnight on Tuesday, killing at least 82, including a week-old baby and several women, Gaza’s hospital officials said.
The ongoing attacks come despite international and domestic pressure to allow essential humanitarian aid to flow to the two million-plus Palestinians in Gaza on the brink of a famine after an 11-week blockade.
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‘No flour, no food, no water’: Israel pounds Gaza as aid struggles to get through
Pope Leo's full comments on Gaza aid
During his first Wednesday audience in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV appealed for aid to reach those who need it in Gaza.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip is increasingly worrying and painful,” he said.
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entry of dignified humanitarian aid and to put an end to the hostilities, the heart-rending price of which is being paid by children, the elderly and the sick.”
Watch: British surgeon in Gaza says it is now 'slaughterhouse' as 14,000 babies at risk of dying
Netanyahu says all of Gaza will ultimately come under Israeli control
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rare press conference last night.
After he claimed Israel has probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, he said: “All of Gaza Strip will be under the security control of Israel.”
In pictures: Trucks carrying aid near Gaza
Trucks carrying aid are parked near the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, before going into Gaza, on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border.
Aid agencies said on Wendesday they were still unable to distribute aid, with trucks stuck at the Kerem Shalom crossing despite Israel saying it would allow aid to begin to flow into the Gaza Strip.
Food aid still not reaching Palestinians in Gaza, UN says
The UN is yet to distribute any of the desperately needed aid that has entered Gaza into the hands of Palestinians amid delays because of fears of looting and Israeli military restrictions.
Under international pressure, Israel has allowed dozens of aid trucks into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material for nearly three months. But the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the majority of supplies that had entered since Monday had been loaded onto U.N. trucks, but they could not take them out of the crossing area. He said the road the Israeli military had given them permission to use was too unsafe.
A U.N. official later said more than a dozen trucks that left the crossing area arrived at warehouses in central Gaza on Wednesday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the press.
Israel said 100 trucks had crossed into Gaza on Wednesday.
Watch: sraeli soldiers fire near diplomats on visit to West Bank
Netanyahu announces new aid system will be implemented in Gaza and people will be moved south
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country is days away from implementing a new aid system in Gaza that has come under heavy international criticism.
Speaking on Wednesday evening, he said Israel later plans to create a "sterile zone" there, free of Hamas, where the population, which has repeatedly evacuated and relocated throughout the war, would be moved and receive supplies.
With renewed ceasefire talks appearing to make little progress, Netanyahu said he will end the war only if Hamas releases all hostages and steps down from power — and if President Donald Trump's plan to relocate the territory's population outside Gaza is implemented.
The Palestinians, along with nearly all of the international community, have rejected Trump's plan to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population and place the territory under US control.
Israel has said its slight easing of the blockade is a bridge until the new aid system it demands is put in place. The UN and other humanitarian groups have rejected the system, saying it enables Israel to use aid as a weapon and forcibly displace the population.
Netanyahu says new plan will begin 'in coming days'
Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters the plan to move Palestinians south and create a new aid system will begin "in coming days."
He said in a later phase, the "sterile zone" in southern Gaza would be free of Hamas and the population would be moved there "for the purposes of its safety." There, they would receive aid, "and then they enter - and they don't necessarily go back."
The plan involves small number of distribution hubs directed by a private, US-backed foundation known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Armed private contractors would guard the distribution.
Israel says the system is needed because Hamas siphons off significant amounts of aid. The UN denies that claim.
Initially, four hubs are being built, one in central Gaza and three at the far southern end of the strip, where few people remain.
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