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.
British diplomats among 25 fired on by Israeli troops during West Bank visit
‘No flour, no food, no water’: Israel continues to pound Gaza as aid still struggles to get through
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Full list of UK sanctions against Israel over Gaza
Trucks are entering Gaza - so why hasn't aid been distributed yet?
Israel has allowed a few aid trucks to cross into Gaza this week, after Benjamin Nehanyahu agreed to allow some humanitarian supplies through.
But as of Wednesday evening, the UN said they had not been able to distribute any to the Palestinian population on the brink of a famine.
A large reason is delays at the Kerem Shalom crossing, and a second is around fears of looting.
Currently, after supplies enter at Kerem Shalom, aid workers are required to unload them and reload them onto their own trucks for distribution.
Antoine Renard, the World Food Program's country chief for Palestine, said 78 trucks were waiting. He told The Associated Press that "we need to ensure that we will not be looted."
A UN official and another humanitarian worker said the Israeli military had designated a highly insecure route known to have looters.
The military also set a short window for trucks to come to Kerem Shalom and rejected a number of individual truck drivers, forcing last-minute replacements, they said.
The Israeli defence body overseeing aid for Gaza did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Mapped: Where and how Israel has ramped up its latest attack on the Gaza Strip
The Israeli military has conducted heavy airstrikes and opened new ground attacks in the past week, as the international community pleaded with the Netanyahu government to allow respite for the Palestinian population and aid workers.
Here is what Israel’s ramped-up offensive has looked like:
Mapped: Where and how Israel has ramped up its latest attack on the Gaza Strip
Killing babies "as a hobby." "Expelling a population." "Fighting against civilians."
It is not uncommon for politicians to criticise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war strategy, especially his failure to free all the hostages held by Hamas.
What made the comments by centre-left opposition party leader Yair Golan rare - and jarring to officials across the political spectrum - was their focus on the plight of Palestinians.
The ensuing controversy underscored how little the war's toll on Gaza's civilians has figured into the public discourse in Israel - in stark contrast to the rest of the world.
For many Jewish Israelis, it is hard to fathom that their own children, most of whom must enlist in Israel's military, could be committing the crimes that Golan described.
All that has helped solidify a national narrative that views the war as an existential struggle.
"When you fight a war of existence, you don't much think about the suffering of the enemy," said Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.
Rosner said Golan's wording was "uncareful" and that instead of triggering introspection, they prompted a media debate over Golan himself and the damage his remarks might cause to Israel.
UK will not change approach towards Israel's actions in Gaza following killing of Israeli embassy officials
The UK government’s approach towards Israel’s actions in Gaza will not change as a result of the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
But the official added that this “does not take away at all from the fact that antisemitism is an evil that must be stamped out wherever it appears”.
The prime minister's official spokesperson said he is "absolutely horrified" by the events, saying his "thoughts are with the victims and families and all the staff in the embassy".
"The prime minister has offered full support to the Israeli embassy in London", the spokesperson said. "The UK is a great friend of Israel... and antisemitism is an evil that must be stamped out.
"We’re working with the Israeli embassy to ensure they have all the support and security protections they need."
Watch: sraeli soldiers fire near diplomats on visit to West Bank
The fight over whether 14,000 babies were at risk of dying in 48 hours in Gaza
The fight over whether 14,000 babies were at risk of dying in 48 hours in Gaza
Aid begins to enter Gaza
Aid groups have collected humanitarian aid carried by about 90 trucks, out of a total of nearly 200 that have entered Gaza since Israel began allowing limited goods in earlier this week, the United Nations said Thursday.
Under international pressure, Israel stopped blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material after nearly three months. However, many supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the humanitarian agency OCHA, said Thursday the trucks that entered carried medicine, wheat flour and nutrition supplies.
Aid groups faced significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting and coordination issues with Israeli authorities, Laerke added.
In pictures: Palestinians wait for food aid in Gaza
Health authorities say Gaza hospital damaged in attack
Israeli tank fire has heavily damaged a hospital in northern Gaza, Palestinian health officials said.
Israeli tanks fired on Al-Awda Hospital in the Tel al-Zaatar area of northern Gaza on Thursday, igniting fires and causing extensive damage to the facility, according to hospital officials.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said there were no planned Israeli military strikes at the Al-Awda hospital and the military is checking where the explosion came from.
Al-Awda was one of the only two surviving medical facilities in north Gaza.
In pictures: Bakery in Gaza resumes operations for the first time in over a month
A bakery in the central Gaza Strip was able to begin baking bread again on Thursday, after Israel eased its blockade to allow some aid into the Palestinian territory.
Employees worked inside a bakery in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip after essential ingredients finally arrived.
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