Reuters
A senior Hamas official has stated that as Israel maintains its "starvation war" in Gaza, the armed group has no interest in engaging in additional negotiations on a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
Nine weeks ago, Israel halted all humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza and then recommenced its military campaign, claiming it was applying pressure on Hamas to free the hostages.
However, according to Bassem Naim, there was "no point in any negotiations" as long as the embargo was maintained.
His remarks followed the approval by Israel's security cabinet of a broader attack that could result in the permanent occupation of all Palestinian territory and the forced relocation of the majority of Gaza's 2.1 million residents.
Additionally, Israel plans to replace the current system of aid distribution and delivery with one that is facilitated by military installations and private enterprises.
That notion has been rejected by the UN's humanitarian office, which claims it "appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponize the aid" and does not adhere to basic humanitarian norms.
According to the Israeli military's spokesman on Monday, the goal of the enlarged ground offensive in Gaza is to "dismantle and decisely defeat the Hamas regime" and bring the remaining 59 hostages—up to 24 of whom are thought to be alive—home.
"The movement of the majority of the Gaza Strip's population - in order to protect them in a Hamas-free zone" will be part of the "wide scale" operation, he continued.
The offensive would also involve "holding the territories, moving the Gazan population south for its defense, [and] denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies," according to an Israeli official who briefed the media.
It won't be put into effect until after US President Donald Trump's visit to the area next week, according to a second official, giving Hamas "a window of opportunity" to agree to a fresh ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
That appeared to be refuted by Bassem Naim's remarks on Tuesday.
"There is no point in any negotiations or engagement with new proposals while [Israel] continues its starvation war against our people in the Gaza Strip - a war that the international community, including UN institutions, has deemed a war crime in itself," he stated.
Separately, Hamas informed Israeli officials that their endorsement of the enlarged offensive amounted to "an explicit decision to sacrifice" Israeli hostages.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a conference that if Israel won Gaza, the territory would be "entirely destroyed" and its people "concentrated" in the south, from where they would "start to leave in great numbers to third countries." The Israeli government did not immediately respond to this statement.
An extended military presence and increased Israeli ground operations would "inevitably lead to countless more civilians killed and the further destruction of Gaza," UN Secretary General António Guterres cautioned.
Jean-Noël Barrot, the foreign minister of France, declared that Israel's administration was "in violation of humanitarian law" and that its plans were "unacceptable".
Without providing specifics, Trump stated in Washington that the US would assist in providing food to Gazans.
"People are starving and we're going to help them get some food," he stated. "Hamas is making it impossible because they're taking everything that's brought in."
Following the breakdown of a two-month ceasefire that witnessed the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for over 1,900 Palestinian inmates in Israeli jails, Israel stopped delivering assistance and other supplies on March 2 and began its onslaught on March 18.
Additionally, Israel has charged Hamas with stealing and hoarding aid, a claim the organization has refuted.
However, until the blockage is lifted, humanitarian organizations have warned that widespread hunger is looming.
According to the UN and its humanitarian partners, Israeli authorities are requesting that they agree to transfer goods "through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military" in order to shut down the current system they manage.
Israel is planning to deliver supplies from three distribution centers in the southern governorate of Rafah, which is now under an Israeli evacuation order and is separated from the rest of the region by a new military corridor, according to a report by Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday.
In order to prevent starvation, it stated that a representative from every family in Gaza would be permitted to travel to the centers and obtain a week's worth of food, which is believed to be roughly 70 kg (154 lb) on average. To make sure Hamas members didn't enter, they would be vetted.
According to the article, American organizations and private businesses, not Israeli forces, would oversee the distribution. It further stated that supplies will not be dispersed elsewhere in Gaza, perhaps speeding up the population's southward migration.
The Israeli proposal "appears designed to further control and restrict supplies, which is the opposite of what is needed," according to a UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesman. He also added that aid should never be used as a means of forcing people to relocate.
The UN will not cooperate with the idea because it would "not live up to the core fundamental humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, and independent delivery of aid," Jens Laerke stated during a Geneva news conference.
"Impartiality means aid is provided on needs alone, not based on trying to get people to go somewhere," he stated. "Then neutral and independent: it is extremely important that [those receiving aid] see a neutral provider that they have nothing to fear from."
According to the UN, Israel is required by international law to provide food and medical assistance to the people of Gaza. Since thousands of truck loads entered during the ceasefire, Israel has claimed that it is abiding by international law and that there is no scarcity of aid.
Israel's plan, according to one Palestinian man in Gaza, is "camouflage" and "has no intention of allowing aid into" the enclave.
He told BBC Arabic's Gaza Today show, "This is the basic principle Israel is working on - to prolong the blockade until Gaza reaches an aggravated stage of famine."
However, another guy stated that getting his family the resources they needed to survive was his "first and last concern," adding, "What really matters to us is that we want to live, eat, and go on with life."
About 70% of Gaza is now under Israeli evacuation orders, inside an Israel-designated "no-go" zone, or both, according to the UN. Israel's renewed bombardment and ground operations over the past seven weeks have already caused hundreds of casualties and the displacement of an estimated 423,000 people.
At least 37 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, according to authorities from the Hamas-run civil defense organization on Tuesday.
According to Gaza's civil defense service, Israel killed 31 people and injured dozens more when it bombed a UN-run school in the Bureij refugee camp that served as a shelter for displaced families, according to AFP. Among those dead were mothers and children.
It "struck terrorists who were operating within a Hamas command-and-control center," according to the Israeli military. The attack was condemned as a "horrific massacre" by Hamas.
Following an enormous cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken captive, the Israeli forces began a mission to exterminate Hamas.
According to Gaza's health ministry, which is managed by Hamas, at least 52,615 Palestinians have died there since then, including 2,507 since the Israeli offensive commenced.
0 Comments