Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed on Friday a plan for an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) operation in Rafah and rejected Hamas hostage demands in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel’s decision came despite widespread warnings from the international community to avoid new incursions into Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinian refugees have sought asylum since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on 7 October 2023.
The Palestinian president, for his part, issued a statement on Friday calling on the international community to prevent a “dangerous aggression” that would compound the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy on Friday condemned Israel for using hunger as a weapon in the war in the Gaza Strip.
“The right to access food and medicine as guaranteed by international laws has no value to the Israeli government, in light of the international community’s failure to fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities in delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement on the occasion of the World Consumer Rights Day, observed annually on March 15.
Earlier, in late February, United Nations officials warned of an impending famine in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need for urgent action to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territory.
Currently, at least 576,000 people in Gaza, or about one-quarter of the population, are “one step away from famine,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Relief had been attempted earlier by air, but as the US attempt failed, causing five deaths, assistance by sea was attempted next. The first ship to deliver aid by sea, Open Arms, arrived at the shores of Gaza on Friday.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry accused the Israeli army of opening fire on a crowd waiting for aid in Gaza City on Thursday, with Israeli shelling killing at least 20 people and wounding 155 others at the Kuwait roundabout east of the city, the ministry said, but the Israli military denied the accusations.
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli army has killed 149 Palestinians and wounded another 300 in the coastal enclave, bringing the total number of dead to 31,490 and wounded to 73,439 since the conflict began on 7 October 2023, the statement said.
