Star Metro - Israel issues evacuation warning for parts of Gaza

The warning came hours after the United Nations said it had collected and begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza, the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on the territory on March 2.

Under global pressure for an end to the blockade and the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a "temporary ceasefire" in Gaza, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.

In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was "operating with intense force" in 14 areas in the northern Gaza Strip, accusing "terrorist organisations" of operating there.

The army issued a similar warning for northern Gaza on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.

It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.

After Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza", said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.

In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet "urgent humanitarian needs".

Netanyahu said it was necessary to "avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action" in Gaza.

Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies, with Israel's blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.

Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment, with Gaza's civil defence agency reporting at least 19 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday.

Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as "unbearable".

"No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven't received anything," she said.

"We barely manage to prepare one meal a day."

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis.

"I am tormented for my children," Hossam Abu Aida, another resident of the Gaza Strip, told AFP.

"For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment," the 38-year-old added.

- 'Complex reality' -

The army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza's Hamas rulers, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Israel has faced mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza.

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc's cooperation accord with Israel.

Israel's foreign ministry has said the EU action "reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing".

Sweden said it would press the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

There has been a global spike in anti-Semitic attacks since Hamas's attack, with a gunman shouting "free Palestine" as he shot dead two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.

Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries around the world all condemned the shooting.

Netanyahu said Wednesday Israel would be ready "if there is an option for a temporary ceasefire to free hostages", noting that at least 20 held by Hamas and its allies were still believed to be alive.

Gaza's health ministry said Thursday at least 3,613 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,762, mostly civilians.

F.Leblanc--SMC