Palestine slams Israeli leader's Gaza visit
Published: 05:04 PM,Apr 16,2025 | EDITED : 09:04 PM,Apr 16,2025
Palestinians check the damaged following overnight Israeli strikes on a residential neighbourhood in Jabalia's southwestern district of Nazla in the northern Gaza Strip. — AFP
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Gaza the previous day, in which he vowed to keep up Israel's offensive against Hamas.
'The provocative incursion by Benjamin Netanyahu into northern Gaza, along with his accompanying statements, is intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement' in the Palestinian territory, the West Bank-based ministry said in a statement.
Israel said on Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a 'mass grave', a medical charity reported.
Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.
However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing military assaults which rescuers said killed at least 11 people on Wednesday.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.
'Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,' Katz said in a statement on Wednesday.
'No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza and there are no preparations to enable such aid.'
Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have cited military pressure as the only way to secure the release of the 58 hostages held in Gaza.
'Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives,' Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian foreign ministry denounced his Gaza visit, calling it a 'provocative intrusion intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement' of Gazans.
Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the blockage of aid had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and those who help them.
'Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance,' said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.
'With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care,' she said.
The UN had warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.
'The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,' said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. — AFP
'The provocative incursion by Benjamin Netanyahu into northern Gaza, along with his accompanying statements, is intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement' in the Palestinian territory, the West Bank-based ministry said in a statement.
Israel said on Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a 'mass grave', a medical charity reported.
Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.
However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing military assaults which rescuers said killed at least 11 people on Wednesday.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.
'Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,' Katz said in a statement on Wednesday.
'No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza and there are no preparations to enable such aid.'
Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have cited military pressure as the only way to secure the release of the 58 hostages held in Gaza.
'Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives,' Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian foreign ministry denounced his Gaza visit, calling it a 'provocative intrusion intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement' of Gazans.
Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the blockage of aid had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and those who help them.
'Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance,' said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.
'With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care,' she said.
The UN had warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.
'The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,' said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. — AFP