RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Authority on Saturday lambasted the Israeli government's decision to expand its military operations in Gaza, as it called on the international community to push for the entry of aid into the strip. According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the PA's presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Israeli government's moves were "an unprecedented challenge and provocation to the international will to achieve peace and stability". He also called on the "international community, led by the UN Security Council, to urgently compel the occupying state to cease its aggression, allow the entry of aid, and work diligently to enable the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip", reported Wafa.
Early on Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans to launch major operations to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of outrage across the globe. Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained defiant over the decision.
In a post on social media late on Friday, Netanyahu said "we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas". Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to secure a ceasefire to bring the territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinians. Israel's arch enemy Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war, slammed the plan to expand the fighting, calling it a "new war crime". Israel's offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, figures the UN says are reliable. The 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, based on official figures.
Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 10 people were killed across the Palestinian territory on Saturday, including civilians who were waiting to collect aid. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that at least six people were killed and 30 wounded after Israeli troops targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza. The spokesman said strikes also hit areas in central Gaza, resulting in multiple casualties.
Thousands of Gazans congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including four managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by almost-daily reports of Israeli forces targeting those waiting to collect aid supplies. Israeli restrictions on the entry of supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential supplies, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.
The plan triggered swift criticism from across the globe, with China, Turkiye, Britain and numerous Arab governments issuing statements of concern. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the Israeli plan a "dangerous escalation" that risks "deepening the already catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians". Diplomatic sources said that the UN Security Council will meet to discuss the plan.
Announcing the suspension of military shipments to Israel, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was "increasingly difficult to understand" how the new plan would help achieve legitimate aims. In Israel, there were mixed reactions to the cabinet's decision, while Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had already begun preparing for its implementation. The main campaign group for hostages' families also slammed the plan, saying it amounted to "abandoning" the captives.
Gaza residents said they feared further displacement and attacks as they braced for the next onslaught. "They tell us to go south, then back north, and now they want to send us south again. We are human beings, but no one hears us or sees us," Maysa al-Shanti, a 52-year-old mother of six, said. Hamas on Friday said the "plans to occupy Gaza City and evacuate its residents constitutes a new war crime". It warned Israel that the operation would "cost it dearly", and that "expanding the aggression means sacrificing" the hostages held in Gaza.
International concern has been growing over the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where a UN-backed assessment has warned that famine is unfolding. The World Health Organization said at least 99 people have died from malnutrition in the territory this year, with the figure likely an underestimate. — AFP
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