JERUSALEM/CAIRO, May 19 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would control the whole of Gaza despite mounting international pressure that pushed it to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine.
The Israeli military, which announced the start of a new operation on Friday, warned residents of the southern city of Khan Younis on Monday to evacuate to the coast immediately as it prepared “an unprecedented attack”.
Netanyahu said in a video message Israel would achieve “complete victory” with both the release of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza and the destruction of the Palestinian militant group.
Even as the military warned of the attack, Reuters reporters saw aid trucks heading towards northern Gaza after increasing global alarm forced Netanyahu to lift a blockade imposed in March.
Israel has said aid was being stolen by Hamas, a charge Hamas denies. European countries including France, Germany and Britain have said the situation in Gaza is intolerable, and even U.S. support appeared to be wavering.
Netanyahu said U.S. senators he has known for years as supporters of Israel, “our best friends in the world”, were telling him the scenes of hunger were draining vital support and bringing Israel close to a “red line, to a point where we might lose control”.
“It is for that reason, in order to achieve victory, we have to somehow solve the problem,” he said, in a message apparently addressed to far-right hardliners in his government who have insisted aid be denied to Gaza.
The United Nations has long said Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. The World Food Programme has said more than 116,000 metric tonnes of food – enough to feed one million people for up to four months – was standing ready to be brought in.
However it remained unclear how much aid would be allowed in and how it would be distributed before the launch of a U.S.-sponsored plan to employ private contractors to distribute aid, which the United Nations and other aid groups have rejected.
The Israeli military said five trucks had entered Gaza on Monday, although U.N. aid officials said nine trucks had been cleared to enter, a quantity U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher described as “a drop in the ocean”.
Under a heavily-criticized U.S.-backed plan to get aid to Palestinians, a newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher has said that time should not be wasted on the alternative plan.
A source familiar with the plan said the foundation has already received more than $100 million in commitments. It was not immediately clear where the money was coming from.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it would take time to create a situation where hundreds of trucks were able to enter daily but added: “I think that’s also a decision for the political echelon of how many will come in,” he told reporters.
REUTERS
