Plumes of smoke rose on Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip where Israel’s military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.
The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza -- the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.
Under global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire,” but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring all of Gaza under its control.
In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was acting “with intense force” in 14 areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp.
A map posted alongside the warning showed a swath of territory marked in red, with the army accusing “terrorist organizations” of operating there and urging civilians to move south.
The army issued a similar evacuation call for northern Gaza late Wednesday in what it said was a response to rocket fire.
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million have been displaced at least once during the war.
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 organizations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.
Netanyahu said it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action.”
Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies, with Israel’s blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.
‘Hunger and disease’
UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis.
Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as “unbearable”.
Hossam Abu Aida, 38, said: “I am tormented for my children”.
“For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment,” he told AFP.
AFP footage showed bags of recently delivered flour at a bakery in the central city of Deir el-Balah, where workers and a host of machines began kneading, shaping, baking and packaging stack after stack of pita bread.
“Some aid is finally reaching Gazans in desperate need, but it’s moving far too slowly,” said Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program.
The amount is still a “tiny drop in the bucket” compared the scale of the crisis, she said.
Israel stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said there had been “52 martyrs and dozens injured as a result of air strikes carried out by the occupation” across the territory on Thursday.
AFP footage of northern Gaza showed numerous plumes of smoke rising from the area over the course of the afternoon.
There was no comment from the Israeli military on any strikes on Thursday.
‘Complex reality’
The intensified Israeli offensive has drawn criticism, with EU foreign ministers agreeing 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 European Union to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel.
Gaza’s health ministry says 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.
Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would be ready “if there is an option for a temporary ceasefire to free hostages”, noting that at least 20 captives held by Hamas and its allies were still believed to be alive.
