At least 87 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, according to local health authorities. The strikes continued despite increasing international pressure on Israel to halt military operations and allow unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Britain announced it is suspending trade talks with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador over “egregious policies” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for a review of the EU-Israel trade deal, as reported by Dutch news agency ANP.
The conflict, now in its 20th month, has left Gaza in ruins and its population facing a worsening hunger crisis.
The Israeli military stated that its warplanes struck more than 100 locations in Gaza over the past day. Targets in northern Gaza included militants, a weapons storage site, a military structure used by Islamic Jihad, and underground infrastructure. In the south, the strikes targeted militants, military compounds, and observation posts.
Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said in a video statement from Gaza, “We will expand our operation, establish operational control over more territory, and clear and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure—until Hamas is decisively defeated.”
Humanitarian Aid Delays
The United Nations reported that no humanitarian aid had been distributed yet in Gaza, even though Israel eased its 11-week blockade on Monday.
“Israeli authorities are requiring us to offload supplies on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing and reload them separately once they secure our team’s access from inside Gaza,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Dujarric noted that four trucks of baby food were dropped off on the Palestinian side of the border on Monday, and that a few dozen trucks of flour, medicine, nutrition supplies, and other basic items entered Gaza on Tuesday.
Israel’s military said 93 UN aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday via Kerem Shalom “after a thorough security inspection.”
The hunger crisis in Gaza deepened after Israel imposed a blockade on supplies from March 2. The UN indicates that at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods need to enter Gaza every day to alleviate the humanitarian situation.
“Everything’s empty. The warehouses, the distribution centers—they’ve been empty for weeks,” said Louise Wateridge of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Ceasefire Talks Stall
Indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar appeared to have faltered again. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had decided to bring back the senior negotiating team from Doha for consultations.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas said it holds the Israeli government “fully responsible” for the failed efforts to reach an agreement. Hamas accused Netanyahu of “misleading world public opinion and pretending to participate in the negotiation process,” noting that no real negotiations have taken place since Saturday.
Israel’s ground and air offensive has displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and killed more than 53,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
