The new plan for Israel’s war in Gaza involves “the conquest of
territory and remaining there.” The Israeli military will displace the
Palestinian population to southern Gaza while carrying out “powerful strikes” against
Hamas.
Over 2,400 Palestinians have been killed in
Gaza since mid-March when Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes, shattering
a ceasefire which had been in place for nearly two months. More than 52,000
Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
The expansion of the fighting will be
gradual to give a chance for a renewed ceasefire and hostage release deal
before US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region in mid-May. Trump is
scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar next week.
The cabinet also discussed allowing the resumption of aid deliveries
into Gaza under a new framework which was approved, but has not yet been implemented.
An Israeli blockade of all humanitarian aid into the strip is now in its ninth
week.
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11,
reported that a confrontation had broken out during Sunday’s meeting over the
resumption of aid deliveries with two far-right members of the cabinet,
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and settlements minister Orit Strook
opposed to any resumption of aid and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir arguing Israel was obligated to facilitate them under
international law.
The Israeli media reports about the arguments over the aid “are not
wrong.”
Israel says it cut off the entry of
humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But international
organizations say its actions violate international law and risks creating a
man-made famine, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of
war – a war crime.
The US and Israeli officials are discussing
a mechanism to deliver aid to Gaza that bypasses Hamas. An announcement could
be made “in the coming days.”
The delivery mechanism in the works is
intended to allow aid to reach the Palestinian population with safeguards to
ensure it is not diverted by Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
An unnamed private foundation would manage
the aid mechanism and the delivery of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
The US expects the United Nations and
international aid organizations to work with the framework of the foundation’s
mechanism to ensure that supplies do not reach Hamas.
Aid agencies working in the occupied
Palestinian territory rejected the new framework for aid deliveries Sunday
saying the plan appeared “designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining
items” and would fail to ensure aid reached Gaza’s most vulnerable residents.
The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency
Relief Coordinator have made clear that they will not participate in any scheme
that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity,
impartiality, independence and neutrality.
