Israel will soon halt or scale back humanitarian aid deliveries to northern Gaza as its military offensive against Hamas expands, an official said Saturday, a day after Gaza City was declared a combat zone.
The move is expected to draw further international condemnation as Palestinians face worsening humanitarian conditions and families of remaining hostages express growing alarm after nearly 23 months of war.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told The Associated Press that Israel will stop airdrops over Gaza City in the coming days and reduce the number of aid trucks as preparations are underway to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people south.
On Friday, Israel ended daytime pauses in fighting that had allowed limited aid access, calling Gaza City a Hamas stronghold and citing the continued presence of tunnel networks. The UN and aid groups said the measures were far short of the 600 trucks needed daily to meet Gaza’s needs.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the remains of hostage Idan Shtivi, kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack at the Nova music festival, were recovered in Gaza. Families of other captives renewed calls for a ceasefire deal, warning the ongoing offensive puts their loved ones in greater danger.
Aid agencies also warned of “massive population movement” if Israel presses ahead with further evacuations. Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the destruction of infrastructure and extreme shortages of food, water and medicine make it impossible to evacuate Gaza City’s population in a safe and dignified way.
Heavy Israeli airstrikes continued overnight. A strike on a Gaza City bakery killed 12 people, including six women and three children, while another strike on Rimal neighborhood killed seven, health officials said. Hamas called the attack on a residential building a “brutal escalation.”
Separately, four Palestinians were shot dead while trying to collect aid in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital officials. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 10 more people, including three children, died from starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the war’s total to 332 such deaths.
Since the conflict began, at least 63,371 Palestinians have been killed, including nearly half women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. While Israel disputes the figures, the UN and independent experts consider the ministry’s data the most reliable source on casualties.
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