Israel has said it would allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza even as its 鈥渆xtensive鈥 new ground operations are underway there. But despite the announcement, no aid had gone in by mid-afternoon Monday.
Aid trucks that were briefly parked on the Israeli side of a border crossing turned back and drove off into Israel. The developments come after a nearly three-month blockade and warnings by global experts of impeding famine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a 鈥渟tarvation crisis鈥 in Gaza would jeopardize the new offensive. In early March, Israel cut off all food, medicine and other supplies to the territory of over 2 million people to pressure Hamas over ceasefire terms.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.
Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, which doesn鈥檛 differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Here's the latest:
Gaza's Health Ministry says 136 died in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours
The ministry says 136 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals over the past 24 hours. The hospitals also received 364 wounded, according to the ministry's daily report.
The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war is now at 53,486, said the ministry. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas.
Hamas says there's been no progress in ceasefire talks hosted by Qatar
A senior Hamas official says Israel insists on a partial deal to release some hostages without committing to ending the war.
Hamas will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
鈥 By Samy Magdy in Cairo;
Israeli strike on a Gaza school-turned-shelter kills 5, a hospital says
Al-Awda Hospital says that among the dead in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp were a woman and a young girl. The strike also wounded 18 others, mostly children, said the hospital, which received the casualties.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Cyprus ready to ship tons food to the Israeli port of Ashdod for delivery to Gaza
A Cyprus foreign ministry official says some 600 tons of non-perishable food and shelter items remain in storage in the ports of Limassol and Larnaca.
The official says this could be dispatched by a chartered ship relatively quickly given Cyprus鈥 proximity to Israel. He spoke of condition of anonymity because he wasn鈥檛 authorized to speak about the issue publicly. Some 22,000 tons of aid were shipped to Gaza from Cyprus through a that was set up last year.
鈥 By Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus;
Lebanon's president urges halt to Israel's offensive in Gaza, backs disarming of Hezbollah
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made the appeal during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo on Monday.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended a monthslong Israel-Hezbollah war. The militants claim to have mostly pulled out of southern Lebanon in the deal but slam Israel for its continued military presence in Lebanese territory, near the border. Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah's infrastructure and militant figures.
The Israeli military orders evacuation for residents of Gaza鈥檚 second-largest city
The military ordered the evacuation of residents from Khan Younis, the enclave's second-largest city, and nearby towns, saying the entire area 鈥渨ill be considered a dangerous combat zone.鈥
Avichay Adraee, a military spokesperson, posted the order on his social media accounts.
A Palestinian militant group says its leader was killed in an Israeli raid in Gaza
The armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip, says Israeli special forces tried to capture one of its leaders on Monday but that he was killed in a shootout.
The group says that Ahmed Sarhan fought back when the troops tried to capture him. His wife and child were reportedly detained.
鈥 By Samy Magdy in Cairo;
An AP photographer sees aid trucks at a Gaza crossing
An Associated Press photographer has seen at least three trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Israeli side of a crossing with Gaza. The trucks were parked just outside the Kerem Shalom crossing.
However, the trucks drove back into Israel a while later.
鈥 By Ohad Zwigenberg in Kerem Shalom, Israel;
A UN official says aid trucks are to enter Gaza on Monday
A U.N. official says 20 aid trucks carrying mostly food are expected to go into the Gaza Strip on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities. The official was not authorized to brief reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity.
鈥 By Samy Magdy in Cairo;
A US-backed distribution group welcomes Israel announcement on Gaza aid resumption
A U.S.-backed group expected to run aid distribution in Gaza said Israel's announcement was an 鈥渋mportant first step.鈥
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has said its four aid distribution sites would be up and running before the end of the month. It was not clear when the aid would resume.
The group鈥檚 head Jake Wood called late on Sunday on international aid groups to join in the new distribution mechanism.
But international aid groups say the mechanism is not practical and won't reach the most vulnerable Palestinians. They also say they won鈥檛 participate because it doesn鈥檛 align with their humanitarian principles.
Israel says a new aid distribution approach is necessary because it accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid to support its military activities, a claim aid groups dispute.
Palestinians say Israeli forces disguised as civilians killed a man in a Gaza raid
Palestinians in Gaza say Israeli forces disguised as civilians and under heavy air cover shot and killed a man and detained his wife and child in a raid Monday on a house in the enclave's south.
The Israeli forces drove a civilian vehicle and raided the home in the city of Khan Younis as airstrikes pounded the surrounding area, residents said.
鈥淲e thought that all houses would be bombed,鈥 said Mohammed Sarhan, a relative of the man killed and a neighbor, who said the strikes lasted 10 minutes.
Mahmoud Safi, another neighbor, said the Israeli forces carried what appeared to be luggage and blankets on the top of their white vehicle.
The killed man was identified as Ahmed Sarhan. The reason he was targeted was not immediately known.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Freed Israeli hostage pleads with lawmakers to end the war in Gaza
Arbel Yehoud, who was freed after 482 days in captivity in a ceasefire earlier this year, told lawmakers at a parliamentary committee on Monday that they will have blood on their hands 鈥渋f you do not stop the war.鈥
Yehoud鈥檚 partner, Ariel Cunio, is still held in Gaza, along with 57 other hostages, 23 of whom are believed to be alive.
She said she was terrified by the sounds of missiles and bombs while she was held captive. She said she would be beaten if her captors鈥 relatives were harmed in Israeli strikes and held in isolation with food 鈥渦nfit for human consumption and with a level of hygiene like in concentration camps of the Holocaust.鈥
鈥淎s someone who was there, I know that only through negotiations is (returning the hostages) possible,鈥 she said.
