Netanyahu Admits Pressure to Allow Aid 05/19 06:22

   

   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 
Monday that his decision to resume limited aid to Gaza after a weekslong 
blockade came after pressure from allies who said they wouldn't be able to 
grant Israel the support it needs to win the war so long as there were "images 
of hunger" coming out of the Palestinian territory.

   Israel has faced condemnation from the United Nations, aid groups and some 
European allies for its blockade of goods into the war-ravaged territory, 
including food, fuel and medicine.

   On Sunday it said it would allow a "basic" amount of aid into Gaza to 
prevent a "hunger crisis" from developing. Food experts have already warned 
that the blockade risked sparking famine in Gaza, a territory of roughly 2 
million people.

   The decision to let in aid comes as Israel steps up its offensive in the 
Gaza Strip in what it says is a bid to pressure Hamas to agree to a ceasefire 
deal on Israel's terms. On Monday, a military spokesperson ordered the 
evacuation of Gaza's second-largest city, Khan Younis, where Israel carried out 
a massive operation earlier in the war that left much of the area in ruins.

   Under the newly launched air and ground offensive, Israel plans to displace 
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and secure aid distribution inside the 
territory.

   Netanyahu said Monday that the plan would include "taking control of all of 
Gaza."

   Netanyahu warns of a 'red line' on Gaza

   Under the Trump administration, the United States -- Israel's top ally -- 
has mostly avoided criticizing Israel's steps in its war against Hamas, and 
blames the militant group for the humanitarian crisis.

   But it has increasingly highlighted the plight of civilians in Gaza. 
President Donald Trump on his recent trip to the Middle East -- a visit where 
he did not stop in Israel -- voiced concern about the humanitarian situation in 
Gaza, as did his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said on a visit to Turkey 
that he was "troubled" by it.

   In a video statement posted to social media, Netanyahu said that Israel's 
allies had voiced concern about "images of hunger."

   Israel's "greatest friends in the world," he said, including senators but 
without mentioning specific nationalities, had said there is "one thing we 
cannot stand. We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger. We cannot stand 
that. We will not be able to support you."

   Netanyahu said the situation was approaching a "red line" and a "dangerous 
point," but it was not clear if he was referring to the crisis in Gaza or the 
potential loss of support from allies.

   "Therefore to achieve victory, we need to somehow solve the problem," 
Netanyahu said.

   The video statement appeared aimed at pacifying anger from Netanyahu's 
nationalist base at the decision to resume aid. Netanyahu has been under 
pressure from two far-right governing partners not to send aid back into Gaza. 
At least one of them said Monday he was begrudgingly on board with the decision.

   Netanyahu says 'minimal' aid to be let in

   The aid that would be let in would be "minimal," Netanyahu said, without 
specifying precisely when it would resume, and would act as bridge toward the 
beginning of a new approach to aid delivery in Gaza, which will see a 
U.S.-backed organization distribute aid in organized hubs in Gaza that will be 
secured by the Israeli military.

   Israel says the plan is meant to prevent Hamas from accessing aid, which 
Israel says it uses to bolster its rule in Gaza.

   Aid groups say the mechanism is not practical, that it will not reach the 
most vulnerable Palestinians and say they won't participate because it doesn't 
align with their humanitarian principles.

   A U.N. official said a shipment of 20 aid trucks carrying mostly food is 
expected to enter on Monday. The official was not authorized to brief media and 
spoke on condition of anonymity.

   Israeli authorities have not commented on when the aid would begin entering.

   An Associated Press photographer saw at least three trucks loaded with 
humanitarian aid on the Israeli side of a crossing with Gaza but they drove off 
back into Israel shortly after.

   Palestinians say an Israeli undercover raid has killed a militant

   As the aid waited to enter the territory again, fighting continued to rage 
there, including an early morning raid in the southern city of Khan Younis by 
what Palestinian residents said was an undercover Israeli force disguised as 
displaced Palestinians.

   The force killed Ahmed Sarhan, a leader of the armed wing of the Popular 
Resistance Committees, in a shootout, the group said, and detained his wife and 
child, according to Palestinian witnesses.

   The forces drove in on a civilian vehicle and carried out the raid under 
heavy aircover, killing at least six people, including Sarhan, according to 
Nasser Hospital. They carried what appeared to be luggage and blankets on top 
of their white vehicle.

   The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the apparent raid.

   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's 
retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them 
women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't 
differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.