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Israel vows to 'take control' of Gaza as first aid trucks enter after two-month blockade
AFP | May 20, 2025 5:02 AM CST

Synopsis

Israel plans to control all of Gaza. Aid entered Gaza after over two months. Twenty-two nations want Israel to allow full aid resumption. The UN says the aid is insufficient. Gaza has been under blockade since March 2. The WHO reports two million people are starving. Israel announced limited aid and five trucks entered with supplies.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, 29 April 2025 .
Israel said Monday it will "take control" of the whole of Gaza, where aid entered for the first time in more than two months as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive.

Twenty-two nations, including Australia, Britain, France and Germany, on Monday demanded that Israel immediately "allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza" after the partial lifting of its blockade on the territory.

The joint statement was released as Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in a statement that nine trucks had been "cleared to enter... but it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed."

With the Gaza Strip under a total Israeli blockade since March 2, the World Health Organization said the besieged territory's "two million people are starving".

Israel, facing mounting criticism, has announced it would let limited aid into Gaza and said the first five trucks entered Monday, carrying supplies "including food for babies".


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