Reports are that today five trucks of food aid were allowed to enter Gaza, carrying baby food. No other trucks were permitted passage. The UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called it a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” He indicated that an additional four UN trucks had been cleared to enter Gaza tomorrow, about the same as today.
Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under increasing pressure from Washington, ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Israel’s military had issued warnings of starvation in Gaza to the cabinet for weeks, while the “starve them out” crowd, centered around National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Treasury Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has strongly opposed any relief. Yesterday’s decision was made without a cabinet vote, over the objection of Ben-Gvir, who stated afterwards, “The prime minister is making a grave mistake.… We must crush Hamas and not simultaneously give it oxygen.”
Smotrich spoke of the IDF’s action so far as being well done, “destroying what is left of the Strip simply because everything there is one big city of terror. This is a tremendous change from what has been so far and, God willing, will lead to victory, the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages.” He promised that the Palestinians who survive will be relocated out of Gaza.
