Israel to take over all Gaza, start aid flows, Netanyahu says

Israel will take over the entire Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, as the military announced it would carry out an “unprecedented attack” on Hamas.

Netanyahu said that, alongside the increased attacks, Israel would start allowing aid into Gaza again after stopping it in early March in a bid to make Hamas release hostages and surrender.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism party, said on Monday there was no choice, “otherwise, the world will force us to stop the war.” He also said that the military is now operating with much greater intensity.

“This time, the operational method is completely different: not raids, but rather occupation, cleansing and holding the territory until Hamas is destroyed,” Smotrich said. “Along the way, we are destroying everything that is left of the Gaza Strip, because everything there is one big city of terror.”

The Trump administration has issued a stark ultimatum to Israel, threatening to withdraw crucial support if Netanyahu fails to end the Gaza conflict, according to a confidential source speaking to The Washington Post.

International pressure has mounted on Israel to restart aid. The United Nations says malnutrition is worsening and last week France’s President Emmanuel Macron accused Netanyahu of “shameful” behavior in blocking aid.

Shortly after Israel announced the first trucks entered Gaza, the U.K., France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement calling the aid “wholly inadequate.” They threatened “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the West Bank, calling on Israel to stop it “egregious” new military actions in Gaza.

Israel denies there are significant shortages of food. But Netanyahu said he needed to allow in aid to stop the onset of hunger, adding that U.S. senators who support Israel had urged him to do so.

Netanyahu also said the Israel Defense Forces recommended he make the move.

Israel had originally said it would restart aid once it could establish secured distribution areas that would prevent Hamas from stealing the supplies.

However, this mechanism will only begin around May 25, until when an interim arrangement would be put in place, Caroline Glick, international affairs adviser to the prime minister, said in a telephone interview.

“We have a stopgap measure for a week because while there is no starvation or critical shortage, it is getting close and we don’t want to reach a red line,” Glick said. “We are going to make sure no one goes hungry in Gaza. There will be mobile kitchens.”

The Israeli foreign ministry said at a Jerusalem press conference that the first items headed in are baby food, medical supplies and flour for the bakeries run by international organizations.

The IDF is asking Palestinians in Khan Younis, one of Gaza’s biggest cities, and two other nearby areas to leave immediately, ahead of an attack.

Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, triggered the conflict when it attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, from Gaza. It killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Israel and Hamas continue to negotiate via mediators such as the U.S., Qatar and Egypt. Israel has signaled it might accept a proposal from Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s main Middle East envoy, that would free about 10 hostages in return for a truce of roughly six weeks to two months.