The entire Gaza Strip will be under the Israeli military\u2019s control at the end of its latest offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in his first news conference since December, setting out maximalist conditions for ending the devastating war on the besieged Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments across Gaza in recent days, at least 82 since dawn Wednesday, as starvation takes hold and only a small amount of aid trucks is allowed in with the blockade in effect in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu also said on Wednesday that if \u201cthere is an opportunity for a temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, Israel will be open to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Israeli leader laid out the following conditions for ending the war: the release of all captives, the disarmament of Hamas, the exile of its leadership and the possibility of carrying on a plan outlined by United States President Donald Trump in February that would expel Palestinians from Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has said the U.S. should run Gaza and transform the territory into the \u201cRiviera of the Middle East\u201d. This is the first time Trump\u2019s plan has been mentioned by Netanyahu as one of the conditions to halt fighting. Multiple nations and rights groups have called the plan ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu said Israel should avoid a \u201chumanitarian crisis to preserve our freedom of operational action\u201d, referring to Israel\u2019s decision to allow a very limited number of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza. He also referenced a much-criticised plan \u201cdeveloped with the U.S.\u201d to distribute food in the enclave without Hamas taking control of it. The Palestinian group denies it takes aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel has come under international pressure to halt its punishing total blockade on Gaza, which had prevented any food or aid trucks from entering the territory since March 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian catastrophe inside the enclave. A United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment found more than 93 percent of children in Gaza, or about 930,000, are on the brink of famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, the Israeli army said it allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into Gaza. Yet UN officials said distribution problems had meant no aid had so far reached people in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe limited supplies finally being allowed to enter Kerem Shalom [in Arabic, the Karem Abu Salem border crossing] are nowhere near enough to meet the needs in Gaza, which are vast, which are tremendous. Much, much more aid needs to get in,\u201d said Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aid groups have said the amount of aid that Israel is allowing is not nearly enough, calling Netanyahu\u2019s efforts a \u201csmokescreen to pretend the siege is over\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Israeli authorities\u2019 decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza while, in fact, keeping them barely surviving,\u201d said Pascale Coissard, the emergency coordinator in Khan Younis for Doctors Without Borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018A pressured, obsessed, lying man\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics were swift in reacting to Netanyahu\u2019s news conference. His \u201cwords today mean the occupation of Gaza for many years and waking up every day to the death of soldiers,\u201d opposition leader Yair Lapid said, adding that the country\u2019s international standing would collapse and the economy would be severely damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI saw a presentation by a pressured, obsessed, lying man who takes no responsibility for anything,\u201d the Democrats party leader Yair Golan said after the news conference. \u201cI will sue you for defamation because of the lies you spread about me, and we will defeat you in the elections very soon and send you to the pages of history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu had slammed Golan on Tuesday after the opposition leader had said, \u201cA sane country \u2026 does not kill babies as a hobby.\u201d Netanyahu called the comment \u201cappalling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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