The Israeli Security Cabinet decided Sunday to immediately resume humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza after more than two months of siege while its occupation forces renewed ground offensive in southern Gaza.
The decision permits the immediate entry of aid trucks under a previously established mechanism overseen by UN agencies, the World Central Kitchen, and other humanitarian organizations, according to Axios journalist Barak Ravid.
The cabinet move was approved despite opposition from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the measure, which comes after 10 weeks of severe food shortages triggered by the closure of Gaza's crossings and Israel's block of humanitarian aid.
Citing an unnamed government source, Israel's Channel 12 reported that the arrangement will be temporary, lasting about a week. It is intended as a bridge to the launch of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is expected to begin distributing food aid on May 24.
The Israeli army's radio service said the first aid convoys would enter on Monday carrying food and medicine, including basic staples such as flour, in an effort to ease the famine threatening much of Gaza's population.
However, authorities have yet to clarify which crossings will be used or whether the occupation army will permit aid deliveries to move between southern and northern Gaza. Israeli occupation forces have restricted movement between the two regions since operations resumed on March 18.
Meanwhile, the occupation army has launched a new ground campaign dubbed "Operation Gideon Chariots," aimed at Hamas infrastructure across the territory. Over the past week, Israeli airstrikes hit more than 670 targets, the occupation army said.
Southern and eastern Khan Younis saw intense bombardment from Sunday evening into early Monday. Witnesses told Al Manassa that Israeli tanks advanced into the Al-Fukhari district near the European Gaza Hospital, forcing families to flee westward.
Tanks and bulldozers advanced to a location just outside the now-disabled European Gaza Hospital, according to one eyewitness, intensifying fears of further damage to the medical facility and prompting waves of displacement. A journalist in the area told Al Manassa.
"It appears the Israeli bulldozers, under the protection of tanks, intend to carry out excavation work in a nearby area or to demolish homes and agricultural land in Al-Fukhari and around the European Gaza Hospital," a journalist in the area told Al Manassa.
In the north, Israeli tanks and drones besieged the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia. A source inside said 55 people remained trapped inside, including doctors, nurses and immobile patients. One injured person was killed by Israeli fire during the assault, witnesses said.
As Israeli shelling intensified Monday, emergency responders at Nasser Medical Complex reported receiving dozens of casualties. However, rescue efforts were hindered in some areas due to heavy shelling, a paramedic told Al Manassa.
As Israeli tank fire directly struck the European Gaza Hospital, doctors and patients tried to shelter on the floor to avoid injury, witnesses told Al Manassa. They described catastrophic conditions under siege, exacerbated by the army's shelling of the hospital's main generator, which knocked out its power supply.
The Israeli military did not issue any prior warning or evacuation order to the hospital staff or patients before advancing on the area and surrounding the facility, a source in the Ministry of Health told Al Manassa.
However, the occupation army has issued new evacuation orders for parts of Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, warning residents to leave or face harsh reprisals. The orders, it said, come in response to rocket fire from those areas.
In a statement, the Israeli military blamed Hamas and other Palestinian factions for the continued displacement and suffering of civilians, framing the warnings as a final alert ahead of what it called a "wide-scale offensive."
In a related development, an Israeli airstrike on Sunday critically wounded Zakaria Al-Sinwar, a university professor and brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar. The attack hit his tent in the Mufti area of central Gaza, killing three of his children.
A medical source told Al Manassa that Zakaria, a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza and former head of its Oral History Center, remains in intensive care.
Israeli media previously reported that the Israeli army had attempted to assassinate Mohammed Al-Sinwar, the other brother of Yahya Al-Sinwar, in a tunnel strike. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there were indications that Mohammed had been killed.
In October, Israeli army radio announced that Yahya Al-Sinwar had been killed in Tel Al-Sultan in Rafah, southern Gaza, a claim later confirmed by Hamas.
The Israeli occupation army resumed its assault on the Gaza Strip on March 18, renewing a war it launched on October 7, 2023. The escalation followed Israel’s refusal to uphold a ceasefire agreement that took effect on January 19 and was intended to culminate in a full exchange of detainees held by Hamas and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
