UN and relief groups to assist with relocation logistics
17/8/2025 6:09
The Israeli military will provide Gaza residents with tents
and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of relocating
them from combat zones to "safe" ones in the south of the
enclave, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Saturday.
This comes days after Israel said it intended to
launch a new offensive
to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave's
largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm
over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million
people.
The equipment will be transferred via the Israeli
crossing of Kerem Shalom by the United Nations and other
international relief organisations after being thoroughly
inspected by defence ministry personnel, Adraee added in a post
on X.
Israel's COGAT, the military agency that coordinates
aid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on
whether the preparations were part of the new plan.
Taking over the city of about one million Palestinians
complicates ceasefire efforts to end the nearly
two-year war
, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows through with
his plan to take on Hamas' two remaining strongholds.
Netanyahu said Israel had no choice but to complete the
job and defeat Hamas as the Palestinian militant group has
refused to lay down its arms.
Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent
Palestinian state was established.
Israel already controls about 75% of Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in
October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages,
according to Israeli tallies. Israeli authorities say 20 of the
remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.
Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over
61,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says. It has also
caused a
hunger crisis
, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted
accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice
and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel
denies the accusations.
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