Amidst growing international pressure, Israel continued to push in the military offensive in Gaza on Tuesday, launching airstrikes that killed as many as 85 people, as per AP.
Israel and Hamas were to engage in indirect ceasefire talk, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to bring back the senior negotiating team from Doha for consultations. "No real negotiations have taken place since last Saturday," Reuters quoted a Hamas spokesperson, who alleged that Israel only pretended to participate the ceasefire talk for international optics.
Israel's continued offensive into Gaza has claimed the lives of 62,614 Palestinians, including 17,492 children, since October 7, 2023, as per Al Jazeera.
Israel Blockade Of Gaza Strip
Israel ended its 10-week-long blockade of Gaza on Monday, when it allowed five aid trucks to enter the enclave. As per AP, the decision to end the blockade and allowing minimal food into Gaza was due to mounting pressure from the international community as at least two million Palestinians reached at the brink of famine.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body that overlooks humanitarian aid, said 93 more trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. However, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that only a few dozen trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, AP reported. U.N. is prioritizing baby formula in the first shipments.
Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief, in an interview with the BBC said that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in the next 48 hours if aid trucks do not reach communities in Gaza. He said that five trucks to feed a starving population of the strip is like a "drop in the ocean."
"There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them...We run all sorts of risks trying to get that baby food through to those mothers who cannot feed their children right now because they're malnourished," Fletcher said, speaking to BBC's Radio 4.
UK, France and Canada Mount Pressure
The British government on Tuesday announced suspension of free trade negotiations with Israel. They also implemented new sanctions targeting West Bank settlements as it criticizes Israel's military actions in Gaza.
The move came after Monday's joint statement by the top leaders of Canada, France and the United Kingdom, the three countries slammed Israel바카라s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu바카라s expansion of military operations and its 바카라egregious actions바카라 in Gaza, and threatened Israel with targeted sanctions.
