Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including children, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north, reports AP.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Israel also blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for two and a half months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts’ warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel’s top allies.
Israel is pursuing a new US-backed plan to control all aid to Gaza, but the American heading the effort unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that his organization would not be allowed to operate independently.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 107 trucks of aid entered Sunday. The UN has called the rate far from enough. About 600 trucks a day entered during the ceasefire.
Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.