Israel announces it will reopen a crossing point in northern Gaza

2024-04-05 12:52:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israel says it is taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key crossing point in war-torn northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the plans early Friday, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that the United States' future support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and workers. humanitarian aid.

"This increase in aid would curb a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of fighting and the achievement of war objectives," Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said.

The announcement did not elaborate on the quantities or types of items that would enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing.

Despite their differences, however, President Biden's administration has continued to provide Israel with significant military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's six-month war against Hamas. Israel faces growing international isolation after the Israeli army killed seven aid workers who were helping to deliver food to Gaza.

The Palestinian death toll reached more than 33,000 people on Thursday, while the number of wounded reached more than 75,600, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry said. Gaza's health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its reports, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the casualties.

The UN says most of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation.

The war began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 people hostage.

Israel plans to change its war tactics in Gaza after the killing of humanitarian workers.

Israel said on Thursday it would make changes to its war tactics in Gaza after the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike, which the Israeli military admitted was a major mistake and that the findings of the investigation would be made public soon.

Monday's incident has caused outrage in Western countries for the high number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip, especially since among the killed members of the organization "World Central Kitchen" were Australian, British, Polish citizens and an employee with US-Canadian citizenship.

According to the UN, at least 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October.

Israeli leaders have expressed regret for what the military called a "serious mistake" after misidentifying a group of World Central Kitchen vehicles overnight in a complex combat zone.

The charity's founder, chef Jose Andres, said the carpool had been "systematically" targeted even though the Israeli army was aware of the movements of its personnel.

Israeli government spokeswoman Raquela Karamson said during a press conference that "this was unintentional."

"It's clear that something went wrong. Once we learn exactly how this happened, after investigating the incident, we will adjust our practices in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again."

She said the release of the investigation's findings could take several weeks. But Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari gave a much shorter timeframe.

A report by the investigators was given to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, spokesman Hagari said.

"And I believe that after presenting this to the ambassadors of the respective countries and the members of the "World Central Kitchen" organization, we will make it public in a clear, transparent manner and this will happen soon," he said.

Israel Ziv, a retired army general who previously commanded the Gaza division, said the incident may have resulted from the army's decision to allow more junior officers to authorize airstrikes.

While during quieter times such an operation would require a green light from a divisional commander or a general in charge of regional forces, he said, "in wartime the situation is completely transformed because of the sheer number of threats." .

"Unless an expansion of powers is allowed among lower-ranking officers to open fire, the troops and the progress of the war may be endangered."

Mr. Ziv noted that Israel, which launched the war after Hamas attacked southern cities on October 7, has also fought to destroy the military capacity of Palestinian Islamists and deny them access to humanitarian aid sent to Gas.

"It complicates the situation," he says.

As a preliminary move to correct what it calls the deaths of World Central Kitchen workers, Israel said it would establish a joint coordination center with humanitarian agencies within the army's Southern Command, where missions in Gaza are directly managed.

An Israeli security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the number of ground troops in the Gaza Strip is about 75 percent lower than at the height of the war and that the Israeli military is now focused on conducting offensive operations. more accurate and those for securing the occupied areas.

"This may have contributed to a sense of weakness. The troops prefer to be on the offensive rather than in an open position without moving and leaving the enemy to operate in relative freedom," the official said.

"The investigation will have to determine, among other things, whether this kind of thinking influenced the officer's decision to attack the aid workers' cars."

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, Gaza medical officials say. Hamas has said that 6,000 of its fighters are among the victims. Israeli officials say the number of casualties among Palestinian fighters is more than twice as high./VOA