The United Nations suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday due to a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation caused by Israel91裸聊视频檚 expanding military operation. The U.N. warned that humanitarian operations across the territory were nearing collapse.
A senior United States official said Israel has addressed many of the Biden administration91裸聊视频檚 concerns about a full-scale ground invasion of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas fighters there. U.S. President Joe Biden had previously opposed a total military assault on a city filled with displaced civilians if plans did not prioritize the safety of innocent Palestinians. The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The official said the administration stopped short of greenlighting the Israeli invasion plan, but said Israeli officials91裸聊视频� changes to the planning suggested they were taking the American administration91裸聊视频檚 concerns seriously.
Over the past two weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have fled Rafah in a chaotic exodus, seeking shelter in new tent camps or crowding into areas already devastated by previous Israeli offensives. Some 400,000 people are believed to still be in Rafah after around 900,000 rushed to escape, according to COGAT, the Israeli military office in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs.
Getting aid to displaced civilians has been hampered by closed and chaotic land crossings, as well as problems plaguing the U.S. military91裸聊视频檚 new floating pier meant to provide an alternative sea route for aid into Gaza. Over the weekend, hungry Palestinians took aid from a U.N. vehicle convoy coming from the pier, and the U.N. said since then it had been unable to receive trucks there.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters in Washington that for the past few days, forward movement of aid from the pier was paused but it resumed Tuesday. There was no confirmation from the U.N.
The U.N.91裸聊视频檚 World Food Program said it was running out of food for central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are now living.
91裸聊视频淗umanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse,91裸聊视频� said Abeer Etefa, a WFP spokesperson. If food and other supplies don91裸聊视频檛 resume entering Gaza 91裸聊视频渋n massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread,91裸聊视频� she said.
The warning came as Israel seeks to contain the international fallout from a request at the world91裸聊视频檚 top war crimes court for arrest warrants targeting both Israeli and Hamas leaders. The move garnered support from three European countries, including Israel91裸聊视频檚 key ally France.
91裸聊视频淯se of starvation as a method of warfare91裸聊视频� was among the accusations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court 91裸聊视频� charges they and other Israeli officials angrily deny. The prosecutor accused three Hamas leaders of war crimes over killings of civilians in the group91裸聊视频檚 Oct. 7 attack.
The U.N says some 1.1 million people in Gaza 91裸聊视频� nearly half the population 91裸聊视频� face catastrophic levels of hunger and that the territory is on the brink of famine. Throughout the war, Rafah has been filled with scenes of hungry children holding out pots and plastic containers at makeshift soup kitchens, with many families reduced to eating only one meal a day
The humanitarian crisis deepened after Israeli forces pushed into Rafah on May 6. Tanks and troops seized the vital Rafah crossing into Egypt, and it91裸聊视频檚 been closed ever since. After May 10, only about three dozen trucks made it into Gaza via the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel because fighting made it dangerous for aid workers to reach it, the U.N. says.
Israel insists it puts no restriction on the number of trucks entering Gaza. COGAT said 450 trucks entered Tuesday from its side to Kerem Shalom and a small crossing in northern Gaza. It said more than 650 trucks are waiting on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom to be retrieved, blaming 91裸聊视频渓ack of logistical capabilities and manpower gaps91裸聊视频� among aid groups.
For months, the U.N. has warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah could wreck the effort to get food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians across Gaza.
Asked about the ramifications of suspending aid, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said simply: 91裸聊视频淧eople don91裸聊视频檛 eat.91裸聊视频�
Etefa said the WFP was still passing out hot meals and 91裸聊视频渓imited distributions91裸聊视频� of reduced food packages in central Gaza, but 91裸聊视频渇ood parcel stocks will run out within days,91裸聊视频� she said.
The U.S. touted the $320 million pier project as a route for accelerated deliveries. The first 10 trucks rolled off a ship onto the pier on Friday and were taken to a WFP warehouse. However, a second convoy on Saturday was met by Palestinian crowds who removed all the food from 11 trucks, and only five truckloads made it to the warehouse, Etefa said.
No further deliveries came from the pier Sunday or Monday, Etefa said.
91裸聊视频淭he responsibility of ensuring aid reaches those in need does not end at the crossings and other points of entry into Gaza 91裸聊视频� it extends throughout Gaza itself,91裸聊视频� she said.
At the same time, battles have escalated in northern Gaza as Israeli troops conduct operations against Hamas fighters, who the military says regrouped in areas already captured in offensives months ago.
One of the main hospitals still operating in the north, Kamal Adwan, was forced to evacuate after it was 91裸聊视频渢argeted91裸聊视频� by Israeli troops, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Around 150 staff and dozens of patients fled the facility, including intensive care patients and infants in incubators 91裸聊视频渦nder fire from shelling,91裸聊视频� it said. The Israeli military did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The nearby Awda hospital has been surrounded by troops the past three days, and an artillery shell hit its fifth floor, the hospital administration said Tuesday. A day earlier, the international medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said Awda had run out of drinking water.
The war between began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants crossed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostage. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan accused Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh of crimes against humanity, including extermination, murder and sexual violence.
Israel responded to the Oct. 7 with an offensive that has laid waste to Gaza and killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza91裸聊视频檚 Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between noncombatants and fighters in its count.
Monday91裸聊视频檚 call by Khan for arrest warrants deepens Israel91裸聊视频檚 global isolation at a time when it is facing growing criticism from even its closest allies over the war. France, Belgium, and Slovenia each said they backed Khan91裸聊视频� decision.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz headed to France on Tuesday in response, urging it to 91裸聊视频渄eclare loud and clear91裸聊视频� that the request for warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant 91裸聊视频渋s unacceptable to you and to the French government.91裸聊视频�
His meetings there could set the tone for how countries navigate the warrants 91裸聊视频� if they are eventually issued 91裸聊视频� and whether they could pose a threat to Israeli leaders. A panel of three ICC judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.
Israel still has the support of its top ally, the United States, as well as other Western countries that spoke out against the decision. But if the warrants are issued, they could complicate international travel for Netanyahu and his defense minister, even if they do not face any immediate risk of prosecution because Israel itself is not a member of the court.
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Goldenberg reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Majdi Mohammed in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, Jack Jeffery in Jerusalem, Aamer Madhani in Washington, John Leicester in Paris, and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
Samy Magdy, Lee Keath And Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press
