UN official says 20 aid trucks with food are waiting to enter Gaza

A UN official has said 20 aid trucks carrying mostly food are expected to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The delivery comes after a near three-month blockade and warnings by global experts of impeding famine.

Israel has said it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza even as it launches “extensive” new ground operations there.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that his decision to resume aid to Gaza came from pressure from allies.

In a video statement posted to social media, Mr Netanyahu said that Israel’s allies had voiced concern about “images of hunger”.

He added: “Therefore, to achieve victory, we need to somehow solve the problem.”

The aid that would be let in would be “minimal”, he said, without specifying precisely when it would resume.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu said a “starvation crisis” in Gaza would jeopardise the new offensive – the largest since Israel in March ended the ceasefire – and that a “basic” amount of food would be allowed in.

In early March, Israel cut off all food, medicine and other supplies to the territory of over two million people to pressure Hamas over ceasefire terms.

Defence minister Israel Katz said the offensive – dubbed Operation Gideon Chariots – was being led with “great force”.

Mr Netanyahu had vowed to escalate pressure with the aim of destroying the militant Hamas group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades.

The war in Gaza began on October 7 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.