Pressure on Israel grows to open more aid routes into Gaza

A Palestinian man feeds cats inside the compound of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Pic/AP

Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza gained momentum with the European Union increasing pressure for the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying that Israel's allies were losing patience. Aid groups say many of the estimated 3,00,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The UN says that one in six children younger than 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.

Amid the global pressure, Israeli officials said the government will begin allowing aid to move directly from its territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the creation of the sea route from Cyprus. Israel would allow 20 to 30 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza from Israel on Friday, the start of more regular deliveries via that route.

Five months into the war, major portions of Gaza strip have been destroyed. Pic/AP

It will also begin security checks on Sunday on aid in Cyprus before it's delivered via sea to Gaza. The ship will be part of a pilot project to test the feasibility of the sea route. The aid is UAE-funded and made possible with US involvement. South Africa, which filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, asked the court to order Israel to allow in aid "to address famine and starvation" in Gaza.

Israeli forces arrest 250 terrorists in Khan Yunis

Israeli soldiers in Khan Yunis apprehended 250 Palestinian terrorists in Khan Yunis, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday. Members of the IDF's Commando Brigade working with the elite Shayetet 13 unit raided terror infrastructure in the city's Hamad Towers district. The soldiers apprehended many terrorists who surrendered, including a Hamas sniper cell commander and two Hamas squad commanders.

In addition, the soldiers seized large amounts of weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, grenades, vests, RPGs, explosives, ammunition, explosive kits, and closed-circuit diving systems intended for military and terrorist use. Other terrorists affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also arrested.

300K
Current population of Gaza

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