During a press conference, which Benjamin Netanyahu said was convened to “dispel lies,” the Israeli prime minister stated that the planned offensive would begin “fairly soon” and “free Gaza from Hamas.”
He claimed that Israeli hostages held in the enclave were “the only ones deliberately starved” and denied that Israel was blocking access to food for Gaza’s civilian population.
Meanwhile, Israel faced strong criticism at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. The UK, France, and other countries warned that the plan could “violate international humanitarian law.” Together with Denmark, Greece, and Slovenia, they called for the offensive to be canceled, saying it “would not help free the hostages and could further endanger their lives.”
China called the “collective punishment” of Gaza’s population unacceptable, while Russia warned against “reckless escalation of hostilities.”
UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča stressed:
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely cause new disaster in Gaza, spread the conflict across the region, and lead to further forced displacement, deaths, and destruction.”
Ramesh Rajasingham from the UN’s humanitarian office said that famine was already ongoing in Gaza, not just a threat:
“This is famine, pure and clear.”
The US, for its part, defended Israel. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said Washington was working “relentlessly” to free the hostages and end the war, and that the meeting only hampered those efforts. She emphasized that the war “could end today if Hamas releases the hostages” and rejected genocide allegations against Israel as “clearly false.”
Later on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office reported his conversation with US President Donald Trump about Israel’s plans.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Israel, expressing concern that the government’s plan endangered the hostages’ lives.
Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces had been ordered to eliminate “two Hamas strongholds” – in Gaza City and the Al-Mawasi area. He outlined a three-phase plan to increase humanitarian aid, which includes:
- creating safe corridors for its distribution;
- increasing air drops;
- expanding the network of distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), supported by the US and Israel.
The UN previously reported that since late May, when the GHF began operations, 1,373 Palestinians had been killed while searching for food.
Netanyahu accused Hamas of “brutally looting aid trucks” and said the group was also responsible for many attacks on GHF facilities.
Regarding the hostages, 20 of whom are estimated to still be alive, the prime minister said:
“If we do nothing, we will not save them.”
He criticized the international press, accusing it of spreading “Hamas propaganda” and calling some global images of starving children “fake.”
Israel had not allowed foreign journalists to freely cover events in Gaza, but Netanyahu said a new directive allowing them into the conflict zone had been in place for two days.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, another five people have died from hunger and malnutrition since Saturday, raising the total to 217. Overall, more than 61,000 people have been killed since the start of Israel’s campaign in 2023.
Israel launched its military operation in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 Israelis and took 251 people hostage. The Gaza Health Ministry’s data has previously been regarded as credible by the UN and other international organizations during conflicts.