NEW DELHI: The Israeli army on Sunday announced a “local, tactical pause of military activity for humanitarian purposes” in Gaza, which is not the same as a ceasefire, according to the BBC.
The pause is scheduled to take place daily between 08:00 and 19:00 local time along a key route from the Kerem Shalom crossing point, where humanitarian aid is waiting to be delivered.
This announcement has sparked a heated political debate among Israeli government ministers. Far-right ministers have launched a fierce assault on the decision, while the Israeli army has quickly defended it, emphasizing that it does not signal an end to the fighting in southern Gaza or any change to the entry of humanitarian aid.
Aid agencies still need to coordinate their movements with the Israeli army, and the Gaza director for the World Food Programme, Matt Hollingworth, said the test would be whether that coordination becomes smoother and faster as a result.
However, he also noted that coordination is only one of the obstacles agencies face in delivering aid inside Gaza, with insecurity and criminality being the most dangerous issues in the area.
“And this is the most dangerous area of the Gaza Strip right now for moving aid,” BBC quoted him as saying.
Aid agencies reported over the weekend that the continuing war was aggravating acute malnutrition in parts of Gaza.
Divided cabinet
Israel is under pressure from various sources to get more aid into Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces strong opposition from two far-right cabinet colleagues who threaten to bring down his government if he agrees to end the war. They see aid deliveries as delaying Israel’s victory and helping keep Hamas in power.
Internal security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir reacting furiously to the announcement, described “whoever made this decision” as “evil” and “a fool”.
Finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that humanitarian aid helped keep Hamas in power and risked putting “the achievements of the war down the drain”.
Meanwhile, the funerals of eleven soldiers killed in Gaza over the weekend are again raising questions about how the stated war aims of Israel’s prime minister can be achieved.
Netanyahu has promised “total victory” against Hamas and framed the current operation in Rafah as an assault on the group’s last remaining battalions in Gaza.
The divisions within Netanyahu’s army and among his allies underscore the conflict between idealistic goals and practical challenges in this war as Netanyahu faces the difficult task of balancing his pledge of achieving “total victory” with the grim possibility of a prolonged conflict.
The pause is scheduled to take place daily between 08:00 and 19:00 local time along a key route from the Kerem Shalom crossing point, where humanitarian aid is waiting to be delivered.
This announcement has sparked a heated political debate among Israeli government ministers. Far-right ministers have launched a fierce assault on the decision, while the Israeli army has quickly defended it, emphasizing that it does not signal an end to the fighting in southern Gaza or any change to the entry of humanitarian aid.
Aid agencies still need to coordinate their movements with the Israeli army, and the Gaza director for the World Food Programme, Matt Hollingworth, said the test would be whether that coordination becomes smoother and faster as a result.
However, he also noted that coordination is only one of the obstacles agencies face in delivering aid inside Gaza, with insecurity and criminality being the most dangerous issues in the area.
“And this is the most dangerous area of the Gaza Strip right now for moving aid,” BBC quoted him as saying.
Aid agencies reported over the weekend that the continuing war was aggravating acute malnutrition in parts of Gaza.
Divided cabinet
Israel is under pressure from various sources to get more aid into Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces strong opposition from two far-right cabinet colleagues who threaten to bring down his government if he agrees to end the war. They see aid deliveries as delaying Israel’s victory and helping keep Hamas in power.
Internal security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir reacting furiously to the announcement, described “whoever made this decision” as “evil” and “a fool”.
Finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that humanitarian aid helped keep Hamas in power and risked putting “the achievements of the war down the drain”.
Meanwhile, the funerals of eleven soldiers killed in Gaza over the weekend are again raising questions about how the stated war aims of Israel’s prime minister can be achieved.
Netanyahu has promised “total victory” against Hamas and framed the current operation in Rafah as an assault on the group’s last remaining battalions in Gaza.
The divisions within Netanyahu’s army and among his allies underscore the conflict between idealistic goals and practical challenges in this war as Netanyahu faces the difficult task of balancing his pledge of achieving “total victory” with the grim possibility of a prolonged conflict.
