Israel is set to decide on Friday whether to ramp up genocidal attacks in the Gaza Strip, local media reported on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to hold a situational briefing at midday, with a decision expected on plans to potentially expand the military campaign in the sealed-off Palestinian enclave, the army radio reported.
Chief of the General Staff Ejal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz have already approved the plans, according to the report.
After a cease-fire lasting almost two months, the Israeli military resumed its relentless attacks in the Gaza Strip on March 18.
More than 52,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, most of them women and children, according to local health authorities, including some 2,300 since attacks resumed on March 18.
The conflict started after Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which caused around 1,218 deaths and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is considered to be catastrophic, with Israel having blocked aid deliveries for two months.
The United Nations on Thursday urged Israel to end the blockade of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, condemning the restriction as a “cruel collective punishment” that denies civilians desperately needed relief.
“International law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in. Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip,” Tom Fletcher, the U.N. relief chief, said in a statement.
“Blocking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical support. It strips them of dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment,” Fletcher said.
“To the Israeli authorities, and those who can still reason with them, we say again: lift this brutal blockade. Let humanitarians save lives.”
Israel has blocked aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip since March 2. More than 2 million people in the sealed-off coastal area remain in desperate need.
