DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) 鈥 Israel pressed ahead Tuesday with its new military offensive in Gaza despite mounting international criticism, launching airstrikes that health officials said killed at least 85 Palestinians. Israeli officials said they also allowed in dozens more trucks carrying aid.
It was not immediately clear whether the desperately needed supplies were reaching any of the over 2 million people in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months.
Under pressure, into the Palestinian territory after preventing the entry of food, medicine and fuel in an attempt to pressure the Hamas militant group.
After the first five trucks entered Monday, dozens more began entering via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Tuesday afternoon, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said. The aid included flour for bakeries, food for soup kitchens, baby food and medical supplies.
Organizations in Gaza did not immediately confirm whether they received anything. Marmorstein said Israel would allow dozens of aid trucks per day 鈥 far less than the 600 that entered daily during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March.
The United Nations humanitarian agency received approval for about 100 trucks to enter Gaza, said spokesman Jens Laerke.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he decided to let in limited aid after pressure from allies, who told him they couldn't support Israel while devastating images of starvation were coming out of Gaza.
But some close allies say his decision is not enough.
The British government on Tuesday said it was suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and was targeting settlements in the occupied West Bank. The move came a day after the U.K, France and Canada condemned Israel鈥檚 handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the and threatened to take action.
鈥淚 want to put on record today that we鈥檙e horrified by the escalation from Israel,鈥 British Prime Minister told Parliament.
Marmorstein called the new sanctions 鈥渦njustified and regrettable" and claimed Israel and the U.K. had not been talking about free trade.
French Foreign Minister Jean-No毛l Barrot denounced the Israeli government鈥檚 鈥渂lind violence鈥 in Gaza that he said has turned the Palestinian territory into a 鈥減lace of death.鈥
鈥淭his must stop,鈥 Barrot told French radio France Inter on Tuesday.
Israel launched over the weekend, saying it aims to return dozens of hostages held by Hamas and destroy the militant group. More than 300 people have been killed in Gaza during the latest onslaught, according to health officials.
Israeli politician criticizes killing 鈥榖abies as a hobby鈥
Criticism against Israel's conduct in Gaza also came at home. A said Tuesday that Israel was becoming an 鈥渙utcast among nations" because of the government's approach to the war.
鈥淎 sane country doesn鈥檛 engage in fighting against civilians, doesn鈥檛 kill babies as a hobby and doesn鈥檛 set for itself the goals of expelling a population,鈥 Yair Golan, a retired general and leader of the opposition Democrats party, told Reshet Bet radio.
His comments were rare criticism from inside Israel of its wartime conduct in Gaza. Many Israelis have criticized Netanyahu throughout the war, but that has been mostly limited to what opponents argue are his political motives to continue the war. Criticism over the war's toll on Palestinian civilians has been almost unheard.
Netanyahu swiftly slammed Golan's remarks, calling them 鈥渨ild incitement鈥 against Israeli soldiers and accusing him of echoing 鈥渄isgraceful antisemitic blood libels鈥 against the country.
Golan, who donned his uniform during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack to join the fight against the militants, when as deputy military chief of staff in 2016, he likened the atmosphere in Israel to that of Nazi-era Germany.
Strikes pound Gaza
Over recent days, Israel has issued evacuation orders for Gaza's second-largest city, Khan Younis, which endured a previous offensive that left vast destruction.
In the latest assaults, two strikes in northern Gaza hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, killing at least 22 people, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command center and warned civilians ahead of time.
A strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah killed 13 people, and another in the nearby built-up Nuseirat refugee camp killed 15, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Two strikes in Khan Younis killed 10 people, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel said it was targeting militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the group operates in densely populated areas.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were .
Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, which doesn鈥檛 differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
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