Gaza, Netanyahu: “We will destroy Hamas, go in with full force.”

Israeli PM announces new phase of offensive. Meanwhile, Unrwa accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war: “Humanitarian situation desperate.”

“We will go in with full force.” This is the announcement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, on Tuesday, May 13, reiterated his willingness to intensify the offensive on Gaza. “In the coming days we will end the operation and destroy Hamas,” he said, ruling out any possibility of a cease-fire or an agreement that would stop the conflict.

“Even if Hamas says ‘we will release ten more hostages,’ we would welcome the release, but then we would still go in,” Netanyahu said, in statements reported by Haaretz newspaper. “There will not be a situation in which we will stop the war,” he added, hinting that no peaceful exit scenario from the ongoing conflict is planned.

The Israeli premier spoke in the aftermath of the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old hostage seized on Oct. 7, 2023 and held for 580 days in the Gaza Strip. The young man was freed and entrusted first to the Red Cross, then to the Israel Defense Forces.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Strip continues to deteriorate. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of Unrwa, accused Israel of using “hunger as a weapon of war,” preventing the population’s access to food, medicine and basic necessities. In an interview with the BBC, Lazzarini described Gaza as a place where “misery and tragedy have exceeded all limits.”

“It has been more than two months that the population has not received aid. Hunger is spreading, people are exhausted. If aid does not arrive, they will not die from bombs, but from starvation,” he denounced. The commissioner spoke explicitly of war crimes: “I have no doubt: what we have witnessed, especially in the last two months, is a war crime. Humanitarian aid is being exploited for political and military purposes.”

A very harsh denunciation that sheds new light on the ongoing crisis as Israel prepares to launch a new phase of the offensive and international diplomacy remains paralyzed.

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