Gaza rescuers say more than 50 killed as Israel orders evacuations

GAZA CITY - Plumes of smoke rose on May 22 over the northern Gaza Strip where Israel’s military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said

it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid

in Gaza – the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.

Under global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire”, but reaffirmed that the military aimed to bring all of Gaza under its control.

In an Arabic-language statement on May 22, the military said it was acting “with intense force” in 14 areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp.

A map posted alongside the warning showed a swath of territory marked in red, with the army accusing “terrorist organisations” of operating there and urging civilians to move south.

The army issued a similar evacuation call for northern Gaza late on May 21, in what it said was a response to rocket fire.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million have been displaced at least once during the war.

After Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations “collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza”, said Mr Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.

In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.

Mr Netanyahu said it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action”.

Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies, with Israel’s blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.

‘Hunger and disease’

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis.

Ms Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as “unbearable”.

Mr Hossam Abu Aida, 38, said: “I am tormented for my children”.

“For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment,” he told AFP.

AFP footage showed bags of recently delivered flour at a bakery in the central city of Deir el-Balah, where workers and a host of machines began kneading, shaping, baking and packaging stack after stack of pita bread.

“Some aid is finally reaching Gazans in desperate need, but it’s moving far too slowly,” said Ms Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme.

The amount is still a “tiny drop in the bucket” compared with the scale of the crisis, she said.

Israel stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose

October 2023 attack on Israel

triggered the war.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said there had been “52 martyrs and dozens injured as a result of air strikes carried out by the occupation” across the territory on May 22.

AFP footage of northern Gaza showed numerous plumes of smoke rising from the area over the course of the afternoon.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on any strikes on May 22.

‘Complex reality’

The intensified Israeli offensive has drawn criticism, with European Union foreign ministers agreeing on May 20 to review the bloc’s cooperation accord with Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has said the EU action “reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing”.

Sweden said it would press the 27-nation EU to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel.

Hamas’ 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 3,613 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,762, mostly civilians.

During the Hamas attack, militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israel military says are dead.

Mr Netanyahu said on May 21 that Israel would be ready “if there is an option for a temporary ceasefire to free hostages”, noting that at least 20 captives held by Hamas and its allies were still believed to be alive.

Alongside growing criticism of Israel’s actions, there has been a global spike in anti-Semitic attacks throughout the war.

A gunman shouting “free Palestine” shot dead two Israeli embassy staff outside a Jewish museum in Washington on May 21.

Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries condemned the shooting. AFP