JERUSALEM: Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a "mass grave", a medical charity reported. Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip from March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.

However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing military assaults which rescuers said killed at least 11 people Wednesday. Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.

"Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population," Katz said in a statement. "No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid."

Top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly cited military pressure as the only way to secure the release of the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza. Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the blockage of aid had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and those who help them.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance," said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle. "With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care," she said.

'Troops will remain'

Meanwhile, Katz said Israeli troops will remain in the buffer zones they have created in Gaza even after any settlement to end the war, as efforts to revive a ceasefire agreement faltered. Since resuming their operation last month, Israeli forces have carved out a broad "security zone" extending deep into Gaza and squeezing more than 2 million Palestinians into ever smaller areas in the south and along the coastline.

"Unlike in the past, the IDF is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized," Katz said in a statement following a meeting with military commanders, adding that "tens of percent" of Gaza had been added to the zone. "The IDF will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and the communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza - as in Lebanon and Syria."

In southern Gaza alone, Israeli forces have seized about 20% of the enclave's territory, taking control of the border city of Rafah and pushing inland up to the so-called "Morag corridor" that runs from the eastern edge of Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea between Rafah and the city of Khan Younis. It already held a wide corridor across the central Netzarim area and has extended a buffer zone all around the border hundreds of meters inland, including the Shejaia area just to the east of Gaza City in the north.

'Worst' humanitarian crisis

The United Nations had warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023. "The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In a statement, OCHA said no supplies had reached the territory for a month and a half, and medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply.

Israel tightly controls the entry of vital international aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since the Israeli offensive resumed. On April 28, the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings on Israel's humanitarian obligations towards Palestinians. The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in December requesting that The Hague-based top court give an advisory opinion on the matter.

It calls on the ICJ to clarify what Israel is required to do to "ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population". Although ICJ decisions are legally binding, the court has no concrete way of enforcing them. They increase the diplomatic pressure, however. Israel continued to pound Gaza on Wednesday. A pre-dawn air strike in Gaza City killed 10 people, including women and children, the civil defense agency said. - Agencies