GAZA: The Zionist entity said Monday it will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, where meager aid entered for the first time in more than two months as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive. With the Gaza Strip under a total Zionist blockade since March 2, the World Health Organization said the besieged territory’s “two million people are starving”.

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada on Monday condemned the Zionist entity's "egregious actions" in Gaza, opposed its expanded offensive, and slammed Zionist ministers for threatening the mass displacement of civilians. The statement coincided with a joint demand by 22 countries – including Britain, France and Canada – for the Zionist entity to immediately "allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza", noting that the territory's population "faces starvation".

The Zionist entity, facing mounting criticism over the humanitarian crisis, has announced it would let limited aid into Gaza and said the first five trucks entered Monday, carrying supplies “including food for babies”. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement that nine trucks had been “cleared to enter... but it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who was unable to confirm the exact number of trucks inside Gaza, said that “none of the aid has been picked up” at a designated zone as it was “already dark” and due to “security concerns, we cannot operate in those conditions”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited “practical and diplomatic reasons” for the resumption of aid, saying that “images of mass starvation” could harm the legitimacy of the Zionist entity’s war effort.

"We will not stand by", British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement. "We are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end," they said.

The statement said the Zionist entity's "denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law". It also slammed "abhorrent language used recently by members of the (Zionist) government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate". The leaders said that "permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law".

The foreign ministers of key donor countries, who also included Japan and New Zealand, said that "whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, (the Zionist entity) blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months". The statement said that "food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted" and that "the population faces starvation". "Gaza's people must receive the aid they desperately need," it added.

The donors' statement also sharply rejected a reported Zionist plan to replace the previous system of aid distribution in Gaza. The statement demanded that the Zionist entity "enable the UN and humanitarian organizations to work independently and impartially to save lives". "We also reiterate our firm message that Hamas must immediately release all remaining hostages and allow humanitarian assistance to be distributed without interference," the statement went on.

The statement was signed by Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The statement was also backed by the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the bloc's commissioner in charge of crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, as well as Dubravka Suica, the commissioner for the Mediterranean.

- At least 136 Palestinians were killed and 364 others were injured by the Zionist occupation army in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said. Gaza’s civil defense agency said 52 people had been killed in Zionist attacks on Monday across the territory. Netanyahu, in a video posted on Telegram, said that “the fighting is intense and we are making progress”. “We will take control of all the territory of the strip,” the Zionist leader added.

The UN’s OHCHR rights office decried actions that are “in defiance of international law and tantamount to ethnic cleansing”, citing the latest attacks, displacement, the “methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods” and denial of humanitarian aid.

Netanyahu said US senators he has known for years as supporters of the Zionist entity, "our best friends in the world", were telling him the scenes of hunger were draining vital support and bringing Israel close to a "red line, to a point where we might lose control". "It is for that reason, in order to achieve victory, we have to somehow solve the problem," he said, in a message apparently addressed to far-right hardliners in his government who have insisted aid be denied to Gaza.

UN agencies have warned of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines. “Tons of food is blocked at the border, just minutes away”, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.” Last week US President Donald Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people are starving”, adding “we’re going to get that taken care of”.

Zionist far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued against any resumption of aid, saying on X that “our hostages receive no humanitarian aid”. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also of the far right, defended the decision, stressing no supplies would be allowed to reach Hamas. “This will allow civilians to eat and our friends in the world to keep giving us diplomatic protection,” he said.

Khan Yunis resident Mohammed Sarhan told AFP that Gaza’s main southern city “felt like the apocalypse” on Monday. “There was gunfire coming from every apartment, fire belts, F-16 warplanes and helicopters firing,” he said. AFPTV footage showed a helicopter over the city, while at Nasser Hospital, a young boy in a tracksuit was being treated as two other boys, both barefoot and bleeding, sat on the floor. Further north in Deir el-Balah, Ayman Badwan mourned the loss of his brother in an attack. “We are exhausted and drained — we can’t take it anymore,” he said. – Agencies