Egypt Daily News – The Israeli government announced that it would allow the entry of a “basic quantity of food” for the population in Gaza to prevent a worsening hunger crisis. This comes following the Israeli army’s declaration of launching a “large-scale ground operation” in Gaza, and amid ongoing negotiations with Hamas in Doha.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday, May 18, 2025, that Israel would allow the entry of some food supplies into Gaza. According to the statement: “Israel will allow the entry of a basic quantity of food for the population to prevent a hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip.”
The statement further explained that, based on a military recommendation and due to the operational need to intensify the military campaign to defeat Hamas, Israel would permit this limited food aid. It also emphasized that Israel “will work to prevent Hamas from seizing this humanitarian aid.”
Since early March, Israel had stopped the entry of aid into Gaza as a pressure tactic to push Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages.
Earlier today, the Israeli army announced the start of a “wide-scale ground operation” in Gaza, a day after confirming intensified airstrikes on the strip. The army said in a statement that its forces “began a large-scale ground operation in northern and southern Gaza as part of the launch of Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” the name given to this latest offensive.
The army’s announcement came just hours after Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed openness to a deal to “end the fighting” in Gaza on the condition that Hamas is removed from power and Gaza is demilitarized. The Prime Minister’s office stated that “at this moment, the negotiation team in Doha is working to exhaust every opportunity to reach an agreement, whether under the plan proposed by U.S. envoy Steve Wietkopf or as part of an end to the fighting.”
The statement emphasized that any agreement must include the release of hostages, the removal of Hamas from the strip, and the demilitarization of Gaza.
Israel has made the elimination of Hamas a top priority in the war, which began after the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas, an armed Palestinian Islamist group, is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the European Union, the United States, and other countries.
Hamas official Taher al-Nono told AFP that indirect negotiations had begun with an Israeli delegation in Doha, saying the talks “will be open on all issues without any reservations or preconditions.”
However, Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri denied reports that the group had agreed to a deal involving the release of nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month temporary ceasefire. He affirmed that Hamas rejects any agreement that does not include a comprehensive and permanent end to the war and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. In a statement on Sunday, Abu Zuhri, head of Hamas’s political department abroad, said the reports are “false and aim to confuse the public and pressure the resistance.”
