Israel to open new Gaza aid routes as more than 33,000 people killed in six months
President Biden has said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is 'unacceptable' as Israel is to open new aid routes into the territory, Faye Barker and John Ray report
Israel has said it is taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into particularly hard-hit northern Gaza, as the number of people killed in the conflict surpasses 33,000.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the plans early on Friday, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that future US support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers.
Mr Netanyahu’s announcement did not include details on the type or quantity of aid that would be allowed through.
The passageway set to be reopened is the Erez border point, also known as the Beit Hanoun crossing, which was one of the entrances to Israel breached by Hamas fighters on October 7.
This will be the first time the crossing, which will allow aid into northern Gaza, has opened since then.
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Alicia Kearns described the reopening as "very welcome news" that is "so very, very overdue" in a post on X on Thursday night.
The Biden administration has continued to provide Israel with crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's war against Hamas, which is in its sixth month.
Israel faces growing international isolation after its forces killed seven aid workers who were delivering food supplies to Gaza.
The announcement comes as more than 33,000 people in Gaza have been killed since October 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the region. Another 75,600 people are thought to be wounded.
The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but it has said women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The United Nations (UN) said much of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation.
The top UN court has also concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza - a charge Israel strongly denies - and the UN Security Council has issued a legally binding demand for a ceasefire.
This latest conflict between Hamas and Israel began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
Pressure for UK to suspend arms sales
Pressure continues to mount on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel following the deaths of three British aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza.
A letter published on Wednesday night, which was signed by more than 600 top lawyers, said the government risked breaching international law by continuing to allow the export of weapons to Israel.
The 17-page letter says the UK must act in response to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a provisional judgement that there is a plausible risk of genocide being committed against Palestinians.
Signatories include former Supreme Court President Lady Hale, former justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, along with nine other judges and 69 KCs.
The scale and standing of the signatories gives weight to the letter, both in the UK and internationally.
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