Tel Aviv, 20 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The first few trucks with humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on Monday after a nearly three-month blockade, according to COGAT, the Israeli authority for Palestinian affairs.

In a statement, the body said five UN trucks carrying humanitarian supplies, including baby food, entered the territory via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

However, the United Nations said nine trucks had been authorized by Israeli authorities to enter Gaza.

"The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip while making every effort to ensure that the aid does not reach the Hamas terrorist organization," it added.

After the collapse of a Gaza ceasefire in early March, Israel halted humanitarian aid into the sealed-off territory, accusing the Islamist group Hamas of seizing the supplies and reselling them to civilians to finance its military campaign against Israel.

According to Israeli media reports, the aid supplies will initially be delivered to Gaza with the help of international organizations.

This arrangement will remain in place until a planned local distribution mechanism is implemented at the end of the month.

At that point, goods are expected to be distributed from only a few designated locations within the coastal area.

The UN has criticized the new system, citing concerns that civilians risk getting caught in crossfire on their way to the distribution centres, and that vulnerable groups - such as the elderly and the sick - may be unable to access them at all.

Foreign ministers call on Israel to fully reopen aid deliveries

The foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including Germany, France and Britain, urged Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip after the announcement.

"Whilst we acknowledge indications of a limited restart of aid, Israel blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza for over two months. Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza's people must receive the aid they desperately need," the joint statement, published on Monday, said.

The ministers made two clear demands of Israel: "Allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organisations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity."

UN aid chief: New Gaza aid supplies a 'drop in the ocean'

UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher also said that the permitted aid deliveries fall far short of what is urgently needed.

Fletcher confirmed that Israel permitted some aid trucks to enter the embattled coastal strip on Monday. "But it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed," he said in a statement.

He stressed the need for significantly more aid to be allowed into Gaza in the coming days. "We have been reassured that our work will be facilitated through existing, proven mechanisms," Fletcher said.

Israel plans full takeover of Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday his intention to take control of the entire Gaza Strip.

"We will take control of all areas of the Gaza Strip," he said in a video released on Telegram, without elaborating further.

Earlier this month, Israeli government sources told the media that the security Cabinet had approved plans to assume full control of Gaza and maintain a long-term presence.

The plan reportedly includes the relocation of Palestinians from the north of Gaza to the south.

Until now, however, Netanyahu himself has appeared to leave open whether Israel intended to occupy the entire strip or only parts of it. The suggestion of a permanent occupation has drawn sharp international criticism.

The Israeli military said late Friday a major new offensive had been launched, named Gideon's Chariots, aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing all remaining hostages.

Airstrikes have since escalated, alongside large-scale ground operations.

Some right-wing politicians that Netanyahu relies on to prop up his government are pushing him to go even further by re-establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza, which were dismantled after Israel's 2005 withdrawal.

Severe food shortages in Gaza

In the video, Netanyahu had also defended the resumption of basic humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He said that the decision, which has come under criticism from some domestic political allies, was made because it was important to maintain international support.

"In order to complete our victory, to defeat Hamas and free the hostages, we cannot reach a point of famine," he said.

The aid blockade had sparked scathing condemnation from aid agencies, which warned of famine conditions, as well as frustration from key allies, like the United States.

An army spokesman said that plans had been drawn up and that lorries with small quantities of aid would reach the Gaza Strip during the course of the day.

Calls to evacuate Khan Younis

Also on Monday, the Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and nearby towns to evacuate immediately.

The warning, issued in Arabic, said an "unprecedented attack" loomed and urged residents to flee to the al-Mawasi area near the Mediterranean coast.

The Israeli military said it was launching an operation to go after terrorist organizations and that the area would be a "dangerous combat zone."

Many people fled the city with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the belongings they had with them, eyewitnesses reported.

Meanwhile, there were reports of isolated protests by people in Khan Younis demanding an end to the war and the withdrawal of Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

Death toll in Gaza rises

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip said 63 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes since early on Monday, according to a report by the WAFA news agency.

Fatalities were reported both in the north, near Gaza City, and in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to the report.

Other people were reportedly killed in an airstrike on a tent for displaced people in the al-Mawasi area.

The area is a designated humanitarian zone, but the Israeli military has attacked it several times in the past.

In March, Israel had ordered a large portion of the residents of the city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, to flee.

Photo: EPA