Seoul Gazette - Israel's plan for Gaza draws international criticism

Israel's military had called up tens of thousands of reservists for its planned expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, which an official said would entail the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory.

European Union top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Tuesday told her Israeli counterpart in a call that the situation was "untenable", urging the resumption of the flow of aid to Gaza, where famine looms.

Nearly all of the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A two-month Israeli blockade since early March has worsened the humanitarian crisis.

China said it opposed Israel's military actions and was "highly concerned" by plans for a broader assault.

Beijing also called on Israel and Hamas to "effectively implement" the terms of a ceasefire which fell apart on March 18.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris "very strongly" condemned Israel's planned offensive, calling it "unacceptable" and adding that its government was "in violation of humanitarian law".

Britain's Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said London opposed the expansion of Israel's operations, adding that "any attempt to annex land in Gaza would be unacceptable".

Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced "considerable concern" and said he would send his foreign minister to Israel this weekend.

It came after Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the Gaza Strip should be "entirely destroyed" and called for its inhabitants to "leave in great numbers to third countries" after the war.

-'Hunger'-

Israeli bombardment meanwhile continued, with Gaza's civil defence agency reporting 22 deaths in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the central Bureij refugee camp.

The agency earlier said six Palestinians including a young girl were killed in Israeli dawn attacks.

Earlier Tuesday, Hamas dismissed as pointless ceasefire talks with Israel, accusing it of waging a "hunger war" on Gaza.

"There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip," Basem Naim told AFP.

The former Gaza health minister said the world must pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to end the "crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings".

"They're trying to starve us," said Ahmed Zaqout, a resident of Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, referring to the Israelis.

"They've taken over every inch of the Gaza Strip, claiming the war is against Hamas -- but in reality, they're targeting the broader Palestinian population."

For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- the mass displacement in the war that led to Israel's creation in 1948.

- 'Weaponise' aid -

On Monday United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said that "Gaza is, and must remain, an integral part of a future Palestinian state."

Israel's military has said the expanded operations approved by the security cabinet on Sunday would include displacing "most" of Gaza's population.

Before that phase begins, a senior Israeli security source had said that the timing of troop deployments allowed a "window of opportunity" for a possible hostage deal coinciding with US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East next week.

Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict, said that "our efforts remain ongoing" despite major obstacles to a ceasefire.

Israel's military resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip in March, ending a two-month truce that saw a surge in aid into the war-ravaged territory and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 2,507 people had been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in mid-March, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,615.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Out of the 251 people abducted by militants that day, 58 are still held in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The United Nations' humanitarian agency OCHA accused Israel of trying to "weaponise" the flow of aid into Gaza.

"There's no aid to distribute anymore because the aid operation has been strangled," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said.

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said the planned offensive approved by the cabinet would include "moving most of the population of the Gaza Strip... to protect them".

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L.Jeong--SG