Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late Monday that while the “situation in Gaza is difficult,” Israel is working to ensure that large quantities of aid enter the Strip.

Netanyahu’s statement, which was made in English, came amid a policy shift on aid to Gaza as international outrage has grown over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, including daily reports of deaths from starvation and malnutrition.

Netanyahu held a cabinet meeting on Monday evening devoted to Gaza, during which the military presented a new plan for a “siege” of the Strip, which would again cut off all humanitarian aid, according to the Kan broadcaster. Other Hebrew media reports, quoting unnamed sources, said ministers are weighing fully occupying Gaza, and/or annexing parts of the Strip, if Hamas continues to reject efforts to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal, but that Jerusalem will first give the negotiations another chance.

In his statement, Netanyahu said Israel “will continue to work with international agencies, as well as the US and European nations, to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip.”

He added that Israel is already allowing significant amounts of food, water and medicine into Gaza every day.

While the premier acknowledged that the situation facing Gaza’s residents is “difficult,” he said that “Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis.”

“As such, they have been releasing unverified numbers to the news media while circulating images that are carefully staged or manipulated,” he said.

The premier did not offer evidence to back up the claim that images of starving children that have circulated globally were “staged” by Hamas (though the veracity of one image was debunked by the IDF). In contrast, US President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that the images of starvation in Gaza are “real,” adding: “You can’t fake that.”

“We’ll continue to act responsibly, as we always have, and we’ll continue to seek the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu’s office concluded. “That is the only way to secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

The reports of an increasingly dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip — including growing levels of malnutrition, and children dying by starvation — led Israel on Sunday to declare that it would implement a “tactical” pause in daily military operations in densely populated areas of Gaza, along with several other changes, to allow for........

© The Times of Israel