Gaza rescuers say more than 50 killed as Israel orders evacuations

GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, MAY 23 (AFP/APP/DNA):Plumes of smoke rose Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel’s military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

The latest evacuation warning for parts of Gaza City and neighbouring areas came hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza — the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.

The World Food Programme (WFP) later said a “handful of bakeries” had resumed making and distributing bread, while the United Nations said some trucks were “intercepted” by residents.

Under global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire”, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring all of Gaza under its control.

In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was acting “with intense force” in 14 areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and the Jabalia refugee camp.

A map posted alongside the warning showed a swath of territory marked in red, with the army accusing “terrorist organisations” of operating there and urging civilians to move south.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million have been displaced at least once during the war.

After Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, Netanyahu said it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action”.

In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that “a small number of trucks carrying flour were intercepted by residents and their contents removed”.

Dujarric said it “was not a criminal act with armed men”, but “what I’ve been referring to sometimes as self-distribution, which I think only reflects the very high level of anxiety that people in Gaza are feeling, not knowing when the next humanitarian delivery will take place”.