Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are suffering great hardship.

While hundreds of thousands of people in need in the Gaza Strip continue to wait for life-saving aid, Israel continues its massive attacks there. After the end of the current major offensive, "the entire territory of Gaza will be under Israeli security control," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced. The Islamist Hamas will be "completely destroyed," he said in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, his government allowed another small amount of aid into the sealed-off territory.

The responsible Israeli authority, Cogat, reported on X that 100 trucks carrying relief supplies such as flour, baby food, and medical supplies were brought into the coastal strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. On Tuesday, 93 trucks arrived. However, according to the UN, no truck has yet been able to deliver the aid to the people. According to previous UN figures, around 500 truckloads would be needed daily to ensure supplies for the approximately two million Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel had blocked all aid deliveries since the beginning of March. This was intended to increase pressure on the Islamist Hamas, with which Israel has been at war since the massacre on October 7, 2023. According to Israel's interpretation, Hamas steals aid supplies and sells them on the black market to finance its fighters and weapons. The UN counters that Israel has not provided any evidence of this. At the beginning of the week, under pressure, including from allies, Israel agreed to allow aid shipments to Gaza again.

Israel says it wants to prevent famine in the extensively devastated coastal region, where people lack virtually everything after more than a year and a half of war. Even the hospitals that are still functioning lack scalpels, as British surgeon Victoria Rose told ZDF's "heute Journal." Anesthetics are also lacking: "When we operate, other doctors hold these patients down." Many cannot be anesthetized, the doctor said. "It's truly barbaric."

As part of a planned restructuring of humanitarian aid, Israel will establish a "sterile zone" in southern Gaza, Netanyahu announced. "In this zone, which will be completely free of Hamas, the residents of Gaza will receive comprehensive humanitarian assistance," he said. US security companies will set up and operate distribution centers inside the coastal area. This is expected to take place in the coming days. Israel intends to use this to bypass United Nations aid agencies in the future. The UN and other organizations reject the plans to restructure aid.

Critics also accuse the Netanyahu government of increasingly restricting the area in which Gazans can still live. He said he was ready to end the war and outlined his conditions: "All hostages will return home. Hamas will lay down its weapons, relinquish power, its leadership (whoever remains) will be expelled from the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Strip will be completely demilitarized, and we will implement the Trump plan," Netanyahu said.

This plan by US President Donald Trump is "so revolutionary" and means that "the residents of Gaza who want to leave will be able to leave," Netanyahu said, adding: "Those who ask us to stop the fighting before these goals are achieved are, in effect, asking Hamas to remain in power." Trump declared in February that the US could take over Gaza, rebuild it, and transform it into a "Riviera of the Middle East." For this to happen, the residents of the Gaza Strip would have to be resettled. Experts say forced relocation would violate international law.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military called on residents of several neighborhoods in the north of the sealed-off coastal strip to leave their homes. They said an attack on these areas, from which Hamas is shelling Israel, was imminent. In recent days, dozens of deaths have been reported in the wake of the recently launched new major Israeli offensive. More than 60 people have been killed since last night alone, according to the Hamas-controlled Civil Defense Agency. The figures could not be independently verified.