Human aid stopped in Gaza to weaken Hamas' control: Israeli defense minister

Jerusalem, April 16 (IANS). The Israeli defense minister on Wednesday said the policy of stopping human assistance was adopted to weaken Hamas’ control of the population of Gaza. Israel Katj made the statement a day after the tour of Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior military commanders. Katz said: “Israel’s policy is clear – no human help is going to enter Gaza.” He said: “In the current situation, no one is preparing to bring human help to Gaza, nor does it intend to do so.” According to the report of the Xinhua news agency, Israel reaffirmed the access of food, water, medicine, fuel and other offer to Gaza on March 2. Netanyahu said the step had to put pressure on Hamas to extend the first phase of the ceasefire and the hostage agreement. According to Katj, Aid is stopped to weaken Hamas ‘control of the population and without Hamas’ participation, the basis for future (AID) distribution can be prepared by private enterprises. Katj prepared the following stages of the operation, saying that the Israeli army was constantly attacking Hamas’ militants and infrastructure. According to the minister, the army will not withdraw from his occupied areas and will retain its presence in the ‘security areas’ in Gaza. He warned that if the Hamas continue to reject Israel’s conditions for the mortgage agreement, “the operation will expand and move forward in the next stages”. According to Gaza -based health officials, more than 51,000 people have died in the enclave since the start of the war. -Ians mk/ share this story tags