First few aid trucks enter Gaza but allies threaten Israel with
sanctions and urge more
[May 20, 2025]
By TIA GOLDENBERG, SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The first few aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday
following nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and
other supplies, Israel and the United Nations said, as Israel
acknowledged growing pressure from allies including the United States.
Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered
the territory of over 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom
crossing, according to the Israeli defense body in charge of
coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT.
The U.N. humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called it a “welcome
development” but described the trucks as a “drop in the ocean of what is
urgently needed.” Food security experts last week warned of famine in
Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March, some 600
aid trucks entered Gaza each day.
Fletcher said an additional four U.N. trucks were cleared to enter Gaza.
Those trucks may enter Tuesday, COGAT said. Fletcher added that given
the chaotic situation on the ground, the U.N. expects the aid could be
looted or stolen, a growing problem as resources became increasingly
scarce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume
“minimal” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support
Israel’s new military offensive if there are “images of hunger” coming
from the Palestinian territory.
Shortly after Israel announced the first trucks entered Gaza, the U.K.,
France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement calling the
aid “wholly inadequate.” They threatened “concrete actions” against
Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied
West Bank and called on Israel to stop its “egregious” new military
actions in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the joint statement and
called it “a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October
7.”
Israel over the weekend launched a new wave of air and ground operations
across Gaza, and the army ordered the evacuation of its second-largest
city, Khan Younis, where a massive operation earlier in the 19-month war
left much of the area in ruins.
Israel says it is pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages
abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Hamas has
said it will only release them in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and
an Israeli withdrawal.
Netanyahu repeated Monday that Israel plans on “taking control of all of
Gaza." He has said Israel will encourage what he describes as the
voluntary emigration of much of Gaza's population to other countries —
something that Palestinians have rejected.
Allies pressure Israel
In a video statement, Netanyahu said Israel’s “greatest friends in the
world” had told him, “We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger. We
cannot stand that. We will not be able to support you.”
The Trump administration, which has voiced full support for Israel's
actions and blames Hamas for deaths in Gaza, has expressed growing
concern over the hunger crisis. President Donald Trump — who skipped
Israel on his trip to the region last week — voiced concern, as did
Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Netanyahu's video statement appeared aimed at pacifying anger in his
nationalist base at the decision to resume aid. Two far-right governing
partners have pressed Netanyahu not to allow aid into Gaza.
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Displaced Palestinians flee from Khan Younis, Gaza, amid the ongoing
Israeli military offensive in the area, on Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP
Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Aid into Gaza would be “minimal,” Netanyahu said, and would act as a
bridge toward the launch of a new aid system in Gaza. A U.S.-backed
organization will distribute assistance in hubs that will be secured
by the Israeli military.
Israel says the plan is meant to prevent Hamas from accessing aid,
which Israel says it uses to bolster its rule in Gaza.
U.N. agencies and aid groups have rejected the plan, saying it won't
reach enough people and would weaponize aid in contravention of
humanitarian principles. They have refused to take part.
According to aid officials familiar with the plan, it will involve
setting up distribution points mostly in southern Gaza, forcing many
Palestinians to move south once again. The recent ceasefire saw
hundreds of thousands return to homes in the north.
Threat of sanctions
The statement by France, Canada and the U.K. marked one of their
most significant criticisms of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza
and Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank.
“We oppose any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank,” the
three countries said, calling them illegal.
The countries said they have always supported Israel’s right to
defend itself against terrorism but called the military escalation
in Gaza disproportionate. The countries earlier criticized the new
U.S.-backed proposal for aid delivery in Gaza, saying it would not
align with humanitarian law.
Canada has already imposed a series of sanctions against Israel over
the last two years regarding settler violence in the West Bank. It
was unclear how much France can act unilaterally given that it is a
member of the European Union.
In a separate, letter Monday, the foreign ministers of Germany,
Italy, Japan and 18 other countries — not including the United
States — called for Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid delivery
to Gaza by the U.N. and non-governmental organizations.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern
Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting
251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a
third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in
ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of
Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and
children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t
differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
The war has displaced around 90% of its population, most of them
multiple times.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza
Strip. Associated Press writers Farmoush Amiri in New York, Sam
Mednick in Jerusalem, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, and Melanie Lidman in
Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.
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