Israel has sought to push back against its growing isolation over starvation in Gaza by allowing commercial goods into the enclave on Tuesday, as well as calling for a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the plight of hostages.
Israel has faced growing international condemnation over the conditions in Gaza, where more than one in three people are not eating for multiple days in a row, according to the U.N.’s World Food Program. Many aid agencies and countries, including some of Israel’s traditional allies, have blamed Israeli policies for the crisis.
Israeli officials have sought to show that they are doing more to allow aid into Gaza, pausing fighting in some areas and designating secure routes for convoys.
On Tuesday, COGAT, the Israeli military agency that regulates the flow of aid, said that it was allowing some commercial goods into Gaza. Aid experts have said that humanitarian relief is a palliative, not a solution, and have emphasized the need to kick-start the Gazan private sector after nearly two years of war.
More than 60,000 people in Gaza have been killed, including thousands of children, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Most of the enclave’s two million residents have been displaced, often forced into swelling tent camps amid the rubble.
Israeli leaders have tried to draw attention to the dire condition of the hostages that remain in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the war. During that attack, about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and 250 others were taken captive. Israel believes that there are about 20 living hostages still in Gaza, as well as the bodies of 30 others.
Hamas and an ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, published videos and photos of two emaciated captives last week. The haunting images prompted a new round of international condemnation of Hamas and calls for the unconditional release of all the hostages.
Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, told reporters on Monday that he would attend a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday to discuss the captives’ conditions.
Israel still has the public backing of its most important ally, the United States, with President Trump giving little indication that he intends to increase the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war.
Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is defeated, seemingly extinguishing hopes for an imminent cease-fire that might free the hostages.
The Israeli prime minister is juggling opposing interests: Despite allies abroad calling for a flood of food into Gaza, some members of his government have opposed easing restrictions.
At a cabinet meeting on Monday, Mr. Netanyahu reiterated what he called the war’s three aims: “Defeating the enemy, releasing our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again threaten Israel.” He added that he would convene the cabinet this week to direct the Israeli military on “how to achieve these three objectives.”
The U.N. Security Council will convene as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza shows little sign of abating. Scores of Palestinians have died from malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza ministry of health.
Starvation has now gripped Gaza, which the United Nations says is on the brink of famine. Civil order has almost totally collapsed, leading to assaults on aid convoys as crowds of desperate Palestinians attempt to obtain food.
“I’ve worked in some of the harshest places you can imagine,” Antoine Renard, the local director for the World Food Program, said in an interview. “I have never, ever seen this in my whole career.”
The Israeli blockade of Gaza this year, which prevented practically all supplies of food, fuel and medicine from entering, lasted roughly 80 days. Israel eased restrictions in May, but the amount of aid passing Israeli-controlled crossings into Gaza has remained far lower than at most other points during the war, according to Israeli military data.
Israeli officials have blamed the United Nations for failing to adequately distribute food already inside Gaza. U.N. officials say that Israel frequently delays or denies requests to move convoys, and they also cite the challenge of operating in a lawless war zone.
Despite some optimism that Israel and Hamas were moving toward a truce last month, the indirect negotiations between them, conducted via Arab and U.S. mediators, remain deadlocked.
In recent days, U.S. and Israeli officials have floated the idea of an “all or nothing” deal. But it seems unlikely that such a strategy would work as both Israel and Hamas appear unwilling to compromise.
In Israel, public attention has focused on the condition of the hostages still in Gaza. Over the weekend, Hamas published videos showing Evyatar David, one of the captives, skeletally thin. Mr. David, 24, was abducted from a rave in southern Israel where hundreds were killed and others taken hostage during the 2023 attack.
“They are on the absolute brink of death. In their current, unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live,” Ilay David, Mr. David’s brother, said at a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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