Aid supplies blockade by Israel to continue as charity says Gaza is becoming 'mass grave'

Israel said it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza yesterday and vowed to force Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages taken in the 7 October attacks.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Aid supplies including food, fuel, water and medicines have been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza since 2 March, more than two weeks before it ended the ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group by relaunching air and ground attacks on the territory.

The medical charity Médecins sans frontières said yesterday that Gaza was becoming a "mass grave for Palestinians".

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said: "Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population. No one is planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza."

Amnesty International is among the aid agencies to have described Israel's blockade on supplies going into Gaza as a crime against humanity and a violation of international humanitarian law. Israel has denied any violations.