Israel will block free flow of Gaza humanitarian aid

Israel said on Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a "mass grave," a medical charity said.

- 

Katz said Israel, which has blocked the delivery of relief supplies into the territory since early March, was creating infrastructure to allow distribution through civilian companies at a later date, but the blockade on aid would remain in place.

Israel had already halted the entry of aid into Gaza on March 2, exacerbating the severe humanitarian crisis in the war-battered territory.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.

"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," Katz said in a statement on Wednesday.

"No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid."

Israeli troops will remain in the buffer zones they have created in Gaza even after any settlement to end the war, Katz said on Wednesday, as efforts to revive a ceasefire agreement faltered.