- Статьи
- World
- Boiling point: Humanitarian disaster worsens in Gaza amid Israel's plans to seize new territories
Boiling point: Humanitarian disaster worsens in Gaza amid Israel's plans to seize new territories
The humanitarian crisis is gaining momentum in Gaza: after a 10-week suspension, aid began to be provided, but it is catastrophically low, according to the UN. Meanwhile, the IDF plans to occupy three quarters of the Gaza territory over the next two months. They want to herd the Palestinians into three zones. Israel calls the plan a "temporary measure," but many consider it part of an initiative to forcibly resettle Palestinians in third countries. In turn, US President Donald Trump publicly talks about the desire to end the conflict, and behind the scenes demands to stop the escalation — so far, however, to no avail. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Too slow, too dangerous
"Although desperately needed aid is finally arriving in Gaza, the pace is too slow to meet the huge needs. Families in Gaza are on edge amid increasing fighting, evacuation orders and population displacement," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Reliefweb reported, citing the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
They stressed that the resumption of supplies had begun after more than a 10-week suspension. The UN "advocates for the daily entry of at least 100 trucks into Gaza," but "security and coordination problems hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid."
The humanitarian mission in Gaza began with the support of the United States. Three complexes have been built in southern Gaza and one in its center, where hundreds of American contractors are supposed to distribute aid to the Palestinians. According to the new rules, a representative of each Palestinian family will come to one of the complexes every few days to pick up a package of humanitarian aid.
However, the UN and some international humanitarian organizations refused to participate in this plan, believing that it carries great danger, since the Palestinians will inevitably pass through the war zone, going for help.
Jake Wood, Executive Director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has announced his resignation. In his opinion, under the new aid distribution mechanism, the organization cannot adhere to "the principles of humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality."
Earlier, the press service of the Hamas-affiliated local authorities of Gaza stated that a catastrophic situation had developed in the enclave due to the fact that humanitarian aid had not been received in the sector since March 2, and over 320 people had died in 80 days from malnutrition and lack of necessary medicines.
Capture three-quarters of the territory
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to occupy up to 75% of the territory of the Gaza Strip over the next two months. According to The Times of Israel, the Palestinian population is planned to be displaced into three small zones: the Mawasi area on the southern coast of the strip, which Israel previously declared a "humanitarian zone," to a strip of land in the central regions of Gaza — Deir el-Bale and Nuseirat, where the IDF did not use ground forces, as well as to the center the cities of Gaza, where many Palestinians returned during the truce in early 2025.
According to the IDF, a total of about 2 million people live in these three areas.
In May, Israel launched a new ground operation in Gaza, Gideon's Chariot, aimed at establishing tighter army control over the Palestinian enclave and destroying the Hamas command system. The Israeli authorities promised to resume aid supplies to Gaza in exchange for full control of the territory.
Initially, the Reuters news agency, citing a Palestinian official close to Hamas, reported that the radical movement had accepted the proposal of the US president's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to cease hostilities.
According to the source, the new initiative, obtained by Hamas through intermediaries, includes the release of 10 hostages and 70 days of truce. In addition, a permanent ceasefire regime under Washington's guarantees should be discussed during this period.
However, Steve Witkoff later denied this information, calling the actions of the Palestinian radicals "disappointing and absolutely unacceptable."
Israel has now deployed all the regular infantry and armored units available to the IDF in the Gaza Strip. The enclave houses units of the Givati, Golani, Kfir, and Nahal brigades, as well as paratroopers, special forces, and troops of the 7th, 188th, and 401st armored brigades, The Times of Israel reports.
The publication reports that there are also "a number of reservists" in the enclave. According to officials, their arrival was part of the preparations for further intensification of hostilities.
The new Israeli operation, according to the Axios portal, involves the occupation of 75% of the territory of Gaza and is aimed at creating the foundation for "voluntary migration" from Gaza, so that civilians first move to the humanitarian zone, and then were forced to go to third countries.
In a conversation with reporters, US President Donald Trump made it clear that he would like to end the conflict. At the same time, the White House did not confirm the existence of disagreements with Israel over Gaza.
However, Trump's reluctance to visit Israel during his recent Middle East tour suggests that things are not going so smoothly between the two leaders.
The Israeli TV channel i24, citing sources, spoke about the Trump administration's behind-the-scenes request to postpone the intensification of hostilities against Hamas in order to restore the negotiation process between the group and Israel.
It is also reported about Washington's pressure on the Israeli authorities, which demands an early end to the war in the sector.
The deal is far away
Danila Krylov, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, Candidate of Political Sciences, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that "some processes in American foreign policy rhetoric and recent statements by official representatives indicate that Donald Trump is disappointed in certain negotiations, resolving issues through deals."
— On the one hand, for Trump, of course, this is a fixed idea, which he cannot abandon. But at the same time, it should be understood that these deals are based on purely Western corporate shark rhetoric and they have nothing to do with the processes taking place in the Middle East," the political scientist believes.
US President Donald Trump
In his opinion, one can say beautiful words about a deal, about the need to resolve a conflict, but when the parties have no grounds for this very settlement and when only one side is truly striving to resolve the problem, it is impossible to reach an agreement.
"If and when the IDF implements its plan to establish control over 75% of the territory and, as I understand it, relocate the Palestinians to 25% of the remaining land, it will be practically an act of genocide," the expert is convinced.
The expert believes that, firstly, because there will be constant fighting there and it is unknown how many people will die during them. Secondly, the Gaza Strip has already been sufficiently destroyed, and there is already a humanitarian catastrophe there. Due to the fourfold increase in density that will follow after resettlement, Krylov predicts a sharp increase in morbidity, crime, economic and social discontent.
Izvestia's interlocutor believes that the IDF's logic is quite understandable, because Hamas and Hamas-supporting groups will end up in the same zone. In addition, it remains unclear exactly where the remaining 25% of the territory will be located — on the coast or near the Philadelphia corridor running along the Egyptian border. In this case, the issue of supplying the people who remained there remains all the more unclear.
The orientalist believes that American President Donald Trump probably wants to achieve some kind of Gas deal.
Jerusalem Day against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, May 27, 2025
— But let's be realistic, there is no chance of implementing such a plan. You can dream about anything, but the reality is that it won't happen. It is impossible to achieve this now, there are no grounds, either geopolitical or geo—economic, for such a project," the political scientist believes.
According to the expert, the intensification of hostilities on the part of Israel is at odds with Trump's position in concluding the deal. However, if there is no deal, if in a month the world finds out about the "disappointment" of the US president due to the unwillingness of the Arab states of the Middle East to settle their relations with Israel and Palestine, it will be carte blanche for West Jerusalem to do whatever it wants.
Krylov added that currently Hamas and Israel are as far away from the deal as they were before.
"Israel shows itself to be an incompetent state that does what it wants, takes what it can, gives nothing in return, and behaves in the political arena as it wishes," the analyst concluded.
The plans are general, but the methods are different
Orientalist Andrey Ontikov, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted that, judging by some leaks in the media, relations between Trump and Netanyahu are not as cloudless as they were during the first term of the American president. Moreover, in general, the concepts of Netanyahu and Trump on resolving the problem in the Gaza Strip coincide.
— Netanyahu says that Israel is going to occupy the Gaza Strip, Trump says that he is going to establish American control over these territories. He also adds that the Palestinians should be evicted from there to Egypt and Jordan. But if we dig a little deeper, it turns out that there are certain differences between the two leaders," the political scientist explained.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
According to the expert, they do not relate to plans for the Gaza Strip, but to Netanyahu's methods of waging war. Ontikov draws attention to reports that US Vice President Jay D. Vance canceled his trip to Israel in order not to be associated with the expansion of the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip. This may be a sign of the White House's desire to distance itself from the situation, the Orientalist believes.
The expert stressed that Trump positions himself as a peacemaker president, he is also involved in Russian-Ukrainian regulation and, according to him, has reconciled India with Pakistan.
— In fact, he has a problem in the form of Israel, which disavows Trump's entire peacekeeping role. And, of course, the US president absolutely does not like this. But, in my opinion, there is also a purely practical aspect. Even under the previous Biden administration, the United States began to work very closely towards creating a transport corridor from India through Saudi Arabia, Israel and further to Europe. The new route was supposed to be an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road, as well as an alternative to the already established corridor through the Suez Canal," the source said.
Ontikov recalled that the Biden administration had done a lot to launch this corridor. All that remained was to reconcile Saudi Arabia with Israel. The two countries were already ready to sign relevant documents and agreements, but then there was an attack by Hamas in October 2023.
— Trump is hampered by the ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip, especially given the Saudis' statements that as long as this is the case, reconciliation with Israel is out of the question. Netanyahu cannot back down because he has already signed a truce agreement with Hamas, on the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. As a result, his ruling coalition collapsed, which he had to urgently reassemble. Otherwise, early elections would have been called in the country," the expert notes.
Therefore, the orientalist emphasizes, the path of the Israeli Prime Minister is a gradual, "creeping" escalation. Adding fuel to the fire are publications that Israel is considering the option of attacking nuclear facilities in Iran. In his opinion, against the background of negotiations between the United States and Iran, which have achieved some progress, "Trump does not like this prospect."
"Given the similarity of how Trump and Netanyahu see the future of the Gaza Strip, the evolving circumstances, in fact, separate them into different corners, and their interests become contradictory, and there are no points of contact here yet," Andrei Ontikov summed up.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
