At least 151 people were killed on Sunday as a result of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, Qatari television channel Al Jazeera reported.
The media noted that 70 of them were killed as a result of the bombing of Gaza City and areas in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave.
Advisor to the Cabinet of the Israeli Prime Minister Dmitry Gendelman said on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces have entered the decisive phase of the military operation "Gideon's Chariots", to achieve victory over the radical Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
Gendelman noted that “Ground forces are advancing deep into the Gaza Strip“, carrying out “targeted strikes against Hamas structures, seizing key positions“ and that “over the past week, aircraft have hit hundreds of targets, destroying warehouses, tunnels, rocket positions and terrorists“ in the enclave.
At the same time, Israel announced that it would allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip to avoid a “hunger crisis”, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his cabinet had approved a decision to allow “basic” food into Gaza. Netanyahu indicated that allowing some of the humanitarian aid would allow Israel to expand its new military operation, which began yesterday. The statement did not make it clear when or how the aid would reach Gaza, the AP notes.
Israel has imposed a complete blockade on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave since March 2.
The Israeli prime minister stressed today that measures would be taken to ensure that "Hamas" would not control the distribution of the aid and that it would not reach militants from the Islamist movement.