By Faith Barbara N Ruhinda Updated at 1155 EAT on Tuesday 20 May 2025

International pressure has been building on Israel over its new military offensive in Gaza that has left hundreds dead in just the last few days.

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada threatened to take concrete actions on Monday, including targeted sanctions, if Israel does not stop its renewed military offensive and continues to block aid from entering Gaza.

The Israeli military said its forces moved into northern and southern Gaza over the past day as part of the Gideon’s Chariots operation, which Israel warned would take place if Hamas doesn’t agree to a new hostage deal on its terms.

The ground operation came after days of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which according to health authorities there have wiped out entire families.

Israel has said it will allow a basic amount of food into the besieged enclave, a move which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted was due to intense pressure from allies, and on Monday the Israeli agency that approves aid shipments into Gaza said five trucks had entered the enclave.

However, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher described the delivery as limited and a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.

Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the new military offensive in Gaza on May 5. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later said the aim of the operation was to achieve all the goals of the war in Gaza, including defeating Hamas and securing the release of remaining hostages in the territory.

On Monday, Netanyahu said that Israel plans to take control of the entire Gaza Strip.

The warring parties failed to reach a deal during Trump’s visit last week, and Israel pressed on with its operation over the weekend. This began with a series of intense airstrikes last week and was followed by an expanded ground offensive on Sunday.

The Israeli military said Sunday that over the past week, it struck more than 670 Hamas targets in a wave of preliminary airstrikes across the enclave.

Early Monday morning, Israeli forces struck the medical supplies warehouse of the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis neighborhood, damaging some of the medical supplies that had been provided to the center by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), according to the UK-based organization.

Health officials in Gaza said on Monday that the operation had killed at least 136 people over the past 24 hours, and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave’s north.

Entire families were killed while sleeping, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

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