Israel vows Gaza offensive policy despite caretaker status
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has rejected criticism from EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, who warned that severe winter flooding was compounding suffering in Gaza and urged all crossings be reopened for humanitarian aid. Calling her stance unbalanced and rewarding to Hamas, Israeli officials and spokesman Oren Marmorstein maintained that substantial relief is reaching the enclave, citing the entry of over 93,000 tents and more than 8,600 supply trucks. Israeli authorities accused Hamas of diverting aid and using hospitals for militant operations, though the UN asserted that permitting more assistance could have prevented storm-related destruction.
Concurrently, military actions and political standoffs continued across multiple fronts. Hamas confirmed the death of its Rafah brigade commander, Samir Abu Younis, in an Israeli air strike targeting Khan Younis's al-Mawasi area. Domestically, Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot dismissed caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for a national unity government as a political bluff ahead of coalition talks and a Knesset speaker vote, despite Netanyahu citing the Iranian nuclear threat. Regionally, Colonel Turki al-Malki reported that Saudi-backed coalition forces intercepted and destroyed several drones launched into eastern Saudi Arabia and towards Riyadh.
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