RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestine accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday of obstructing international and US efforts to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. 

“Netanyahu and his military staff are threatening to invade Rafah without giving any consideration to international and US calls for protecting civilians and securing their basic humanitarian needs,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“This shows that Israel is continuing its war of genocide and displacement, while…preventing aid to the Palestinians, especially the hungry in northern Gaza,” it added.

Israel has waged a retaliatory offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 which killed nearly 1,200 people. The offensive has killed around 31,200 Palestinians and injured over 72,900 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

A humanitarian aid ship carrying 200 tons of food from two international charity organizations, Spain-based Open Arms and the US-based World Central Kitchen, sailed from the Greek Cypriot Administration to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

"This opens up the maritime humanitarian corridor to the (Gaza) Strip, in a highly complex mission that we hope will be the first of many to alleviate the humanitarian emergency facing the population," Open Arms wrote on X.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.  

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul