JERUSALEM/GAZA/UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO/SANAA - Israel said on Tuesday it will allow the entry of certain goods into the Gaza Strip through local private merchants, as the United Nations warned that famine is spreading in the enclave of Palestine.

"A mechanism was approved for the gradual and controlled renewal of the entry of goods through the private sector in Gaza," said a statement from the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli Defense Ministry unit responsible for civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The move was approved by the Israeli cabinet.

"As part of formulating this mechanism, a limited number of local merchants were approved, subject to specific criteria and security screening," said the statement.

The goods to be allowed into Gaza include basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables, and hygiene supplies. Payments for these goods will be conducted only via bank transfers and be subject to a monitoring mechanism, the COGAT said, adding that "all goods will undergo thorough inspection."

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in October 2023 and imposed a total blockade on March 2 this year. The blockade was partially eased in May to allow a private company, backed by Israel and the United States, to open controversial food distribution centers.

Aid convoys and airdrops by Arab and European countries resumed in late July, but UN experts warn that famine is still unfolding in the territory.

Death toll exceeds 61,000

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from Israeli attacks has risen to 61,020, with 150,671 others injured since Oct 7, 2023, Gaza-based health authorities said Tuesday.

It added that 9,519 people were killed and 38,630 wounded after the ceasefire collapsed on March 18.

According to Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal, 30 Palestinians have been killed since Tuesday morning in Israeli shelling and gunfire on the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces continued their operations against "terrorist organizations" throughout the Gaza Strip.

This comes as 95 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, most of which were looted due to what Hamas called "the security chaos being sown by the Israeli occupation," according to the Hamas-run media office in Gaza on Tuesday.

The office said the enclave needs at least 600 relief and fuel trucks daily to meet minimum health, food, and service requirements.

The statement held Israel and its allies fully responsible for the worsening humanitarian catastrophe affecting more than 2 million people, calling on the international community and Arab countries to take effective action to reopen the crossings and ensure the sufficient aid entry.

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Possible expansion Israeli military operations 

Also on Tuesday, a senior UN official warned against the possible expansion of Israeli military operations through the Gaza Strip.

The latest reports regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's possible decision to expand Israel's military operations through the entire Gaza Strip, if true, are deeply alarming, said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenca.

"This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining (Israeli) hostages in Gaza," Jenca told the Security Council in a briefing.

"International law is clear in this regard. Gaza is and must remain an integral part of the future Palestinian state," he stressed.

As declared by the International Court of Justice, in its July 2024 Advisory Opinion, Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory, and to bring to an end its unlawful presence there as rapidly as possible, he said.

"The situation in Gaza is horrifying. It is unbearable," said Jenca, noting that Palestinians are subjected to squalid, inhumane conditions on a daily basis.

Israel continues to severely restrict humanitarian assistance entering Gaza, and the aid that is permitted to enter is grossly inadequate. Hunger is everywhere in Gaza, Jenca told the council.

"I would like to echo the (UN) secretary-general's condemnation of the ongoing violence in Gaza, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families," said Jenca. "Civilians must be respected, protected and never targeted or deliberately deprived of food or access to other lifesaving aid. Doing so is a war crime."

The UN official called on Israel to immediately allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of sufficient amounts of humanitarian relief for civilians in need to avert further suffering and loss of life.

There is no military solution to the conflict in Gaza or the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jenca said. "We must establish political and security frameworks that can relieve the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, start early recovery and reconstruction, address the legitimate security concerns of Israelis and Palestinians, and secure an end to Israel's unlawful occupation and achieve a sustainable two-state solution," he said. 

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Egypt: Gaza war beyond logic

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday that the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip "has exceeded any logic or justification," adding that it has become "a war of starvation, genocide, and liquidation of the Palestinian cause."

Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with visiting Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, Sisi said the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are now being used as a tool for political bargaining.

He renewed his call to the international community to intervene to stop the war and bring aid into Gaza.

The Egyptian president warned that history will hold many countries and individuals accountable for their positions on the Gaza war, rejecting accusations that Egypt is complicit in besieging Gaza.

He stressed that the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing has never been closed during the current war or in previous years.

Sisi pointed out that more than 5,000 aid trucks are currently on Egyptian territory, ready to enter Gaza, and that Egypt has provided over 70 percent of the humanitarian aid delivered to the enclave over the past 21 months.

"Egypt will always remain a gateway for the entry of aid, not a gateway for the displacement of the Palestinian people," Sisi said.

Houthis claim attack on Israeli airport

Yemen's Houthi military group said it launched a new missile attack on the Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel on Tuesday morning, which was reportedly intercepted by Israeli defense systems.

The Houthis fired a "hypersonic ballistic missile" targeting the Israeli airport in support of the Palestinian people, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Sarea said that the Houthi group would continue launching attacks against Israel until the war and blockade on Gaza stop.

The Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, has been firing missiles and drones towards Israeli targets since November 2023 to show solidarity with besieged Palestinians in Gaza.