Far-right Israeli ministers call to block Gaza aid, enforce starvation, halt ceasefire talks

By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala

JERUSALEM /ISTANBUL (AA) – Far-right Israeli ministers called Tuesday for halting the entry of scarce humanitarian aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip to "crush" the Palestinians, starve them to death, and stop ceasefire talks.

Following the killing of five Israeli soldiers in a Hamas ambush in the northern Gaza Strip, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately recall his negotiating team from the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha.

“There is no need to negotiate" with those who kill Israeli soldiers, he said on his X account.

The extremist minister called for "a total siege, a military crushing, encouraging immigration and settlements.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also demanded on X that Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir "immediately halt" allowing aid into Gaza.

The Israeli army said Tuesday that five soldiers were killed and 14 others injured in fighting in northern Gaza on Monday.

The Israeli army has killed nearly 57,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.

US President Donald Trump met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials continue engagement with Hamas aimed at securing a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal in Qatar.