The mother of a 5-year-old Gazan girl claimed her daughter was shot in the head Monday morning by IDF soldiers while trying to return with her family to their home in the northern Gaza Strip, where Palestinians continue to flock as the army is trying to prevent it.
A man was seen carrying 5-year-old Sally Abu-Lila, who was bleeding from the head, as people gathered around her in panic and tried to cover her wound. The IDF has yet to officially comment on the incident.
Thousands of Gazans return to the northern Gaza Strip using Al Rashid Street
Videos from Gaza taken on Monday show a mass return of civilians, even after confrontations with the IDF, and despite warnings not to return. The IDF, for its part, is not allowing the residents to cross to the north of the Strip, stopping them at a checkpoint and sending them back to the south.
The Hamas-affiliated Quds network claimed Sunday that women and children under the age of 14 were allowed by the IDF to return from the southern Gaza Strip to the north. Footage circulating on social media also depicted adult men trying to move north. IDF forces deployed smoke bombs to disperse the crowds.
IDF Arabic Spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee clarified Monday in a message addressed to the residents of the Gaza Strip, that "the northern region of the Gaza Strip is a dangerous combat zone, and therefore we repeat our calls to remain in the humanitarian and shelter areas in the southern Gaza Strip, and to avoid trying to return to the north the Strip in order to maintain your safety."
The repopulation of northern Gaza remains one of the major sticking points in hostage negotiations, with Hamas showing little to no flexibility on the issue.
On Sunday, Mossad reported that the terrorist organization responded negatively to the proposal conveyed by intermediaries."
Israeli officials estimated that securing a deal would be highly unlikely since they believed Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar was not interested in one, much preferring to sit out and wait for a potential conflagration between Israel and Iran which would plunge the Jewish state into a multi-front war. Yet, negotiations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, the General Authority for Crossings and Borders announced that the army released 150 Palestinians detained across the Gaza Strip.
Aid is flowing to northern Gaza
Ten aid trucks entered the northern Gaza Strip Monday night. Sunday morning, after coordinating the supply of flour and fuel over the past week, a World Food Program bakery began operating in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time in months. The bakery has a daily production potential of about 650,000 pita breads per day and joins the more than 21 bakeries opened in the south and center of the Gaza Strip, providing pita bread to more than 2.2 million Gazans every day.
In Gaza City, the bakeries opened Sunday in the Tufah, Al-Sultan, Sabra and Al-Nasr neighborhoods. The price of a bag of bread weighing more than 3 kilograms is 5 shekels, and one of the lines in front of a bakery in the Tufah neighborhood stretched for more than two miles. Each person is limited to one bag. "Bread has returned for the first time to the northern Gaza Strip. This news is more important than Iran and its stupid theatrics," said Gaza resident Raed Shniora.
Muhammad Sweid, also a resident of Gaza, arrived at the bakery at 5 a.m. "I am happy that the bakeries have finally opened, but the line is very long. We will be patient," he said.
These actions join the Israeli efforts led by the Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories Major General Ghassan Alian to increase aid to the northern Gaza Strip. As part of the humanitarian effort, over 6,250 food packages were airdropped in 72 batches to distribution points in the Gaza Strip in recent months.
In addition, approximately 1,866 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected through the Kerem Shalom crossing of the Land Crossings Authority of the Defense and Transportation ministries last week. Another 1,463 food packages were airdropped in 12 batches.
Meanwhile, the IDF Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza and Southern Command coordinated the entry of 267 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the northern Gaza Strip last week.
The Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip was also opened this week for the first time since the October 7 attack to introduce more humanitarian aid into the territory's northern regions.