MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Moving to Gaza now. A trickle of aid has entered the enclave this morning. Israel has begun letting in aid trucks this week after its nearly three-month-long total blockade of everything from food to medicine.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The United Nations says a handful of bakeries are now operational in south and central Gaza. And last night, in his first press conference with Israeli journalists in five months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his plan to expand the war.
MARTIN: NPR'd Hadeel Al-Shalchi is with us now with the latest from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Hadeel.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took questions from reporters last night. What did he say about Israel's stepped-up military campaign now in Gaza?
AL-SHALCHI: Right, so Netanyahu went through his order for the Israeli military to mobilize this expansion of the war. He reiterated that the plan is to push all Palestinians who are in northern Gaza right now into an area in the south. And then, in fact, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the entire northern part of Gaza yesterday. That's at least 100,000 Palestinians right now, according to Gaza first responders. And we need to know, like, the south is almost entirely destroyed because of the two years of war. It has very little resources, let alone space to live in. But Netanyahu also said that he is willing to end the war with certain conditions. The hostages come home. Hamas lays down its arms and...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "We implement the Trump plan," he said. That's Trump's proposal to displace Palestinians out of Gaza fully. Netanyahu called it a brilliant and revolutionary plan. Yesterday, NPR sat down with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and he staunchly defended Israel's sovereign right to conduct the war as they need to. In a statement, Hamas condemned Netanyahu's pledge to Trump's plan saying it undermined Washington's role as a, quote, "mediator."
And I'd like to mention the U.N.'s human rights chief said that Israel's plan to force people to move under airstrikes, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods, the denial of humanitarian assistant, he said that all of this appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza. And that is against international law. And he said it is, quote, "tantamount to ethnic cleansing."
MARTIN: Hadeel, what have we heard from Palestinians inside Gaza?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, under this major international pressure, Israel finally said it would allow a, quote, "minimal" amount of aid into Gaza. According to the U.N., about 200 trucks entered carrying some critical supplies. That's compared to 600 trucks which were crossing daily during the January ceasefire. So the U.N. is really calling this week's development a, quote, "drop in the ocean." NPR's Anas Baba met a woman at the malnutrition department of a hospital in Gaza City. Ilhim Abdulhalfad (ph) was carrying her 1-year-old daughter. She can't find milk to feed her baby anymore, so she's been giving her water instead.
ILHIM ABDULHALFAD: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "My daughter is very thin," the mother says. "She was in hospital because of malnutrition, hooked up to needles and IVs. I'd cry every day, my heart breaking for her," she said.
MARTIN: So, Hadeel, if we can turn to the fatal shooting last night in D.C., what's the reaction that you're hearing in Israel?
AL-SHALCHI: There's been a string of condemnation from here. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the foreign minister are calling - or called the shooting despicable and antisemitic. The foreign ministry posted a statement saying, quote, "may their memory be a blessing." And Netanyahu has said that he's instructed to increase security at Israeli missions around the world.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv. Hadeel, thank you.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF DEAN MCPHEE'S "SKY BURIAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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