Israel says more aid entering Gaza, while its latest strikes kill at least 85 people
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), May 20 (AP): Israel showed no sign of responding to allies' calls to halt its new military offensive in Gaza as health officials said airstrikes killed at least 85 Palestinians overnight into Tuesday, but Israel said it was allowing in dozens more trucks of aid.
It was not immediately clear whether the desperately needed aid was reaching any of Gaza's over 2 million people, who had been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months. Experts have warned of famine.
Under pressure, Israel agreed this week to allow a “minimal” amount of aid into Gaza after preventing the entry of food, medicine and fuel in an attempt to pressure Hamas.
After the first five trucks entered on Monday, dozens began entering via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Tuesday afternoon, Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said. They included flour for bakeries, food for community soup kitchens, baby food and medical supplies.
Organisations in Gaza did not immediately confirm whether they had received anything. Marmorstein said Israel would allow dozens of aid trucks per day — far less than the 600 that entered daily during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said the world body had received approvals for about 100 trucks to enter Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he decided to let in limited aid after pressure from allies, who told him they couldn't support Israel while devastating images of starvation were coming out of Gaza.
But some close allies say his decision is not enough.
The British government on Tuesday said it was suspending free trade negotiations with Israel and was levelling new sanctions targeting settlements in the occupied West Bank.
It came a day after the UK, France and Canada condemned Israel's handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the West Bank and threatened to take action.
“I want to put on record today that we're horrified by the escalation from Israel,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the UK's Parliament.
Israel's Marmorstein called the new sanctions “unjustified and regrettable" and claimed Israel and the UK hadn't been talking about free trade.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot denounced the Israeli government's “blind violence” in Gaza that he said has turned the Palestinian territory into a “place of death”.
“This must stop,” Barrot told French radio France Inter on Tuesday.
Israel launched its new military operation in Gaza over the weekend, saying it aims to return dozens of hostages held by Hamas and destroy the fighter group. More than 300 people have been killed in Gaza during the latest onslaught, according to health officials.
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MP: Woman, lover conspire to get husband killed; police looking for contract killer
Dhar (MP) (PTI): A 25-year-old woman and her lover have been arrested in the district for allegedly conspiring to kill her husband by hiring a contract killer, police said on Thursday.
The case was solved within 36 hours of the murder though the woman initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that robbers killed her husband, an official said.
Dev Krishna Purohit (28) was stabbed to death on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at his house in Gondikheda Charan village, about 60 km from here.
Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi told reporters that accused Priyanka Purohit (25) was married to Dev Krishna when she was around 15 years old. Priyanka moved to her matrimonial home after attaining adulthood but was unwilling to live with her husband, leading to frequent disputes between them.
During investigation, it emerged that she was in a relationship with Kamlesh (32), the SP said.
The duo allegedly hatched a plan to kill Dev Krishna and hired a man identified as Surendra for Rs 1 lakh do the job, he said
After Dev Krishna was killed, Priyanka told police that unidentified persons broke into the house, attacked her husband with a sharp weapon while holding her captive in another room, and fled with valuables.
But the inconsistencies in her statements raised suspicion, and eventually she confessed to hatching the murder conspiracy, the SP said.
While she and Kamlesh were arrested, police are looking for the contract killer, the official added.
