JERUSALEM, April 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country would continue to block humanitarian aid from entering the war-battered Gaza Strip, where intense aerial and ground assaults have resumed.

"Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population," Katz said in a statement, days after the UN warned the territory was facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023. Israel has blocked aid from entering since March 2.