"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, amid a major humanitarian crisis following Israel's decision to prevent the entry of aid since March 2.
"No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid," Katz said.
The United Nations warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.
"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In a statement, OCHA said no supplies had reached Gaza for a month and a half, and medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply.
"Due to the closure of the crossings compounded by restrictions within Gaza, dwindling supplies have forced them (aid workers) to ration and reduce deliveries to make the most of the remaining stocks," OCHA said.
Israel resumed its intense military offensive in the Palestinian territory after a ceasefire deal that came into effect on January 19 fell apart two months later over differences regarding its next phase.
Hundreds of thousands of people have since been displaced.
Israel tightly controls the entry of vital international aid for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza rescuers say 37 killed in Israeli strikes across territory
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) April 17, 2025 -
Gaza's civil defence agency reported Thursday that a wave of Israeli air strikes across the territory killed 37 people, most of them displaced Palestinians.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said an overnight strike targeted several tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in 16 deaths.
"At least 16 martyrs, most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded following a direct strike by two Israeli missiles on several tents housing displaced families in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis," Bassal told AFP.
Bassal also confirmed two other strikes on encampments of displaced people.
One in the northern town of Beit Lahia killed seven people sheltering in tents, while a similar attack on a tent near the Al-Mawasi area left a father and son dead, he said, adding several others were wounded in the strikes.
Separately, the civil defence agency reported two more attacks on displaced people in Jabalia -- one that killed at least seven members of the Asaliya family, and another on a school being used as a shelter that killed three.
The agency also reported two people killed by Israeli shelling in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but said it was looking into the reports.
Israel resumed its military offensive on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.
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