Israel announced that it will renew the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza beginning on Sunday, ahead of plans by the military to evacuate the Palestinian civilian population of Gaza City.
Saturday’s announcement came as Israel prepares for a military operation to conquer the Gaza Strip’s largest city, which was approved by the cabinet last week, despite hesitation from the military.
According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Defense Ministry body that deals with humanitarian aid, the tents and shelter equipment will be sent into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing by the United Nations and other international bodies, following a “thorough security inspection” by Israeli authorities.
COGAT said the move was being carried out “in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and as part of the IDF’s preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection.”
The Israeli government has instructed the IDF to ready to capture Gaza City, where an estimated one million civilians are sheltering. The civilians will be instructed to head to southern Gaza for their safety, according to officials.
Israel resumed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2, but until now, none of the deliveries have included shelter equipment, which has not been allowed for 26 weeks.
Tents used as temporary shelters by displaced Palestinians are set up around war-damaged structures along the beach in Gaza City on August 8, 2025. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
Alongside the announcement of renewed tent deliveries to the Strip, the Prime Minister’s Office gave special permission to Indonesia to airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Saturday.
Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, does not have relations with Israel.
In response to the report, a diplomatic official told Kan, “Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu invites all countries that request to airdrop food to Gaza to join the humanitarian effort.”
With the move, Indonesia joined fellow southeast Asian nation Singapore, as well as Canada, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Greece and Italy, as well as Israel, in the effort to airdrop aid into Gaza since Israel reinstated the policy last month, amid mounting international criticism over hunger in Gaza.
Airdrops are only able to deliver a small fraction of what can come into Gaza by land via trucks, and they also pose safety risks for the civilians who can be hit by the packages from above.
A military plane parachutes aid packages near Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on August 14, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Zamir to review Gaza City capture plans Sunday
Ahead of the start of the IDF’s mission to capture Gaza City, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was set to visit the Southern Command on Sunday to review the army’s operational plans, according to military officials.
The plans, based on a general outline green-lit by Zamir last week, were set to be discussed at the Southern Command Saturday night.
If approved, Zamir will present the plans to Defense Minister Israel Katz, likely later in the day.
The IDF is currently carrying out an operation in the Zeitoun neighborhood, on the outskirts of Gaza City. For the major offensive, the military will need to call up reservists.
IDF troops operate in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, in a handout photo issued on August 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
As the army pushes into Zeitoun, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said that Israeli attacks killed at least 39 people on Saturday, warning that intensifying strikes on the Gaza City neighborhood were placing its remaining residents in mortal danger.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said conditions in Zeitoun were rapidly deteriorating, with neighborhood residents having little to no access to food and water amid heavy Israeli bombardment.
He said that about 50,000 people were estimated to be in that area of Gaza City, “the majority of whom are without food or water” and lacking “the basic necessities of life.”
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency, the Israeli military, and other sources.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, August 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
In recent days, Gaza City residents have told AFP of more frequent airstrikes targeting residential areas, including in Zeitoun, while earlier this week, the Hamas terror group denounced “aggressive” Israeli ground incursions.
To Bassal, Israel was carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in Zeitoun.
Israeli officials have dismissed similar accusations before, and the military insists it abides by international law.
According to the civil defense agency, at least 13 of the Palestinians killed Saturday were shot by troops as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites in the north and in the south.
IDF drone crashes in Gaza City
Earlier Saturday, a small Israeli military surveillance drone crashed in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, according to Palestinian media and the IDF.
The military said the unmanned aerial vehicle, a Skylark 3 model, was on a reconnaissance mission when it made an “emergency landing in the northern Gaza Strip following a technical malfunction.”
There was no fear of information leaking from the device, the IDF added.
The Skylark is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps. Many Skylark UAVs have crashed in hostile territory over the years.
عاجل | سقوط طائرة استطلاع لجيش الاحتلال في حي الرمال بمدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/AB2HCGpjzc
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 16, 2025
The ongoing war began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Terror groups in Gaza still hold 50 hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, while 28 have been confirmed dead, and the government has expressed “grave concern” about the remaining two.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 60,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 459. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
