Hebrew media cited leaked documents showing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actively pursued a policy of starvation in a bid to bring about Hamas’s surrender.

The documents also show that Netanyahu refused to move forward with Phase 2 of the last ceasefire deal – despite internal warnings urging him to secure a release of captives before returning to fighting.

The documents confirmed that Netanyahu and the war cabinet “instructed the [army] to stop all humanitarian aid and close the Rafah crossing” in early March.