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- Medical sources tell Al Jazeera that at least 61 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
- International condemnation is mounting after Israeli forces fired “warning” shots towards foreign diplomats visiting the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
- The United Nations’s chief spokesperson said the limited humanitarian aid “finally” entering Gaza is “nowhere near enough to meet the needs” of the war-torn enclave’s famished population.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,655 Palestinians and wounded 121,950, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
- An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Hezbollah calls for ‘resounding’ win in local vote amid Israeli attacks
The group’s chief Naim Qassem has released a message to supporters urging them to participate in the upcoming municipal elections in south Lebanon on Saturday to ensure a “resounding” victory and assert defiance against Israel.
“We will not give up a grain of soil in our generous South, and we will not accept Israeli occupation in any inch of our homeland,” Qassem said. “Your participation in the local elections is part of the reconstruction that we will oversee through the elected local governments, and the Lebanese state must live up to its responsibility.”
Yesterday, Netanyahu boasted about the destruction of what he called “terrorist villages” in south Lebanon, suggesting that the widespread bombing and demolition of homes in the Lebanese border towns was a deliberate tactic.
Medic survived Israeli attack by pleading in Hebrew, PRCS says
The head of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that a paramedic who survived an Israeli attack that killed 15 aid workers was spared because he asked soldiers for mercy in Hebrew, adding that he hoped the man’s testimony would help win justice.
Assaad al-Nassasra, a Red Crescent paramedic, survived Israeli shootings that killed 15 emergency and aid workers on March 23 in southern Gaza in an incident that drew international condemnation. Their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave a week later.
Al-Nassasra went missing and then was freed from Israeli detention on April 29 and has not yet publicly commented.
PRCS President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva that al-Nassasra was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
“What does Assaad say in Hebrew? ‘Don’t shoot. I am Israeli.’ And the soldier got a bit confused,” he told reporters. “That confusion … made him survive.”
“Assaad will be a witness that can put all the Israeli stories in shambles,” he added
France condemns Israeli minister’s accusations of inciting hatred
France has dismissed claims by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that European governments were inciting hatred against his country.
“These are completely outrageous and completely unjustified remarks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.
“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of anti-Semitism.”
Israeli strike kills four in northern Gaza
Al Jazeera Arabic reports that an Israeli attack on a home in Jabalia has killed at least four Palestinians.
Lebanese PM condemns Israeli attacks
Nawaf Salam denounces the Israeli attacks in south Lebanon, noting that they come at a “dangerous” time ahead of the municipal elections in southern Lebanese districts.
“Prime Minister Salam stresses that these violations will not thwart the state’s commitment to holding the elections and protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese,” his office said in a statement.
The elections are set for Saturday and are expected to be dominated by Hezbollah and its allies. There have been growing concerns about the safety of voters, especially in border towns, amid the continued Israeli occupation of parts of South Lebanon.
Salam called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its violations of the ceasefire and fully withdraw from Lebanon.
Today’s death toll in Gaza rises again
Medical sources tell our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that at least 61 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today alone.
We had previously reported today’s death toll at 51.
As criticism mounts, Netanyahu says Gaza aid zones to be completed soon
The Israeli prime minister says construction of the first humanitarian aid distribution zones in Gaza will be complete in the coming days, after Israel allowed some trucks carrying aid for the first time in 11 weeks.
“Ultimately, we intend to have large safe zones in the south of Gaza. The Palestinian population will move there for their own safety, while we conduct combat in other zones,” Netanyahu added in a video statement released by his office.
UN agencies and major international NGOs have condemned Israel for doing too little to alleviate the mass human suffering in the Strip, caused by a months-long freeze on any supplies whatsoever from entering Gaza.
They say that what the Israeli government has allowed to enter so far amounts to a drop in the ocean in terms of the dire need of Palestinians there.
Killings of Israeli embassy workers in Washington raise security questions
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from close to the crime scene in Washington, DC, where two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed last night, said that the FBI are searching the apartment of the suspect Elias Rodriguez, 30, in Chicago and are likely to take on the case, where the death penalty could be a possibility.
Culhane said there is still a large police presence in the area, but that there are going to be questions about the security around the Jewish museum, where the killings took place.
“Apparently, the suspect, according to police and the mayor’s office, was pacing outside last night in front of the museum and that would have been notable because this isn’t a residential area, it’s mostly government buildings and monuments, and also it was pouring down with rain,” she said.
Israeli PM to appoint Major General David Zini as next head of Shin Bet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Major General David Zini as the new head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, his office has said in a statement.
The chief of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, announced his resignation in April, saying he would step down on June 15, six weeks after Netanyahu tried to remove him.
The Shin Bet, which handles counter-terrorism investigations, has been at the centre of a growing political battle pitting Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government against an array of critics ranging from members of the security establishment to families of captives in Gaza.
Israel’s attorney general had recommended against appointing a new Shin Bet chief until legal procedures are in place to ensure proper conduct.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn rises to 61
At least 61 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn today, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu conveys ‘sorrow’ to parents of Israeli embassy staff shot dead in Washington
Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with the parents of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, Israeli embassy employees who were killed on Wednesday night in Washington, DC, the prime minister’s office has said in a statement on X.
“The PM told the families that he shares in their deep sorrow, together with the entire Jewish People,” it said.
“Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who promised that the murderer, and everyone who cooperated with him, would be brought to justice, and that the American administration would continue to fight vigorously against anti-Semitism.”
Israeli school closures deny education to hundreds of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem
Hundreds of Palestinian children have been left without education after Israeli closure orders for six UN-run schools in occupied East Jerusalem, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said.
On May 8, Israeli police shut down six schools run by the UNRWA in Shu’fat refugee camp and neighbourhoods of Silwan, Wadi al-Joz, and Sur Baher, citing the lack of permits.
“Nearly 800 children are out of school since 8 May, after the Israeli Forces forced the closure of the 6 UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem,” the refugee agency said in a statement.
“These UNRWA schools are inviolable premises of the United Nations,” it said. “UNRWA schools must continue to be open to safeguard an entire generation of children. Palestinian children’s right to education must be upheld.”
In October 2024, Israel’s Knesset passed two laws banning UNRWA from operating in Israel, with the laws going into effect on January 30.
Swedish MEP invested in three global arms giants during Israel’s war on Gaza: Report
Swedish newspaper ETC is reporting that Swedish European Member of Parliament (MEP) Alice Teodorescu Mawe bought shares in the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which supplies weapons to Israel, on March 18, 2025, the day Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza.
As an MEP, Mawe must declare her investments, but in a financial update on November 12, 2024, she had no shares. Then, in the next update on March 18, 2025, she had invested in two weapons manufacturers: Sweden’s Saab and Rheinmetall.
ETC reports that since then, Rheinmetall’s shares have risen by 23 percent.
Mawe, who represents Sweden’s Christian Democrats Party, has been a staunch supporter of Israel and its Gaza war.
More Israeli strikes reported in Lebanon
In addition to the strike against a building in Toul, the Israeli military has been bombing areas across south Lebanon, according to Lebanese news outlets.
Israeli bombardment was reported in the towns of Soujod, Touline, Sawanna and the Rihan Mountain.
Lebanon’s National News Agency described Israeli attacks as some of the heaviest since the ceasefire went into effect in November of last year.
Greek PM calls on Israel to halt ‘unjustifiable’ Gaza campaign
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to the besieged population.
“What is happening there is unjustified and unacceptable. Israel must stop these operations immediately,” Mitsotakis told Greek broadcaster Skai.
While reaffirming Greece’s strategic alliance with Israel, the prime minister stressed that allies must also speak candidly.
“I have personally told Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that the brutal attack on October 7 cannot justify military operations that cause disproportionate humanitarian suffering,” Mitsotakis said.
Lack of healthcare a huge cause of ‘silent death’ in Gaza, IFRC says
The few dozen trucks of aid that Israeli has allowed to enter Gaza in recent days is “less than a drop in the ocean” as the Strip needs some 1,000 to 1,200 trucks a day to address the “immense” needs of the population, the spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has told Al Jazeera.
“It is just a nightmare that is continuing to worsen day after day,” Tommaso Della Longa said, speaking from Geneva in Switzerland.
“The president of the Palestinian Red Crescent today said that a couple of trucks entering is an invitation for killing. People are desperate – we need much more humanitarian aid, we need food, we need water, we need commercial items, we need medicines, formula for babies.”
He said a lack of healthcare is a huge cause of “silent death” in Gaza, as people with chronic conditions, such as cancer or kidney disease, cannot access treatments like chemotherapy and dialysis because medical facilities are closing due to Israeli attacks or a lack of medicine and equipment due to the Israeli blockade.
“This is simply unacceptable,” he said. “Thinking about this [happening] in 2025 is shocking.”
Israel intensifying Lebanon attacks, testing Hezbollah
With Hezbollah weakened and seemingly unable to fight back, the Lebanese army lacking the military power to confront Israel, and diplomacy failing to end violations of the November ceasefire, it appears that Israel is asserting complete freedom of military action in Lebanon.
For many people in Lebanon, Israeli attacks – with and without warning – have become a recurring reality.
The scenes of the latest Israeli strike in Toul, which was preceded by an evacuation warning, appear familiar: People gathering near the site with their phone cameras, fire and rescue crews rushing to the scene, clouds of black smoke and fire in the background.
Toul is north of the Litani River, an area that Hezbollah argues is not covered by last year’s ceasefire agreement requiring the group to pull its forces away from the Israeli border.
But Israel has made it clear that it will strike on both sides of the river as it sees fit.
In fact, hours before the Toul attack, Israel wounded a shepherd and killed another person in separate attacks south of the Litani, later claiming that it targeted a Hezbollah fighter.
Last month, Israel bombed Beirut, saying that it targeted a Hezbollah missile storage – a claim dismissed by the group.
The Israeli military has also been carrying out targeted assassinations across Lebanon. Earlier in May, it killed senior Hezbollah military official Adnan Harb in a drone strike.
Beyond attacks that target – or claim to target – Hezbollah, Israel drops stun grenades and fires at Lebanese border villages almost daily.
Hezbollah has said that its patience may eventually run out, but it’s unclear if the group is capable of mounting a fight against Israel after the withering blows it has been suffering since September of last year, including the killing of its top political and military leaders.
Photos: Palestinians flee northern Gaza amid escalating Israeli strikes
Palestinians displaced for 10th time in Gaza fail to access scant aid
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israeli forces have allowed 87 trucks containing aid to enter the Strip in the last 24 hours, most containing flour for bread.
But he said that before the war, Gaza needed some 500 trucks to enter on a daily basis with water, food, medical supplies, and other essentials, but now, the humanitarian needs are far greater, as much of the population is on the brink of famine.
“Allowing this small amount of aid, just a few trucks daily, into a disaster zone like Gaza is not humanitarian relief, it’s performative,” Mahmoud said.
“We’re not seeing any of this coming to [heavily populated] parts of the Gaza Strip – including Gaza City or the northern part of the Strip that is now experiencing mass waves of evacuation orders.”
Mahmoud said Israel’s latest forced evacuation orders include large parts of Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and Jabalia in northern Gaza, and that people are often fleeing these areas under heavy artillery fire.
“We’ve talked to people in the past couple of days who have been on the move for 10th time now, constantly displaced with evacuation orders herding them from one place to another,” he said. “The moment they arrive to an area, they set up their makeshift tents and within a short period of time, they are on the move once again. People are tired, they are exhausted.”
He said that many people in Gaza City have moved to the coastal road area, especially around the seaport.
“An area that used to be an attraction site has now been turned largely into a displacement camp, with lots of people sleeping on cardboard inside makeshift tents or simply sleeping on sidewalks,” he said.
Israel bombs South Lebanon town after issuing threat
The Israeli military has struck a building in the Lebanese village of Toul after warning residents to stay away from the area.
Israel had claimed that the site housed Hezbollah infrastructure.
Footage shared by Lebanese media outlets showed huge plumes of smoke rising from the area after the attack.
Aid that reached Gaza ‘vastly insufficient’: UNICEF
The UN agency for Palestinian children says 508 pallets of nutrition reached its warehouse in Gaza yesterday, but the amount of assistance is “vastly insufficient”.
“Children are in urgent need of food, water, and protection,” UNICEF Palestine said in a social media post.
The agency’s evaluation mirrors that of several other major NGOs and UN bodies, as well as the UN secretary-general’s spokesperson.