LIVE UPDATES: Israel kills at least 43 in Gaza today, majority in south Strip

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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 5 June 2025:

• Israel has killed four journalists in an attack on Al-Ahali Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, in Gaza City. At least 43 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today.
• The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will resume distributing aid at two of its points in Gaza today, after shutting down its operations for a full day yesterday. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed and wounded seeking aid at its distribution points in recent days.
• The US vetoes a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the only country to do so.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,607 Palestinians and wounded 125,341, according to the Health Ministry.
• An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

‘I saw a man in pieces… the lower half of his body was gone’

At least 3 Palestinians have been killed, including children and women, in an Israeli strike on al-Nasser Street, near the al-Shifa Hospital compound west of Gaza City.

Resident Fadi al-Hindi was sitting in his tent when the attack occurred and told Al Jazeera that he immediately ran outside to check on his children.

“When I arrived, I saw a man in pieces; he had been riding a bicycle, and the lower half of his body was gone. Everyone in the street was injured, and we started to collect the pieces of the wounded. All the people here were injured, and most of them are martyrs because it was a huge missile,” he said.

“Every day when I walk down the street, I’m afraid I’ll be targeted next to them and die,” al-Hindi stated.

Another resident, Naaman al-Kafarna, told Al Jazeera the densely populated area was very crowded when the attack occurred.

“There were many martyrs. Everyone who was in that place was either injured or torn apart,” al-Kafarna said.

Photos: The aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City

Netherlands still backs Israeli F-35 ‘supply chain of death’: Report

The Netherlands is still supporting the supply chain of Israel’s version of the F-35 fighter jet, more than a year after a court banned direct Dutch exports of F-35 parts to Israel, a report says.

Research by the Palestinian Youth Movement shared with Al Jazeera shows the port of Rotterdam is regularly frequented by ships carrying F-35 parts for maintenance and assembly. The ships belong to the Danish shipping giant Maersk.

By examining import data and shipping receipts of Maersk and Lockheed Martin, the US weapons manufacturer that designed the F-35, the group found that more than a dozen shipments from Israel travelled through the port of Rotterdam on their way to the US.

Read our story here.

German foreign minister tells Israeli counterpart to allow more aid into Gaza

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has voiced rare criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza during a news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, in Berlin.

Wadephul called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave and decried Israel’s announcement that it would allow 22 more settlements in the West Bank.

The ministry said Berlin – one of Israel’s staunchest allies and its second largest arms provider after the US – would decide whether or not to approve new weapons shipments to Israel based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

He added that Chancellor Friedrich Merz was planning to visit Israel later this year.

Hospital laboratories in urgent need of additional equipment, ministry says

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says laboratories across the Strip are in urgent need of additional equipment to conduct tests on the wounded.

It said laboratories and blood banks in the remaining hospitals were down to 40 percent of their equipment, which is operated without regular maintenance work.

It added that an estimated 60 percent had been destroyed in Israeli attacks.

Today’s death toll in Gaza rises

Israeli attacks have killed at least 43 people in the Strip today, medical sources have told our team.

At least 21 of those killed were received by Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, sources at the medical centre say.

Buzzing sound of drones above Gaza City sows panic among Palestinians

• Hani Mahmoud

Reporting from Gaza City, Gaza

There are at least five drones in the air above Gaza City right now, and they have been there since the early hours of this morning.

This buzzing sound is grinding down people’s mental health and causing so much panic as well as trauma among people here.

There has not only been an attack on al-Ahli Hospital, where four journalists were killed, but other attacks took place near al-Shifa Hospital, and five people were reported killed.

Another attack took place near a famous bakery in Gaza City’s centre, and two people were reported severely injured and died as soon as they reached hospital.

Earlier attacks also targeted evacuation tents in al-Mawasi. This area has been the site of relentless attacks despite having been designated a safe zone.

Israel-US aid system turns Gaza into ‘human abattoir’, Ex-UN official says

The Israel- and US-backed aid operation has turned Gaza into a “human abattoir”, says Chris Gunness, former spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Speaking about food distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Gunness told Al Jazeera: “Hundreds of civilians are herded like animals into fenced-off pens and are slaughtered like cattle in the process.”

Brazil’s president accuses Israel of ‘premeditated genocide’ in Gaza

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made these comments during his trip to France.

“It’s a premeditated genocide from a far-right government that is waging a war against the interests of its own people,” he said at a joint news conference with France’s President Emmanuel Macron.

While Lula has previously used the term “genocide” to characterise Israel’s actions in Gaza, Macron has refused to, saying last month it was not for a “political leader to use the term but up to historians to do so when the time comes”.

Israeli army raids school, demolishes homes in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have raided the al-Tahadi school in the Ibziq village, northeast of Tubas, in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

The chief of the village said that Israeli soldiers stormed the school and filmed there while also taking pictures of residents’ tents in the area, the report added.

Meanwhile, the refugee camps of Tulkarem and Nur Shams remain under Israeli control after the army launched a major operation in the north of the Palestinian territory nearly four months ago.

In the past 24 hours, according to a separate Wafa report, Israeli forces conducted raids and arrests in Tulkarem while they carried on with the demolition of more than 20 buildings in Nur Shams camp.

“This is part of an Israeli plan to demolish 106 buildings in the city’s two camps (58 in Tulkarem and 48 in Nur Shams), with the aim of clearing roads and changing the geographical features of the two camps,” it added.

Israeli media quote security source saying Netanyahu armed Palestinian group, rival to Hamas

We reported earlier that former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had accused Netanyahu of arming a Palestinian gang, a rival of Hamas.

Quoting a defence security source in a report that was allowed for publication by the Israeli army censor, The Times of Israel said Israel provided Kalashnikov rifles – seized from Hamas during the war – to an armed group “to strengthen opposition groups in the Strip”.

The group is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a clan in southern Gaza, the report said, adding that it operates in an area in Rafah under the control of the Israeli army. The sources said the arming of Abu Shabab’s group was carried out without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet.

In a separate report, Haaretz newspaper said satellite images and online videos show how the new armed group has expanded its presence in southern Gaza. The report said Abu Shabab launched two Facebook pages with anti-Hamas and anti-Palestinian Authority messages, promoting the group’s efforts and saying it aimed to provide security and distribute aid to civilians.

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it will reopen two aid distribution centres

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said it will reopen two aid distribution centres today, Reuters has reported.

The organisation on Wednesday said it suspended operations due to maintenance and repair work. It did not say when aid distribution would resume.

The group has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, as hundreds of Palestinians were killed and wounded while seeking aid at its distribution points.

At least 38 people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today

This new death toll has been given to our team on the ground from medical sources at Nasser, al-Ahli and al-Shifa hospitals.

‘Forgotten by the world’: Disability worsens sisters’ struggle in Gaza

Inside a stifling tent in Shati, one of Gaza’s overcrowded displacement camps, 30-year-old Raneem Abu Al-Eish cares for her sisters, Aseel, 51, and Afaf, 33.

They sit close to Raneem, laughing at times and at others growing agitated when the cries of children playing outside get too loud.

Aseel and Afaf suffer from celiac disease and intellectual disabilities that impair their speech, understanding, and behaviour – conditions that have only deepened under the strain of war and displacement.

They struggle to express themselves, often overwhelmed by their environment, Raneem explains. While she doesn’t know the medical term for their condition, the symptoms at times mirror Tourette syndrome.

Read the full story of the sisters here.

In case you’re just joining us …

Let’s get you up to speed on the latest developments:

• At least 70 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the enclave’s Health Ministry says.
• Israel has bombed Gaza City’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital, killing at least three journalists and critically wounding a fourth.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli army has recovered the bodies of two captives, Judy Weinstein-Hagi and Gadi Hagi, in Gaza.

Doctor at al-Ahli Hospital says ‘no choice’ but to continue working despite attacks

Fadel Naim, a doctor at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, said the medical facility targeted by the Israeli army for the eighth time this morning had been reopened just two weeks ago.

“Suddenly, we heard a big explosion,” Naim said of the drone attack. Six people were killed, including at least three journalists and two of their relatives, and about 40 others were wounded.

Naim, who spoke to Al Jazeera via phone from Gaza City, said the staff decided to continue working. “We have no other choice, we are the only hospital in the northern part of Gaza,” he said.

Hamas condemns Israel’s latest attack on a Gaza hospital

The Palestinian group says in a statement that Israel has committed a “new crime” against Palestinians in Gaza.

As we’ve been reporting, at least three journalists were killed and a fourth critically wounded when Israel carried out a direct attack on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

“The occupation’s targeting of journalists is a systematic crime aimed at silencing them and obliterating their testimony to its crimes.

“We call on the international community to take urgent action to protect journalists and hold the occupation accountable for its ongoing crimes,” Hamas said in its statement.

Netanyahu allegedly approved arming Palestinian gang opposed to Hamas: Report

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has released a report saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the arming of a Palestinian gang in Gaza that opposes Hamas.

That happened without the knowledge of the cabinet, the report said, adding that the matter was revealed in an interview with Avigdor Lieberman, former defence minister, and leader of the opposition party Yisrael Beytenu.

Asked to respond to Lieberman’s comments, the office of the prime minister did not confirm nor deny the allegations, saying that Israel “is working to defeat Hamas in various and varied ways, on the recommendation of all heads of the security establishment”, according to the report.

Fatal attack on south Gaza

Medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital have told our colleagues on the ground that at least one person has been killed in the al-Satr al-Gharib area of the city.

Photos: Mourners carry body of journalist killed in Israeli attack on al-Ahli Hospital

Death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza rises

The Gaza Health Ministry has said in a statement that the number of people killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 54,677, with 125,530 wounded.

At least 70 people were killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry says, and 189 wounded people were admitted to Gaza hospitals in that same period.

Israeli settlers set fire to homes with people inside in West Bank village

Israeli settlers have set fire to homes while families were still inside, according to Palestinian media reports about an arson attack on a village in the occupied West Bank.

Son of Israeli captives urges focus on those still held in Gaza

Ahl Haggai, the son of the two Israeli captives whose bodies were retrieved earlier this morning, told Israeli media that their return “shines a spotlight” on the remaining captives still held in Gaza and on the efforts to bring them home.

There are more than 50 Israeli captives still held in the Strip, most of whom are believed to be dead. Their families have been mounting weekly protests to pressure the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal with Hamas for their release.

The latest round of negotiations faltered after Hamas demanded amendments to a US proposal to include a permanent end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza – conditions Israel has rejected.

Pieces of flesh scattered at al-Ahli Hospital after journalists killed

Once again, we’ve seen a hospital turned into a killing box – for journalists this time.

Earlier, there was an unpredictable attack and a group of journalists inside the al-Ahli Hospital were hit as they were setting up makeshift tents to protect themselves from the heat. This is the eighth time the hospital has been hit.

Three of the journalists were reported killed on the spot, and pieces of flesh were left scattered on what once was a manicured garden at the medical facility.

One more journalist was reported with serious injuries and is now undergoing surgery inside the hospital with minimal supplies.

There are other serious injuries due to the shrapnel. These drone missiles are lethal because they are packed with nails and pieces of metal. When they explode, they pierce through the body and cause severe bleeding.

What is the Madleen?

It’s a ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), aiming to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The vessel, with its 12-person crew including climate activist Greta Thunberg, is expected to reach Gaza on June 7.

The boat has set sail in response to Israel’s total aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of children due to starvation. More than 90 percent of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are facing acute food shortages, according to aid groups.

The Madleen, named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1, just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another FFC aid ship, off the coast of Malta.

You can read all updates related to its journey on our live page, here.

Pro-Palestine protesters in UK call for Israel arms embargo, sanctions

Pro-Palestine campaigners have rallied against Israel’s punishing war on Gaza, gathering outside the British parliament in London and demanding a full arms embargo and that hard-hitting sanctions be imposed on the Israeli government.

Wednesday’s march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took weekly questions from parliamentarians.

At least 23 killed in Israeli attacks since dawn

At least 23 people have been killed in Gaza since dawn, our colleagues have reported.

The toll combines the number of casualties registered by the Nasser, al-Ahli, and al-Shifa hospitals.

Israel-US aid system turned Gaza into ‘human abattoir’, former UN spokesperson says

The Israeli-US aid operation has turned Gaza into a “human abattoir”, or slaughterhouse, former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness has said, in a reference to distribution sites operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

“Hundreds of civilians are herded like animals into fenced-off pens and are slaughtered like cattle in the process,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced a full day’s closure on Wednesday, saying that operations would resume after the completion of maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites. It comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid, killing at least 27 people and injuring about 90, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The closure has extended into today.

The former UN official cast doubt on the reason for the suspension, saying its work had been halted “because it has rightly sparked international outrage and condemnation”.

Asked about the UN Security Council resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza that was shot down on Wednesday, Gunness said Washington’s veto showed “the complete isolation of Israel and America – not just from the rest of the Security Council, but from the rest of humanity”.

“The international community must impose economic and military sanctions immediately,” he added.

Death toll in al-Ahli Hospital attack rises

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has bombed the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.

We can now report that at least four people have been killed in the attack, up from the three we previously reported.

At least three of those killed were journalists.

Hospital director says latest attack is 8th one by Israel

The director of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City confirms to Al Jazeera that Israeli forces hit the medical centre.

He said at least three people were killed and many were wounded in the attack, which is the eighth time Israel has bombed the hospital since the outbreak of its war on Gaza in 2023.

Three journalists killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City hospital

As we reported earlier, an Israeli drone attack hit the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City in the north of the enclave.

Colleagues from Al Jazeera Arabic are now reporting that at least three among those killed were journalists, including Ismail Badah and Sulaiman Haja.

Both used to work for the Palestine Today channel and were killed inside the hospital, they said.

We will bring you more information as soon as we get it.

Bodies of Israeli captives retrieved in Khan Younis: Israeli army

As we reported earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli army recovered the bodies of two captives, Judy Weinstein-Hagi and Gadi Hagi.

The military has now released a statement adding details on the operation:

• The bodies were retrieved in southern Khan Younis.
• The two were killed and abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.
• They were being held by the Mujahideen Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement.
• The couple were parents of four. Judy and Gadi were 70 and 72, respectively, at the time of their killing.
• The family was informed about the rescue of their bodies after authorities conducted an identification process at the National Forensic Institute.

Israeli raids continue in occupied West Bank

Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting several Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank:

• The military stormed the Balata refugee camp and the Rujeib area, east of Nablus, and surrounded a house. No arrests were reported.
• Soldiers conducted a raid in the town of Tuqu’, south of Bethlehem.
• Live ammunition was fired at several homes and vehicles during an overnight raid on the town of Bruqin, west of Salfit.

CNN investigation links Israeli gunfire to deadly shooting of Palestinians in Rafah

An investigation conducted by the US-based broadcaster points out that the Israeli army opened fire on Palestinians near a site set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as they were trying to get food on Sunday.

CNN spoke to a dozen witnesses who said Israeli soldiers shot at crowds in volleys of gunfire that occurred sporadically throughout the morning.

It also geolocated multiple videos that placed the gunfire near a roundabout where hundreds of Palestinians had gathered about 800 metres (half a mile) away from the militarised aid in Tal as-Sultan, in the southern city of Rafah.

While none of the videos show who fired the shot, said the investigation, weapons experts said the rate of gunfire was consistent with machineguns used by the Israeli army. Images of bullets retrieved from victims also matched weapons used by Israel, it added.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 31 Palestinians were killed and about 90 were injured in Sunday’s mass shooting. It comes as the GHF has been mired in controversies and loud criticism from humanitarian organisations and the UN, which has called the distribution mechanism a “death trap”.

Israel says it has recovered bodies of two captives

Israel’s military recovered the bodies of two captives, Judy Weinstein-Hagi and Gadi Hagi, who were held by Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.

“Together with all the people of Israel, my wife and I send our heartfelt condolences to the beloved families,” Netanyahu said. “Our hearts ache over this unbearable loss. May their memory be a blessing.”

He thanked the forces involved and vowed: “We will not rest until all our hostages—both the living and the fallen—are brought home.”

Three killed in Israeli strike on Gaza City

At least three people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the southern part of Gaza City, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting.

Medical sources at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, said several others were injured in the raid, which targeted a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Hamas slams US for vetoing UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire

The Palestinian group has condemned the US decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, saying it was the latest sign of Washington’s “blind bias” towards Israel.

“We strongly condemn the US administration’s defiance of the will of the entire world, as 14 of the 15 countries on the Security Council supported the resolution,” it said. “This arrogant stance reflects its disregard for international law and its complete rejection of any international effort to stop the Palestinian bloodshed.”

Hamas added that the move gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “green light” to “continue his brutal war of extermination against innocent civilians”.

It also argued that the UNSC’s inability to deliver aid to Gaza “raises fundamental questions about the role of international community institutions and the validity of international laws and conventions”.

US-backed GHF group extends closure of Gaza aid sites for second day

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a shadowy organisation backed by the United States and Israel – will not immediately resume distributing aid in the war-torn territory after a full day’s closure on Wednesday, saying that operations will restart when maintenance and repair work on its distribution sites is complete.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the GHF said its “distribution sites will not open as early as” Thursday morning and that it would “share information on opening times as soon as work is complete”.

The GHF also strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to “follow the routes” set by the Israeli military to “ensure safe passage”.

The suspension comes after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians seeking aid for a fourth time near a GHF distribution site in the southern city of Rafa on Thursday, killing at least 27 people and injuring about 90, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Read the full story here on what happened that day.

Freedom Flotilla Coalition continues sailing towards Gaza despite threats

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is continuing its voyage to Gaza despite Israel’s “threat” to attack its vessel, the Madleen, which aims to break Israel’s siege of the Strip.

The group said the ship was approached and circled by a drone on Wednesday night, followed by two others. “These actions raise serious concerns about whether Greece and/or the European Union is conducting surveillance on behalf of Israel,” it said in a statement.

Last month, a ship operated by the group was attacked twice with armed drones while on the preparatory stages before sailing to Gaza. The Conscience had been located in international waters off the coast of Malta.

Yasemin Acar, a member on board the ship, said: “We call on people of conscience, institutions, and governments to take action now: demand that Israel refrain from attacking the Madleen and defend life and dignity in Gaza.”

The ship and its 12-person crew, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, are expected to reach the enclave on June 7.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military had warned it would take measures against the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The Walla news site reported that Israeli navy commandos were preparing for the possibility of seizing the ship.

You can follow our live coverage of the group’s latest voyage here.

US stands ‘utterly isolated’ at the UN Security Council over Israel

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, has highlighted the growing isolation of the United States at the UN over its stance on Gaza.

He emphasized the contrast between Washington’s support for Israel and mounting global criticism, including from close allies like the UK, suggesting that the US has acted as a dam blocking ceasefire resolutions since October 23.

But, he says, that barrier is beginning to crack.

With rising international and domestic pressure, he sees a swelling current of opposition that may soon challenge US policy at the UNSC.

What happened at the UNSC during its Gaza ceasefire vote?

Yesterday, the United States vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for a permanent and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, the release of captives and the entry of aid.

It was the fifth time since October 2023 that the US has blocked a council resolution on the besieged Strip.

In remarks before the start of the voting, Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea made her country’s opposition to the resolution, put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council, painfully clear, which she said “should come as no surprise”.

“The United States has taken the very clear position since this conflict began that Israel has the right to defend itself, which includes defeating Hamas and ensuring they are never again in a position to threaten Israel,” she told the council.

Washington was the only country to vote against the measure, while the 14 other members of the council voted in favour.