- At least eight people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the home of Gaza journalist Osama al-Arbid in northern Gaza, with at least 15 deaths across the Strip since dawn.
- At least three Palestinians were killed and 46 wounded after the Israeli military opened fire on crowds who rushed to an aid point run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
- Criticism of the organisation, backed by Israel and the United States, is growing, as the United Nations and major international NGOs say it does not abide by humanitarian principles and risks causing more death.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 54,056 Palestinians and wounded 123,129, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated its 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 of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Israel again hits Sanaa airport
The Israeli air force has hit Houthi targets at Sanaa international airport in Yemen, the army says in a post on X. Houthi affiliate media is also reporting strikes on the capital’s airport.
The Houthis launched missiles towards Israel yesterday.
Israel has been attacking targets in Yemen intensely this month, hitting the Sanaa airport on May 6 and the ports of Hodeidah and al-Salif last week.
We will bring you more on this as information comes in.
UNRWA calls for urgent access to Gaza as Palestinian children continue to suffer
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has drawn attention to the struggles of Gaza’s most vulnerable children, urging unrestricted access to the coastal enclave.
“The people of Gaza cannot wait any longer. Full humanitarian access must be allowed, including for UNRWA, to deliver life-saving aid,” it said in a post on X.
Thousands of children in Gaza were at risk of imminent death after a nearly three-month total Israeli blockade on the besieged enclave, which has caused famine, the UN warned earlier this month.
France wants Palestinian two-state solution, Macron says
The French president has reiterated his wish to see a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, claiming there are no double standards in French policy towards the Middle East.
Macron is leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state, diplomats and experts say, according to the Reuters news agency, a move that could infuriate Israel and deepen Western splits.
“Only a political solution will make it possible to restore peace and build for the long term,” Macron said, speaking from Indonesia.
“Together with Saudi Arabia, we will soon be organising a conference on Gaza in New York to give fresh impetus to the recognition of a Palestinian state and the recognition of the State of Israel and its right to live in peace and security in this region.”
Ties with Israel hinge on recognition of Palestinian state
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, is willing to recognise and open diplomatic relations with Israel if an independent Palestinian state is recognised by Tel Aviv, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has said.
Standing alongside visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, Prabowo said Israel’s security needs needed to be guaranteed, and that France would also continue to support steps towards independence for a Palestinian state.
Indonesia does not recognise or share any diplomatic relations with Israel.
Pro-Palestinian protests force Israeli ambassador to leave Senegal university
Yuval Waks was forced to leave a university campus in Dakar yesterday after students protested against his presence and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans, according to footage circulating on social media.
Waks had been invited to speak at a conference on international relations practices at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), the country’s largest and most prominent higher education institution.
But as he arrived, dozens of students gathered outside the hall, chanting “Free Palestine,” “Free Gaza”, and “Israel is a war criminal”.
Videos shared online show students waving Palestinian flags and booing the newly appointed envoy, preventing him from delivering his speech.
Starved Palestinians storm aid distribution area near Rafah
Chaos erupted at aid distribution centers in Rafah, southern Gaza, as the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started its operations on Tuesday.
The controversial US-Israeli organisation was brought in instead of UNRWA and other agencies for the delivery of aid to people
One killed in southern Gaza in Israeli drone attack
Our colleagues are reporting that a Palestinian was killed by Israeli drone fire in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Younis.
At least 15 people have been killed across the Strip since dawn, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
GHF-led aid distribution in Gaza faces criticism amid deadly rush
The deadly incident at the aid point in southern Gaza’s Rafah city has prompted widespread criticism, including from the United Nations and other aid groups.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the images and videos from the aid points set up by GHF were “heartbreaking, to say the least”.
“We and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally sound plan supported by member states to get aid to a desperate population,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Meanwhile, Hardin Lang, vice president for policy and programmes for Refugees International, said the US-Israel-backed aid initiative is run by military, rather than humanitarian, logic.
“This is not the way in which you try to feed a population, much less a population that is on the verge of famine,” he told Al Jazeera, speaking from Washington, DC.
For more reaction to Tuesday’s incident, read our story here.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian man during occupied West Bank raid
The Wafa news agency says Jassem Ibrahim al-Sada, 20, was killed during a raid on the town of Jit, near Qalqilya in the West Bank.
Members of his family told Wafa that Israeli soldiers broke down the door of their home and opened fire, killing the young man on the spot.
Israeli forces are very active in the occupied West Bank this morning, with large raids taking place in the towns of Zeita, Madama and el-Bireh, among others.
What happened at the aid point in southern Gaza yesterday?
- Thousands of Palestinians clambered over fences and pushed through packed crowds to reach life-saving supplies brought by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new group tasked with the delivery of aid to Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
- Amid the buzz of Israeli military helicopters overhead and gunfire rattling in the background, at least three people were killed and dozens were wounded at the aid point situated in Rafah, southern Gaza.
- Several people also went missing in the ensuing stampede, officials in Gaza said.
- Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israeli forces around the area “opened live fire on starving civilians who were lured to these locations under the pretence of receiving aid”.
- The Israeli military said its soldiers had fired warning shots in the area outside the distribution site and that control was re-established.
- Gaza had been under total Israeli blockade for close to three months, since March 2.
Israel bombs Gaza journalists’s home, killing at least 8
Our colleagues on the ground report that at least eight people were killed and others wounded when the Israeli army bombed the home of journalist Osama al-Arbid in the as-Saftawi area of northern Gaza this morning.
Al-Arbid reportedly survived the strike, with dramatic video showing him being pulled from the rubble of the house.
Medical sources have told our team that at least 15 people in total have been killed by Israeli attacks since the early hours of this morning across the Strip.
A recap of recent developments
Here’s what you need to know:
- Large crowds gathered in southern Rafah as the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) opened its first aid distribution point, with thousands of Palestinians storming past barricades in desperation for food after a three-month blockade.
- Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd during the chaos, with Gaza’s Government Media Office saying Israel’s military killed three people and wounded 46.
- The United Nations and other aid groups have roundly criticised the GHF’s aid distribution model, saying it doesn’t abide by humanitarian principles and could displace people further from their homes.
- Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for two missile attacks on Israel, saying they came in response to the storming of occupied East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound a day earlier by Israeli settlers.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello, and thank you for joining our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as its attacks on the occupied West Bank and the wider region.
Follow this page for round-the-clock updates and analyses of the latest developments.
You can read about key events from Tuesday, May 27, here.
