- At 28 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours, including eight killed in an attack on the home of Gaza journalist Osama al-Arbid in the northern Strip.
- Israeli warplanes have bombed Yemen’s Sanaa airport for the second time this month, as country’s defence minister vows more strikes.
- 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.
- 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.
UK and Irish writers pen open letter calling for Gaza ceasefire
Nearly 380 writers from the UK and Ireland have signed an open letter demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, labelling Israel’s actions in the enclave a “genocide”.
The letter, signed by high-profile writers including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan and Jeanette Winterson, called on the world “to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror”.
The letter also called for the immediate distribution of food and medical aid in Gaza, as well as sanctions on Israel.
“This genocide implicates us all,” it concluded. “We bear witness to the crimes of genocide, and we refuse to approve them by our silence.”
The letter comes a day after 300 French-language writers, including Nobel Literature prize winners Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio and Annie Ernaux, put their names to a similar letter decrying Israel’s actions.
On Monday, more than 800 UK-based legal experts, including former senior judges, wrote to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling for sanctions on Israel, and warning that “urgent and decisive action is required to avert the destruction of the Palestinian people of Gaza.”
PFLP urges global action to stop Israel’s war on Gaza
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has put out a statement regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Here are its translated comments:
- As the 600th day of the war of extermination passes, we call for an escalation of global and Arab popular anger to stop the aggression.
- The priority is to stop the aggression and break the siege on Gaza.
- This is the responsibility of the international community and humanity as a whole.
Gaza death toll rises
Israeli military attacks since the start of the war have killed at least 54,084 Palestinians and wounded 123,308 others, according to the latest update by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli army has killed 3,924 Palestinians and wounded 11,267 others since violating the ceasefire agreement on March 18.
The ministry added that 28 bodies and 179 injured people arrived at Gaza hospitals in the past 24-hour reporting period.
Pope Leo laments deaths of children in Gaza, appeals for ceasefire
The pope has called for an end to the onslaught in Gaza during a weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square.
“In the Gaza Strip, the intense cries are reaching Heaven more and more from mothers and fathers who hold tightly to the bodies of their dead children,” the pontiff, who was elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, said.
“To those responsible, I renew my appeal: stop the fighting,” he added. “Liberate all the hostages. Completely respect humanitarian law.”
Israeli air strike in central Gaza leads to casualties
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that an unspecified number of people have been wounded in an Israeli air strike on Nuseirat refugee camp.
At least 15 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
Israeli army says it confiscated $2m in West Bank money exchange raids
The Israeli army has said it confiscated more than 7 million shekels ($2m) during raids on money exchanges in the West Bank yesterday, which killed at least one Palestinian and wounded more than 30.
It added that 30 wanted individuals had been arrested during the military operation. On Tuesday, the army claimed it targeted foreign exchanges on suspicions that the shops supported “terrorism”.
Smoke above Yemeni capital after Israeli strikes
Video posted on social media and verified by Al Jazeera shows smoke rising above Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, following Israeli strikes on the city.
Israel said its air force hit Houthi targets at Sanaa International Airport on Tuesday. The strikes were also reported by Houthi-affiliated media.
The Houthis had launched missiles towards Israel yesterday.
Israel has been striking Yemen intensely in recent weeks, previously hitting Sanaa airport on May 6.
Malnutrition hindering recovery for Palestinians
UK-based surgeon Waseem Saeed expressed deep concern over the dire medical and nutritional shortages faced by Palestinians and medics alike. According to him, food plays a critical role in recovery, stating “the most important medical supply is nutrition”.
“It’s pointless operating on people if they’re not going to heal. And what you now have is a year and a half plus of people on very poor diets, very little nutritional food,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I consider myself a reasonable plastic surgeon, but I’d be lucky if I got 50 percent take on some of the skin grafts.
“You take stitches out at the normal time, and the wounds start to open up, so you have to put them back in. We are seeing the effects of this very poor state of nutrition,” he added.
Gaza hospitals inundated with patients suffering from injuries to multiple parts of the body
Waseem Saeed, a UK-based plastic and reconstructive surgeon who recently returned from his third humanitarian mission to Gaza, says there are “multiple mass casualty” events occurring in the war-ravaged coastal enclave.
“Previously, we would see them on a steady basis, but this time, particularly towards the end of my mission, every day there would be people coming in with horrific injuries, sometimes twice a day,” he told Al Jazeera.
He said treating the wounded was far more complex than most imagine, noting they had “multiple sites of injuries”.
“They have blast injuries to their lungs. They may have a head injury at the same time, they have abdominal or chest injuries. They almost always have limb injuries, amputations, partial amputations, and are often covered in shrapnel and frequently burned as well,” he said.
“Now each of those patients is going to require multiple specialities operating on them at different times, often several hours of surgery.”
Crisis in Gaza cannot be addressed by weaponising humanitarian assistance: Lazzarini
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has criticised the US-backed aid distribution mechanism led by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) during a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
“The crisis in Gaza cannot be addressed by weaponising humanitarian assistance, to apply political and military pressure,” he told reporters. “Aid must be brought in Gaza without obstruction.”
Commenting on the scenes of chaos on Tuesday, when the Israeli military fired shots at famished Palestinians who stormed a distribution site in southern Gaza, Lazzarini said the incident was “chaotic, undignified and unsafe”.
“I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities,” he said of the mechanism put in place by the US and Israel. “We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose. The humanitarian community in Gaza, including UNRWA, is ready.”
Mapping Israel’s military campaign in the occupied West Bank
Israel is applying many of the tactics used in its war on Gaza to seize and control territory across the occupied West Bank during its Iron Wall campaign, a new report says.
Israel launched the operation in January. Defending what the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) termed “by far the longest and most destructive operation in the occupied West Bank since the second intifada in the 2000s”, the Israeli military claimed its intention was to preserve its “freedom of action” within the Palestinian territory as it continued to rip up roads and destroy buildings, infrastructure, and water and electricity lines.
The report by the British research group Forensic Architecture suggested Israel has imposed what researchers call a system of “spatial control”, essentially a series of mechanisms that allow it to deploy military units across Palestinian territory at will.
Read more here.
Casualties following Israeli shelling in southern Gaza
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that two people were wounded by Israeli drone fire in the al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah.
More injuries were reported as a result of Israeli army attacks in the Qizan Rashwan area, south of Khan Yunis, also in southern Gaza.
Lack of water, electricity makes dry food aid unusable
Even if people here in Gaza managed to get their hands on humanitarian supplies, the lack of water and electricity turns these supplies into limited-use items – if not completely unusable.
It’s impossible to cook dry food like lentils, rice or pasta without water. If you had water, you would also need electricity or a fuel source, which have been completely cut off.
People resort to burning scrap wood or plastic to make a fire, but this is dangerous and unsustainable.
Also, the amount of aid that has been entering Gaza remains nowhere near the amount needed.
‘Whoever harms us will be harmed sevenfold’: Israeli defence minister
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has confirmed that the air force hit the Yemeni airport in the capital, Sanaa, to strike Houthi positions.
“This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we have established: whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay heavy prices,” Katz said, adding that the retaliation was part of a military operation dubbed “Golden Jewel”.
“The ports in Yemen will continue to be severely damaged, and the airport in Sanaa will be destroyed again and again, as will other strategic infrastructure in the region used by the Houthi terrorist organisation and its supporters.”
Katz said the Houthis would also face a naval and air blockade. “Whoever harms us will be harmed sevenfold,” he added.
UN reports 47 Palestinians wounded in aid distribution violence in Rafah, many by Israeli gunfire
A UN official says 47 Palestinians were wounded, mainly by gunfire, during the deadly aid distribution incident in Rafah on Tuesday.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territory, told reporters in Geneva that it appeared Israeli army fire had caused most of the injuries.
Earlier, authorities in Gaza said three people were killed, 46 were injured, and seven were missing.
Houthi media details Israeli strikes on Yemen
As we reported earlier, the Israeli military bombed Sanaa International Airport in Yemen’s capital.
Houthi-affiliated media network Al Masirah is now saying that four Israeli air strikes targeted the runway at Sanaa Airport and a Yemenia Airways plane.
The outlet did not make any mention of casualties resulting from the strikes.
How common is Israel’s use of human shields in Gaza and the West Bank?
A recent report by The Associated Press that exposed the Israeli military’s “systematic” use of Palestinians as human shields has shone the light on an illegal practice that has become commonplace over the 19-month war in Gaza and parallel offensives in the West Bank.
The report, published on Saturday, featured the testimonies of seven Palestinians who had been used as human shields in Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank, with two Israeli military officers confirming the ubiquity of the practice, which is considered a violation of international law.
Responding to the allegations, Israel’s military told the news agency that using civilians as shields in its operations was strictly prohibited and that several cases were under investigation.
So what are human shields? How widely have they been used by the Israeli military? And is Israel likely to launch a crackdown any time soon?
Read our explainer here.
Israel again hits Sanaa airport
The Israeli Air Force has hit Houthi targets at Sanaa International Airport in Yemen, the army has said 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 as-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.”