- Israeli forces bomb a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, causing a fire and killing at least 36 Palestinians, including several children.
- Spain urges the world to consider sanctions on Israel as it hosts foreign ministers from 20 European and Arab nations in Madrid to push for a two-state solution.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,939 Palestinians and wounded 122,797, 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.
‘Distressing, unbearable scenes’ as ‘chaotic’ Israeli attacks on Gaza escalate
The images coming out of the sites of Israeli strikes across Gaza are absolutely devastating and horrific.
The biggest attack over the past few hours was on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City that killed at least 36 Palestinians, according to medical reports.
Most of them were children and women.
Civil defence crews told Al Jazeera they spent hours searching through the rubble to pull victims from under the rubble. They said they managed to recover the charred bodies of a number of mothers and children, describing very distressing, unbearable scenes.
The school did not receive any kind of warning ahead of the strike, and people said the strike caused massive destruction, leaving parts of the building engulfed in flames that took hours to be extinguished by the civil defence crews who have been working tirelessly, using very outdated tools and their bare hands.
But this was not the only attack. Witnesses described a night filled with fear, in particular in northern Gaza, where another residential house was targeted without any warning shots – at least 19 Palestinians were killed, all members of the same family.
The house was completely levelled to the ground, with multiple missiles leaving no one surviving the attack, in a sign that the momentum of the Israeli attacks is escalating chaotically here in Gaza.
Elsewhere, we have received confirmation that Israeli military tanks encroached into the residential zones in the city of Khan Younis but this was done under very intensive aerial cover from Israeli drones and fighter jets, accompanied with artillery bombardment of residential areas.
The sound of explosions continues to echo across the entire central area, leaving everybody here in a state of panic and fear.
‘We know very little’ about mechanics of GHF: Save the Children director
The local and international humanitarian organisations and aid workers currently active in Gaza are “very clear and united in our position” of not engaging with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Rachel Cummings, humanitarian director at Save the Children.
The US and Israeli system to take over aid in Gaza does not correspond to the independent humanitarian principles based on which aid organisations operate, she told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“We know very little about the mechanics of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. We’ve been running humanitarian operations and delivery of humanitarian supplies since the beginning of the war for about 18 months. It is very complex, but are able to do it and we’ve demonstrated that over time,” Cummings said.
She described the environment in Gaza as a very complex one that requires established organisations with demonstrated experience.
“We know how to do our jobs, we need to be allowed to deliver services and supplies to populations in need across Gaza,” Cummings said.
Israeli forces arrest 11 Palestinians in series of West Bank raids
At least 11 Palestinians have been confirmed arrested during raids carried out by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since dawn, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office.
The monitor reported that two people were arrested in Tubas, where raids were reported in several neighbourhoods.
Two more were taken from Ramallah and el-Bireh, with a further six arrested in widespread raids across Hebron that were accompanied with the ransacking of many homes by Israeli soldiers.
In Dura, the wife of a wanted Palestinian was arrested in what the monitor called “a new attempt to pressure him to surrender”.
Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to celebrate ‘Jerusalem Day’
A large number of Israeli settlers have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and surrounding areas in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags, chanting, and performing Talmudic rituals.
Thousands gathered at the Western Wall in the early hours of the morning to perform prayers.
Settlers marched through the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City, going through the Muslim quarter to mark the so-called “Jerusalem Day”, which commemorates the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city after the 1967 war.
Thousands of heavily armed police and border police were dispatched in advance, as the settlers regularly assault, attack, and harass Palestinians and shops in the Muslim quarter.
Israeli military claims to have shot down rocket fired from Gaza
In a post on X, the Israeli military says it intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza before it crossed into Israeli territory.
Two other rockets fell in Gaza territory, the military claimed.
No place is safe’: UNRWA shelters in Gaza overwhelmed with displaced people
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says its shelters in Gaza are “overwhelmed with displaced people desperately seeking safety” even as “no place is safe and no area has been spared from hostilities”.
“Many families are sheltering in abandoned, unfinished, or damaged buildings,” UNRWA said, while others, “including children and pregnant women, are sleeping in the open”.
Sanitation conditions are also “dire”, UNRWA warned, with hundreds of people “having to share a single toilet”, in some cases.
GHF lacks ‘international legitimacy’
More from Patman, the professor at the University of Otago.
He told Al Jazeera that it is striking that the GHF’s executive director cited the organisation’s failure to adhere to humanitarian principles in his resignation letter.
“I think this initiative lacks international legitimacy in the eyes of some of the key stakeholders,” Patman said.
“The Israeli government makes no secret of the fact that it wants control of Gaza, and the Trump administration has already floated a proposal in the past which involved the displacement of the Palestinian population from Gaza,” the scholar said.
“So, in the eyes of much of the international community, the two parties who have contributed to the current situation now wish to take over the operation of humanitarian aid – when they have particular political goals in mind. And that does fuel suspicion and concern that this wouldn’t be a disinterested, impartial humanitarian operation,” he said.
“It’s not the best time to have a start-up when you actually have tried and trusted organisations which simply are not being given the tools to do the job,” Patman added.
Israel claims Gaza City school attack targeted ‘terrorists’
Using its usual justification, the Israeli military claims, without providing evidence, that the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza was a “command and control centre” for Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In a joint statement with the security agency, Shin Bet, it said the school-turned-shelter that was housing displaced Palestinians “was used by the terrorists to plan and gather intelligence in order to execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and [army] troops”.
Despite killing and burning to death at least 30 people, the statement said that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians”.
The Israeli military has bombed hundreds of such places sheltering forcibly displaced civilians since the start of the war in 2023.
Why did the GHF’s executive director resign?
We’ve been speaking to Robert Patman, a professor of international relations at the University of Otago, about the latest setback for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
He says Wood resigned because of a lack of support from key groups.
“Jake Wood has a background in humanitarian assistance, but dealing with natural disasters, and I think he realised that he wasn’t getting support from the organisations that he needed in order to make this US-Israeli initiative an effective, independent humanitarian organisation,” Patman said from New Zealand.
“It’s no secret that major aid donors had not been convinced by this proposal, which is essentially a start-up. And secondly, the UN, and particularly UNRWA, have been very cool in their response and have indicated they won’t cooperate,” he said.
Patman also noted that many aid groups have pointed out that there’s “no need for a new humanitarian organisation”, and that what’s needed is an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
Death toll at Gaza City school rises to 30
Medical sources have told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that the death toll from the Israeli bombing of the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi school has risen from 25 to 30.
The sources put the total number of people killed across the enclave since dawn at 50.
Palestinian Mujahideen Movement condemns ‘international silence’ after Gaza City school massacre
The Palestinian armed group says the deadly Israeli attack on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City is “a manifestation of the most heinous crimes against humanity caused by the criminal entity’s impunity for international accountability”.
“We condemn the international silence and Arab failure to address the ongoing genocidal and ethnic cleansing massacres in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the horrific massacre at the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza,” said the group’s statement published on Telegram.
It said that it holds the US administration and President Donald Trump “fully responsible for this brutal crime and all the crimes” committed by Israel against Palestinians, as “they continue to be a genuine partner in supporting and providing cover for the entity”.
The group also called on the Palestinians “to shake off the dust of inaction and impotence and stand up for the bloodshed in Palestine”.
Israeli bombardment kills 19 in northern Gaza
At least 19 bodies have been recovered after Israeli forces bombed a Palestinian family’s home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia al-Balad, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
We’ll bring you more soon.
GHF to begin aid deliveries in Gaza today
The embattled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has issued a statement expressing disappointment at the sudden resignation of its executive director, and announcing plans to begin distributing aid in Gaza today.
“We will not be deterred,” it said.
“Our trucks are loaded and ready to go. Beginning Monday, May 26, GHF will begin direct aid delivery in Gaza, reaching over one million Palestinians by the end of the week. We plan to scale rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead,” it added.
As we’ve been reporting, Wood resigned, citing the GHF’s lack of independence.
Children killed, wounded in Israeli attack on Gaza City school
Israeli forces have targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, killing at least 25 people.
In a separate attack, Israel also targeted a nearby tent camp, killing six members of a family.
Civilian casualties are mounting as Israel intensifies its assault. The latest attacks happened in the middle of the night, while people were sleeping.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed:
- The death toll from Israel’s attack on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza has risen to 25. The victims include children who were burned to death.
- The executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Jake Wood, has resigned, dealing a blow to the US and Israel’s plans to take over aid deliveries in the Strip.
- In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers severely assaulted and kidnapped a Palestinian man as soldiers continued raids across the territory.
- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned Israel’s blockade on Gaza as an “outrage”, saying that its excuses and explanations are “completely untenable and without credibility”.
- US President Donald Trump hints at “good news” on Gaza, saying his administration has been talking to Israel “to see if we can stop that whole situation”.
A recap of recent developments
- Israeli forces pound Gaza, killing 19 people in an attack on a school-turned-shelter in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City.
- The attack comes after a day of fierce bombardment that killed 30 others, including two Red Cross workers as well as a journalist and several of his family members.
- Spain urges the world to consider sanctions on Israel as it hosts foreign ministers from 20 European and Arab nations in the Spanish capital, Madrid, to push for a two-state solution.
- Malta says it will recognise the state of Palestine after a United Nations conference on June 20, calling the move a “moral responsibility”.
- US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is in Israel and has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express her unwavering support for his country.
- Yemen’s Houthis claim to have fired a missile attack towards Israel’s main Ben Gurion International Airport. The Israeli military says it intercepted the projectile.
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 Sunday, May 25, here.
