Discover today’s global news headlines and insights into all the latest Current Affairs, Sports, Health, Weather, Entertainment, Business and Travel News from around the world.
Here’s where things stand on Friday, May 30 2025:
Here’s what happened today
We’ll be closing this live page soon. Here’s a look at the day’s main developments:
- A spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office warns that Gaza’s entire population is at risk of famine as Israel’s blockade has turned the enclave into “the hungriest place on Earth”.
- Israeli forces have shot at Palestinians seeking food at a US-backed distribution point in Gaza, injuring at least 20 people.
- At least 72 deaths and 278 injuries have been reported to Gaza hospitals over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry says, as Israel continues to pummel the Strip.
- US President Trump says a Gaza ceasefire deal is “very close” after a proposal was submitted to Hamas for review; the Palestinian group says it is still assessing the plan.
- The Israeli military has launched more raids across the occupied West Bank as Israel’s illegal settlement expansion plans continue to spur international condemnation.
Houthis designate flight paths leading to Yemen as ‘dangerous zones’
Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, claims there will soon be “good news about the Zionist enemy’s aircraft involved in the aggression” against Yemen.
He told Houthi-run Saba news website that the group’s air defence units “will soon turn the pride of the Zionist enemy’s aircraft into a source of mockery” without elaborating.
“For the safety of air and maritime navigation in the areas of operation of our armed forces, we have issued directives to designate the flight paths used by the Zionist enemy to attack our country as dangerous zones for all companies.”
Al-Mashat stressed that for their own safety, airlines must avoid navigating along paths used by Israel to strike Yemen.
Preparations under way to set sail for Gaza: Flotilla participant
Irish actor Liam Cunningham says the boat has arrived in Sicily as activists prepare to leave for Gaza in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade.
The effort has been organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a movement that seeks to draw attention to and help end the Israeli siege on Gaza.
An earlier attempt to reach Gaza at the beginning of May was aborted after another FFC vessel, the “Conscience”, was attacked by two alleged drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The FFC has accused Israel of being responsible for the attack, which severely damaged the front section of the ship.
Israeli aid scheme a ‘distraction’ from daily attacks, starvation: Professor
Pietro Stefanini, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, says the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation does not bring Israel any closer to meeting its obligations under international law.
As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a responsibility to provide and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the occupied population, including food and medicine.
“They are hoping to buy some time,” Stefanini told Al Jazeera, of the Israeli government.
“And with this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, use it as a sort of distraction to take away attention from the starvation, take away attention from the new military campaign they launched, and from the daily attacks and massacres on Palestinians.”
Israel to block West Bank visit of Saudi-led delegation of ministers: Reports
The Israeli government has decided to block a rare visit by a delegation of foreign ministers from mostly Arab countries to the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Turkiye were planning to meet with leaders from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah on Sunday.
The goal was to promote the establishment of a Palestinian state, especially with Saudi Arabia and France planning a UN conference next month to help advance a two-state solution.
But the Walla news website and The Times of Israel are now quoting unnamed Israeli sources as saying the visit will be blocked amid Israel’s efforts to combat the internationally-backed two-state solution.
Shooting incident leaves two killed in Kafr Qasim
Two men have been shot and killed in the city of Kafr Qasim, a mostly Palestinian-populated city located on the Israeli side of the Green Line that separates Israel and the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency said the killings, which took place outside a restaurant, come amid “inaction” by Israeli police and a lack of serious government plans to combat crime in the area, which has mostly affected Palestinian citizens of Israel.
This brings the death toll from such shootings inside Israel to five in the past day alone, and to 99 since the beginning of the year.
Shooting incidents inside Israel killed 221 in the Palestinian community last year, and 222 in 2023.
‘Safe to say there is famine’ in Gaza: UN expert
Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, says he came to that conclusion because a formal recognition of famine relies on having access to people – but Israel is blocking independent experts from assessing the situation in Gaza.
Fakhri said a more important question than whether famine has already taken hold in the territory is how to ensure that the Israeli government allows humanitarian aid to enter Gaza immediately.
Describing the US- and Israeli-backed food distribution scheme that began this week as a means of control, Fakhri told Al Jazeera that Israel is using aid “as bait to corral people” and push them out of the north and into militarised zones.
“It’s about humiliating people, and it’s about controlling the population. This has nothing to do with stopping starvation,” he said.
“The danger is that this is a situation where the United Nations and other international humanitarian organisations are being sidelined. This might set a dangerous precedent for the future in which aid will be militarised in other contexts.”
Qatar condemns Israel’s approval of 22 new settlements in West Bank
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned Israeli authorities’ approval of the construction of 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The ministry said in a statement that the move signifies a “blatant violation” of international resolutions, especially UN Security Council resolution 2234 that deals with Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories, along with an infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people.
Qatar said Israel must halt its settlement policies in the occupied territory, and reaffirmed its commitment to the two-state solution.
Earlier today, the Arab Parliament and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation also condemned the move.
One killed, three injured in Israeli attacks on Syria: Reports
Syrian state media is reporting that one person was killed and three others injured in an Israeli air strike on the coastal city of Latakia.
The SANA news agency said earlier that the Israeli military targeted three sites in the countryside of the Latakia and Tartous governorates.
Is a Palestinian state being derailed by Israel’s illegal settlements?
Israel has announced plans to establish 22 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank in what Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says is a push to stop a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues its expanded offensive in the occupied West Bank, destroying homes, roads and facilities such as waterways and hospitals – and essentially making areas unliveable.
And settler violence – including the destruction of crops and trees – is at an all-time high, according to the UN.
What does this mean for millions of Palestinians? And is a Palestinian state now becoming nearly impossible?
More than 12,000 Palestinians taken prisoner by Israel from Gaza: Monitor
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office reports that after 700 people in Gaza were detained by Israeli forces in May alone, the total number of those taken from the enclave since the start of the war has exceeded 12,000.
More than 3,500 Palestinians from Gaza remain incarcerated, while at least 44 people from Gaza have died in prison, the monitor said.
Israel is holding 1,846 people as so-called “unlawful combatants”, which strips them of any legal rights.
In total, Israel is holding 3,577 people under “administrative detention” without charge. Many prisoners have reported being tortured or starved in detention.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed on the latest developments:
- US President Trump says he believes a Gaza ceasefire deal is “very close” and that an announcement could be made later today or tomorrow.
- UN chief Guterres’s spokesperson says armed people stormed warehouses at a field hospital in central Gaza and looted “large quantities” of medical equipment and other supplies destined for malnourished children.
- Israeli forces have carried out a series of raids across the occupied West Bank, including in Palestinian communities near Ramallah and Nablus.
- Barcelona’s city council has voted to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians.
Qassam Brigades releases video of sniper, explosive attacks on Israeli soldiers
The armed wing of Hamas has released the footage of attacks on invading Israeli soldiers in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the besieged enclave.
One video shows an Israeli soldier being hit by sniper fire from a fighter with the Qassam Brigades, with another showing an explosive device detonating as Israeli forces advance.
The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, also reported launching mortar shells against Israeli soldiers and vehicles in an area southeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
‘Aid being sent makes mockery of mass tragedy’ in Gaza: UNRWA chief
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), says political will is needed to stop “the current mass starvation” in the Gaza Strip.
“We are not asking for the impossible. Allow the UN including UNRWA & humanitarian partners to do our work: assist people in need and preserving their dignity,” he wrote in a post on X.
Lazzarini also noted that the aid that has been allowed into Gaza so far amounts to just more than 10 percent of residents’ daily needs.
Israeli army says it bombed Syria’s Latakia region
The Israeli military has said it hit weapons storage facilities in the coastal Syrian province that “posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime” navigation.
The army added that it “will continue to operate to maintain freedom of action in the region” in response to purported threats.
Syria’s Alikhbaria state TV reported that an Israeli air raid targeted the town of Zama southeast of the city of Latakia, on the country’s Mediterranean coast.
Israel has carried out frequent attacks in Syria since the ouster of longtime President Bashar al-Assad in December of last year.
We’ll bring you more on the latest strikes when we can.
Houthis mobilise large pro-Palestinian rally in Yemen’s Sanaa
Thousands of Yemeni people have once again demonstrated in capital Sanaa in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Crowds held up large Palestinian flags during the Houthi-backed protest and chanted against the “criminal entity” in reference to Israel.
As we reported earlier today, the Houthis launched another ballistic missile towards Israel in opposition to the war, which was intercepted by the Israeli military.
Trump must end Gaza aid scheme, back UN agencies: CAIR
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has urged US President Donald Trump’s administration to end its support for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid deadly violence and chaotic scenes at aid distribution points this week.
“It is obvious that putting the task of distributing food and aid to the people of Gaza in the hands of the Israeli government and American mercenaries has been a terrible idea and a complete failure,” CAIR said in a statement.
“Opening fire on starving people as they desperately seek food is a level of criminality that cannot be tolerated,” it added.
“We call on President Trump to end the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and return the task of distributing food and aid to international organisations like UNRWA and others qualified to do so.”
The UN and other leading humanitarian groups have also criticised the foundation for failing to adhere to humanitarian principles, such as independence and neutrality, and said they will not cooperate with its operations in Gaza.
Israeli forces launch more raids, settlers burn olive trees in West Bank
Israeli forces have raided the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya, located south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Local sources told the Wafa news agency that Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters in the area, sparking clashes. No casualties have been reported so far.
In Deir Ghassana town located northwest of Ramallah, two Palestinian brothers were arrested by Israeli soldiers who raided their home.
Also in Ramallah, Israeli settlers are continuing work on establishing an illegal outpost close to the village of al-Mughayyir, where Israeli forces earlier today detained a number of worshippers in the local mosque.
Israeli settlers also launched an attack on Palestinian lands in Sinjil town north of Ramallah, setting fire to olive trees.
Cancer patients face ‘slow death’ in Gaza as hospitals shut down
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has raised alarm over a lack of cancer treatment in the Gaza Strip after the European Hospital in Khan Younis went out of service amid Israeli attacks this month.
“With this heinous crime, Israel has extinguished the last glimmer of hope for Gaza’s cancer patients to access treatment within the Gaza Strip, sentencing them to a slow death,” the group said in a statement.
PCHR noted that the Palestinian Ministry of Health said this week that “intravenous chemotherapy services and medical follow-up for cancer patients have completely ceased” in Gaza due to the European Hospital’s shutdown.
It said it holds Israel responsible for the deaths of cancer patients, and called on the international community to take action to guarantee the freedom of movement for patients to seek treatment outside of Gaza.
Lebanon says normalisation with Israel can only come with Palestinian state
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said normalisation with Israel can only come after the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In a post on X, Salam’s office said Beirut was committed to the two-state solution and no agreement would be possible until that objective is achieved.
UN spokesperson says nearly 200,000 displaced in Gaza in last two weeks
Stephane Dujarric, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson, has told reporters that Israel’s displacement orders cover all of Gaza’s northern and southern governorates, and eastern parts of the Strip.
Dujarric also said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners were only able to bring five truckloads of aid into Gaza on Thursday.
“The other 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area,” he said during a briefing at UN headquarters in New York.
“The limited amounts of aid entering the Strip are nowhere near sufficient to support the 2.1 million people in desperate need of assistance. As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety break down, looting incidents continue to be reported.”
He added that a group of armed people stormed warehouses at a field hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza today, “looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, [and] nutritional supplements that were intended for malnourished children”.
Palestinian foreign affairs ministry calls for international mechanisms to halt annexation plans
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Israeli settlement expansion into the occupied West Bank requires an “effective international mechanism to halt annexation plans”.
It added that announcements of major expansions such as the approval on Thursday of 22 new settlements are part of an Israeli attempt to destroy the two-state solution, in “blatant disregard” for UN resolutions and international law.
Trump says ‘very close’ to Gaza ceasefire deal
The US president has said he believes his administration will have an announcement later today “or maybe tomorrow”.
“We have a chance of that,” he told reporters from the Oval Office.
The White House said yesterday that Israel has “signed off” on a ceasefire proposal that the US sent to Hamas for consideration.
The Palestinian group said it is still evaluating the plan. As we reported earlier, Hamas said in a statement today that it is consulting with other Palestinian groups and factions on the ground in Gaza on the proposal.
A Hamas official said yesterday that the US-backed plan its current form would only result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.
Barcelona ends ‘friendship agreement’ with Tel Aviv over war on Gaza
Barcelona’s city council has voted to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians.
The motion, supported by the governing Socialist party along with far-left and leftist pro-independence groups, calls for an end to all official relations with Israel “until respect for international law” and the “basic rights of the Palestinian people” are restored.
Barcelona will also suspend a 1998 friendship agreement with Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and it urged the trade fair organiser Fira de Barcelona not to host Israeli government pavilions or companies involved in the arms trade or profiting from the conflict in Gaza. A similar recommendation was made to the Port of Barcelona.
“The suffering and death in Gaza over the past year and a half, and recent attacks by the Israeli government, make any relationship unviable,” Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni said during the council session.
It is not the first time Barcelona has moved to suspend ties with Israel. In 2023, then-mayor Ada Colau took similar steps, which were later reversed when Collboni won local elections.
UN envoy slams Israel’s ‘brutal humanitarian camouflage’
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, has accused Israel of deliberately misusing humanitarian language to facilitate “the commission of atrocity crimes in Gaza”.
“Israel pretends to promote humanitarian solutions in order to continue its control of Gaza and sustain its systematic denial of life-saving humanitarian aid to the starving population in the besieged strip,” Albanese said in a statement.
“It is a deliberate strategy – aimed at masking atrocities, displacing the displaced, bombing the bombarded, burning Palestinians alive and maiming survivors,” she said.
“All camouflaged behind the language of aid, to divert international attention from legal accountability, in Israel’s attempt to dismantle the very principles upon which humanitarian law was built.”
Thousands join pro-Palestinian rallies across Afghanistan
Thousands of people across Afghanistan have participated in rallies organised by the Taliban in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Demonstrators gathered in Kabul and other cities, chanting and waving Palestinian flags while burning images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Banners were erected in provinces across the country, reading slogans like “Save Gaza” and objecting to the mass killing of children and civilians.
Taliban Prime Minister Hassan Akhund condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza in a statement earlier today, labelling them a “genocide” and expressing concern over the killing of civilians.
Gaza death toll may be much higher than reported, new research shows
A new study suggests the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza may be much higher than official figures.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Touissate spoke to Francesco Checchi, one of the researchers involved in a statistical analysis, who says the number could be as high as 95,000.
Israel’s national security minister mocks Macron over Gaza criticism
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right Israeli national security minister, claims “Macron plays into the hands of Islamic terrorism”.
“His flattery of Hamas will not end with a simple slap upon exiting the plane, and even a helmet will not help,” he wrote on X in reference to Brigitte Macron appearing to slap the French president in the face upon arrival in Vietnam earlier this week. He also posted an AI-generated image of Macron wearing a helmet while standing next to his wife.
In the online post, which was published in French, Ben-Gvir also said “Islamic terrorism will explode in the faces of all French citizens”.
“By the time Macron understands this, it will be too late. Citizens of France, wake up.”
Ben-Gvir is among the most extreme ministers in the most far-right government in Israel’s history, and has long been advocating for blocking all aid entering Gaza and fully occupying the Palestinian territory.
German minister says future weapons deliveries to Israel will depend on Gaza situation
Germany will decide whether to approve new weapons shipments to Israel based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Wadephul questioned whether Israel’s actions in Gaza are in line with international law.
“We are examining this and, if necessary, we will authorise further arms deliveries based on this examination,” he said.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed on the latest developments:
- Medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital tell Al Jazeera that two people were killed and several wounded in Israeli raids on the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah.
- The death toll in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023 has risen to at least 54,321, according to Health Ministry figures.
- As Gaza’s hunger crisis deepens, Hamas has called on Arab and Muslim countries to send aid convoys to the Strip in an effort to pressure Israel to provide assistance to Palestinians.
- Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lashed out against Emmanuel Macron after the French president said Paris could impose sanctions on Israeli settlers if the country continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Hamas armed wing says targeted Israeli troops near Khan Younis
The Qassam Brigades say they have carried out a joint military operation against Israeli forces with the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds Brigades.
The group said it fired an anti-personnel grenade at a building housing Israeli troops in an area southeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the incident. We’ll bring you more when we can.
Israeli military arrests dozens, seizes money in occupied West Bank raids
The Israeli military reports that its forces carried out numerous raids across the occupied West Bank this week.
The army arrested 80 “wanted individuals” and confiscated several weapons, as well as seven million shekels ($2m) in “terrorist funds”, it said.
In preparation for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot that starts on June 1, the Israeli military also reported reinforcing its forces across the occupied West Bank with “several combat companies”.
Hamas says it is consulting with Palestinian groups in Gaza over Witkoff’s proposal
Hamas has released a statement saying it is consulting with other Palestinian groups and factions on the ground in Gaza over a temporary ceasefire proposal put forward by the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The statement comes after an official from the Palestinian group earlier said the proposal its current form would only result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.
Photos: Palestinians reel from overnight Israeli strike on Jabalia
Macron threatens sanctions on Israelis over Gaza aid crisis
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that his country could “apply sanctions” against Israelis unless the government in Tel Aviv responds to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Speaking during a visit to Singapore on Friday, Macron said the international community could not remain passive while Palestinians in Gaza face a deepening hunger crisis. The comments raise further the international pressure building on Israel, which has blockaded the Palestinian enclave for close to three months, with aid agencies warning of famine.
“The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground,” Macron said at a joint news conference alongside Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
“If there is no response in the coming hours and days in line with the humanitarian situation, we will have to harden our collective position,” he added, suggesting that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.
Read the rest here.
Qassam Brigades targets ‘undercover’ force in Rafah ambush
The armed wing of Hamas has released a video showing a group of masked and armed men being hit with planted explosives in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Qassam Brigades said the men, identified as “undercover” armed forces working for Israel, had been helping Israeli soldiers clear homes and tunnels during their incursions across Gaza.
It added that they “worked alongside enemy soldiers” and were assigned tasks including booby-trapping homes and monitoring areas before Israeli troops entered them.
At least 14 killed in Israeli attack on eastern Khan Younis
The Israeli attack hit tents where displaced Palestinians took refuge in the city in southern Gaza.
The death toll since dawn today has now risen to more than 30 people.
We’ll bring you more on this when we can.
‘I don’t think we can ever forgive ourselves for letting this happen’
Christos Georgalas, a doctor who has volunteered at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, says Israel is carrying out “a war against children”.
“The vast majority of the victims that I treated, the trauma patients, were children. I’m talking about children [who are] 6, 8, 9, 10 years old,” he told Al Jazeera from the Greek capital, Athens.
Georgalas praised the resilience of local Palestinian doctors and health workers, who have been “selflessly and tirelessly” working to treat people in Gaza in extremely difficult conditions.
“But on the other hand, I cannot unsee … the images of maimed, traumatised, killed children,” he said. “It’s something that I don’t think we can ever forgive ourselves [for] – for letting this happen.”
Palestinians seeking aid ‘walking into military base, not humanitarian site’
Operations at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started on Tuesday … [but] today there was no aid distribution going on. From the early hours of this morning, a lot of people showed up at the [three] sites where food was supposed to be distributed.
People were told there was not going to be food distribution [and] they were shot at by the Israeli military. They were chased by the quadcopters. As many as 20 people were reported with various injuries.
People are telling us that the sites that are managed and operated by the GHF are metres away from where the Israeli military is stationed. They can see the tanks, they can see the armoured vehicles. The armoured surveillance [is] around the clock, as they were waiting to get to the tables where the food parcels are available.
They say, “We are walking into a military base, not a humanitarian site”.
There are also reports of enforced disappearances. A lot of families reported that many of their children, many of their family members, who went to the sites … have gone missing as they were trying to get food.
It’s a combination of desperation, hunger and now the enforced disappearances – coupled with the ongoing shooting by the Israeli military.
‘US-Israel plan to instrumentalise aid is ineffective’: MSF
Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, has said the “disastrous start” to the food distribution coordinated by the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation confirmed that “the US-Israel plan to instrumentalise aid is ineffective”.
“Through this dangerous and reckless approach, food is not being distributed where it’s needed most but is instead directed only to areas where Israeli forces choose to amass civilians,” Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear said in a statement.
“This means the most vulnerable – especially the elderly and people with disabilities – have virtually no chance of accessing the food they desperately need.”
It added that “the claim that this unprincipled, failing mechanism is necessary to prevent the diversion of aid is false” and that the initiative appeared to be “a cynical ploy to feign compliance with international humanitarian law”.
Israeli foreign minister slams Macron for ‘crusade against the Jewish State’
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lashed out against French President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier Paris could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“President Macron’s crusade against the Jewish State continues,” it said on X. “The facts do not interest Macron.”
The ministry argued that there was no humanitarian blockade on Gaza and that asserting the contrary was “a blatant lie,” despite UN top officials and international organisations having repeatedly stated that Israel has blockaded all entry of aid since March 2.
“Instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state. No doubt its national day will be October 7,” it said, in a reference to Hamas’s attack on Israel on that day in 2023.
How is famine measured?
As we’ve been reporting, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said earlier today that “100 percent of the population of Gaza is at risk of famine” under Israel’s continuing blockade.
But how exactly is famine measured? According to the UN’s criteria, famine is declared when:
- At least 20 percent (one-fifth) of households face extreme food shortages
- More than 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition
- At least two out of every 10,000 people or four out of every 10,000 children die each day from starvation or hunger-related causes.
At least one Palestinian child casualty every 20 minutes in Gaza: UNICEF
The UN’s child rights agency (UNICEF) says more than 50,000 Palestinian children have been reported killed or wounded in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023.
“One child, every 20 minutes,” the agency wrote in a post on X.
“This is the destruction of childhood. Of life itself.”
Gaza faces unprecedented levels of ‘despair, hunger’: UN rep
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), has reiterated that the starvation crisis in Gaza has reached “levels that we never actually imagined were possible”.
“Levels of despair, and levels of hunger, and levels of this complete deterioration of human dignity,” Cherevko told Al Jazeera from Amman, Jordan.
As we’ve been reporting, a global hunger monitor said earlier this month that one in five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip faced starvation due to the Israeli blockade. The same report found that the entire population in the enclave faced the threat of famine.
“So far, we haven’t seen any significant changes” in Israel’s refusal to allow unimpeded deliveries of much-needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Cherevko said.
“Much more aid needs to enter to be able to address these concerns. And it’s not only food that needs to enter, but it also needs to be other supplies including things like cooking gas, fuel, shelter and other things that people need here to survive.”
![Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Gaza City, May 21, 2025. [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-05-21T142844Z_1989297323_RC2BMEA4HJAZ_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-1747845197.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C533&quality=80)
Death toll in Gaza since Israel’s war began reaches 54,321
We’ve gotten an update from the Health Ministry in Gaza, which says at least 54,321 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on the enclave since October 2023.
The ministry also reported that:
- Another 123,770 Palestinians have been wounded since October 7, 2023.
- At least 72 deaths and 278 injuries have been reported to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, not including hospitals in the north of the enclave.
- “A number of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads, unable to be reached by ambulance and Civil Defence crews.”
- Since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, at least 4,058 people have been killed and 11,729 others have been injured.
Hamas calls on Arabs, Muslims to send aid convoys to Gaza
The Palestinian group has issued a statement calling on Arab and Muslim countries to send aid convoys to Gaza in a bid to pressure Israel into providing relief to Palestinians.
“The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is entering a critical phase as a result of a widening and deepening famine, coupled with ongoing brutal massacres,” Hamas said.
It argued that the aid mechanism put in place by Israel and the US was a “criminal manipulation of civilian needs” as it served Israeli military goals.
The group also called on the UN Security Council to live up to its responsibilities and halt the aggression, break the siege and allow aid to enter Gaza through UN mechanisms.
Footage captures moment Israeli missile hits building in Gaza City
A Palestinian activist posted footage, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad, documenting an Israeli attack on a building in Gaza City.
The footage showed the moment the missile hit the building.
According to the activist, the building is in the Tuffah neighbourhood of the city.
Two killed in Israeli raids on Deir el-Balah
Medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital have told Al Jazeera that two people were killed and several wounded in Israeli raids on the city of Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
Photos: Palestinians flee in the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Gaza City
Pregnant woman lightly wounded in Masafer Yatta settler attack
A pregnant woman has suffered bruises and fainted following a settler attack on Masafer Yatta, an area near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank featured in an Oscar-winning documentary.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the 37-year-old woman was transferred to hospital after having been beaten by settlers.
In case you’re just joining us …
Here’s a recap of recent developments:
- At least 28 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources in Gaza hospitals have told Al Jazeera.
- Finland and Spain have become the latest to criticise Israel over its approval of 22 new illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, while France has threatened to change its diplomatic stance towards Israel if it does not allow aid into the Gaza Strip.
- At least 20 aid seekers have been shot and wounded by Israeli troops as they approached the newest aid distribution point opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in central Gaza.
- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth”, as Israel is only allowing in a trickle of aid into the Strip.
- Israeli settlers have blocked aid trucks attempting to cross into Gaza at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing.
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Israel intensifies attacks on northern Gaza as Hamas considers ceasefire proposal
Israel has issued new forced displacement orders for residents of northern Gaza. Families were forced to wait until sunrise to begin escaping as Israel intensifies its ground operation in the area.
This escalation coincides with the US-brokered ceasefire proposal that outlines a 60-day truce and a phased prisoner exchange with Israeli captives.
Hamas has not delivered its response yet, but the intensification of Israel’s military campaign could be seen as an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to back down and agree to this proposal.
Today’s death toll in Gaza rises again
At least 28 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources in Gaza hospitals have told Al Jazeera.
Israel is continuing its relentless attacks on the north of the Strip where the Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders earlier today.
Katz pushes back against Macron’s warning
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron, after France said it could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“This is a historic moment for settlement, a crushing answer to the terrorist organisations and a clear message to Macron and his friends: you will recognize a Palestinian state on paper and the paper will be thrown into the dustbin of history,” Katz was cited as saying by Israeli media, while on a visit to the Israeli settlement of Sha Nur.
The minister further vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the territory.
Israeli army says it struck Hezbollah facility in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
The Israeli military has released a statement saying it struck an infrastructure site containing Hezbollah weapons in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon.
It added that the site had previously been destroyed but that the latest strike followed attempts to rebuild it.
No indication was given on the location of the attack, but Lebanese media reported that four Israeli air attacks struck the outskirts of the Bekaa town of Shmestar.
Local news outlets also said Israel carried out about 20 air strikes overnight on areas in south and east Lebanon, claiming they contained Hezbollah sites and weapons.
Finland condemns Israeli approval of new settlements
Finland has denounced Israel’s approval of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
“Settlements are illegal under international law,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said in a post on X.
“Creating deliberate obstacles to the two-state solution is unacceptable and runs counter to international efforts to advance peace.”
Desperate scenes as Palestinians shot at while trying to get aid
Israeli forces have opened fire on desperate civilians this morning, who have gathered on Salah al-Din Street in a desperate attempt to get food from recently established food aid distribution centres, run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
It’s desperate to see similar scenes every single morning.
At least 20 Palestinians have been reported wounded, according to medical sources. In a separate incident, one Palestinian was shot and injured by Israeli snipers close to Rafah city as he was approaching the designated distribution point.
The number of Palestinians killed in the past 72 hours while trying to get aid has reached 10, and such repeated incidents highlight the serious and severe dangers Palestinians face to get aid.
Israel aid blockade making Gaza ‘hungriest region on Earth’: UN
Israel is blocking all but a trickle of humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said, with almost no ready-to-eat food entering what its spokesperson described as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Spokesperson Jens Laerke said only 600 of 900 aid trucks had been authorised to get to Israel’s border fence with Gaza, and from there a mixture of bureaucratic and security obstacles made it all but impossible to safely carry aid into the region.
“What we have been able to bring in is flour,” he told a news conference. “That’s not ready to eat, right? It needs to be cooked … 100 percent of the population of Gaza is at risk of famine.”
Madrid condemns Israel’s approval of 22 new settlements
Spain has strongly condemned Israel’s recent approval of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning the move violates international law.
“The settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, undermine the viability of the two-state solution, and are a threat to peace,” Madrid’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Spain also expressed concern over Israel’s intensified military operations in the West Bank.
It additionally denounced the demolition of Palestinian homes, increasing settler violence and the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians – calling these acts clear violations of international humanitarian law.
“Peace in the region requires the realisation of a sovereign Palestinian state, comprising Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the ministry said.
The international community, including the UN, considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law.
New settler outposts reported in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have established new illegal outposts in the Umm al-Quba plain and in the Balata area, north of the town of Bruqin, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
Separately, the news agency said settlers from the Telem and Adora illegal Israeli settlements northwest of Hebron have organised a provocative march along Route 35, reaching the entrance to the town of Idhna, west of Hebron.
The march comes after the Israeli army closed all side roads to the town with earth mounds to prevent the movement of Palestinian residents.
Israeli soldier seriously wounded in southern Gaza battle: Army
The Israeli army reports that one of its soldiers was seriously injured during a battle in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
According to the army, a total of 858 soldiers have been killed since the start of its war in October 2023, including 416 in ground battles in Gaza.
Another 5,911 soldiers have been wounded, with 2,683 in ground offensives inside the enclave.
Israeli settlers block aid trucks enroute to Gaza
Activists and Israeli media published video on social media this morning showing settlers blocking the road in front of aid trucks near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom to Israelis) crossing between Gaza and Israel.
According to Israeli media, activists from the Tzav 9 movement and families of prisoners are blocking the passage of aid trucks into Gaza.
The scenes show several trucks stopped on the road.
‘Isn’t it enough that we’re deprived of food and drink?’
Palestinians fleeing Israel’s latest forced displacement orders, near the Daraj neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, are distraught at having to find refuge where there isn’t any.
“Where are we supposed to go if we’re forced to evacuate this school? There are 5,000 displaced people here – where will they go?” Palestinian resident Salameh Abu al-Bayad told Al Jazeera.
“Isn’t it enough that we’re deprived of food and drink? Now they want us to be out on the streets. What can I say? My only refuge is God.”
Al-Bayad said his situation is a “tragedy”, adding: “We’ve suffered so much. They talk about the Nakba of 1948, but this – this is the real Nakba.”
For Mohammad Abu al-Atta, death is better than being displaced again, he said.
“There’s no safe place at all. Where can we go?” al-Atta told Al Jazeera.
“We’re better off dying here than being displaced again, because death is more merciful than that. There’s bombing everywhere and the [Israelis] won’t let us live in peace.”
Freedom Flotilla Coalition to launch new expedition after drone attacks
The “Madleen” is due to disembark from Catania, Sicily, on Sunday in an attempt to reach Gaza and break Israel’s months-long blockade of Gaza.
The group said the vessel, named in 2014 after Gaza’s only fisherwoman at the time, would be moving forward despite repeated threats “because the world has waited too long to take bold action”.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham are expected to join the next sailing.
Earlier this month, drones attacked the previous aid ship, the Conscience, while in international waters, in what the coalition said was a “deliberate act of aggression and intimidation”. The coalition blamed Israel or one of its allies for the attack.
“We call on all governments to guarantee safe passage for our vessels and to uphold the basic principles of humanitarian law,” it added in its statement. “And we call on all people of conscience: do not look away.”
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Today’s death toll in Gaza rises
Medical sources tell Al Jazeera that at least 18 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza so far today.
The casualties are mainly coming from attacks on the north, where the Israeli military issued a spate of forced evacuation orders earlier today.
Two Palestinians killed in Israeli bombing in Jabalia
At least two people have been killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent.
Yesterday, Israel ordered the closure of al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, as deadly bombardment and starvation continue in the besieged enclave.
Israel intensifies attacks on northern Gaza as Hamas considers ceasefire proposal
Israel has issued new forced displacement orders for residents of northern Gaza. Families were forced to wait until sunrise to begin escaping as Israel intensifies their ground operation in the area.
This escalation coincides with the US-brokered ceasefire proposal that outlines a 60-day truce and a phased prisoner exchange with Israeli captives.
Hamas has not delivered its response yet, but the intensification of Israel’s military campaign could be seen as an attempt to put pressure on Hamas to back down and agree to this proposal.
Macron says France may toughen stance on Israel over Gaza aid
President Emmanuel Macron has said France could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is “creating a situation that is untenable on the ground”.
“If there is no response that meets the humanitarian situation in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will have to toughen our collective position,” Macron said, adding that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.
“But I still hope that the government of Israel will change its stance and that we will finally have a humanitarian response.”
No functioning hospital remains in Gaza’s north, says hospital director
After a siege on northern Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital for two weeks, Israeli troops have forced its staff and patients to evacuate it, says its director, Dr Mohammed Salha.
It was the last functioning hospital in the north, he told Al Jazeera.
“There is no one providing any medical services now,” Salha said.
“[We] evacuated the injured people and the patients with very difficult conditions,” he added.
Cases are being referred to Al-Shifa Hospital – a journey difficult for many due to constant Israeli bombing, the director said.
“So a lot of people are injured in the streets. A lot of people are killed, and they are murdered in the streets. Nobody can pick them up,” said Salha.
“There is no insurance in the northern Gaza Strip. So who is injured, he or she will die in the streets, and nobody can help them.”
20 Palestinians wounded while trying to reach aid centre
Sources at Gaza hospitals tell Al Jazeera that 20 people have been hit by Israeli fire while trying to reach an aid distribution point set up by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The distribution site, located near Israel’s Netzarim Corridor bisecting the Palestinian enclave, is the third to have been set up, after two distribution points were established in the southern city of Rafah.
Israeli army kills at least 4 Palestinians in latest attacks on northern Gaza
A woman has been killed and several people injured in an Israeli air raid on a house in Jabalia al-Balad, north of the Gaza Strip, our colleagues are reporting.
Sources in Gaza hospitals confirmed to Al Jazeera that three people were also killed in an Israeli air attack on the as-Saftawi area, north of Gaza City.
Israel expands illegal settlements in occupied West Bank, pressure mounts on Palestinians
As Israel continues its siege on the Gaza Strip, it’s also putting pressure on the occupied West Bank, with increasing raids and expanding illegal settlements.
The Israeli government has just approved 22 illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The UN says Israel demolished more than 1,700 Palestinian buildings and homes – and seized 24sq km (9sq miles) of land last year.
Palestinians need Israeli military permits to build any structure in 61 percent of the occupied West Bank – those are rarely approved.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim says the increase in illegal settlements is the largest in decades.
‘Destroy, kill’ Hamas: Ben-Gvir to Netanyahu
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is urging Netanyahu to focus on defeating Hamas, instead of a ceasefire agreement.
“Mr Prime Minister, after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again, there is no longer any excuse, for anyone, to continue with this shuffling in Gaza,” the minister said in a post on X.
“We have already missed enough opportunities. It is time to go in with all our might, to destroy, kill and lose Hamas.”