Israel ‘flattened vast areas of Rafah’, research group says
Forensic Architecture, a research group that documents rights abuses globally, says an analysis of conditions in Gaza shows that the Israeli military “has flattened vast areas of Rafah” in southern Gaza since March.
“The area that is being destroyed corresponds to a reported new ‘aid distribution area’ between the Morag and Philadelphi Corridors,” the group said in a post on X, referring to two tracts of land that the Israeli military has taken control of.
“To force the two million civilians still in Gaza towards the rubble of Rafah, since 18 March the Israeli military has been attacking civilians throughout the Strip – including the former ‘humanitarian zone’ in al-Mawasi.”
As we’ve been reporting, Israel has touted the creation of an alternative aid distribution plan – backed by the US – that would bypass the UN and other humanitarian agencies that have traditionally worked in Gaza.
The UN has rejected any proposed aid schemes that do not respect international law or humanitarian principles, such as independence and neutrality, and said it will not take part.
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) May 23, 2025
UN expert calls for end of Gaza blockade in Cannes
UN expert Francesca Albanese at the Cannes Festival called for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza completely instead of allowing aid to trickle into the war-torn territory.
“They must lift the blockade,” the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories said.
The Israeli defence ministry said 107 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, whereas the United Nations used to bring in 500 to 600 lorry-loads per day on average during a six-week ceasefire that broke down in March.
But Albanese said even that amount would not be enough, after UN agencies warned a two-month siege had left its population of more than two million people on the brink of famine.
“Even if we return now to the 500 trucks per day… it wouldn’t be sufficient because there are no stocks and the people in Gaza have nothing,” she told AFP on the sidelines of the festival.
“Israel needs to get out of Gaza,” she added.
Gaza children suffer as malnutrition crisis worsens after weeks of blockade
Doctors at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza are overwhelmed by a surge in the number of malnourished babies and children in urgent need of life-saving treatment.
Israel’s months-long blockade has left medicine, food and baby formula critically scarce.
