Main events on May 1st

Israeli military carries out air strikes near Syrian presidential palace in Damascus

Israel’s military said it attacked a target near the presidential palace in the Syrian capital Damascus, confirming an earlier report by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The military said Israeli warplanes attacked “the area near” Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s palace in the capital.

“This is a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow [Syrian] forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz.

The air strikes mark the second time Israel has struck Syria in as many days, following through on a promise to defend the minority Druze after dozens of people were killed in two days of sectarian clashes south of Damascus.

Clashes with the Druze broke out around midnight on Monday after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticising Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze scholar. But the scholar, Marwan Kiwan, said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims.

Syria says Israeli attack near presidential palace is ‘a dangerous escalation’

Syria’s presidency has said in a statement that an Israeli air raid near the presidential palace in Damascus was a “dangerous escalation”.

Israel’s military launched air attacks near Syria’s presidential palace in Damascus early this morning after accusing the Syrian authorities of failing to protect the country’s Druze minority from sectarian violence.

The attack was the second of its kind by Israel this week and is seen as sending a strong message to Syria’s transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had said in a joint statement that the attack was “a clear message to the Syrian regime: We will not allow (Syrian) forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community.”

‘Cynicism’ from Druze leaders as Israel launches new attack on Syria

The Israeli shelling hit in the vicinity of the presidential palace. The Israelis are calling it a warning shot, saying that the Syrian government needs to protect the Druze community.

But that’s actually been met with cynicism from senior Druze leaders, saying they actually don’t need Israel’s to help protect us, we can do this on our own, we are Syrians and we are going to deal with this in-house.

In Israel, the Druze community is very much discriminated against by the Israeli government. Their villages have been destroyed inside Israel to make way for Jewish settlements. So, it’s not like anybody is seeing Netanyahu’s words as now being the champion of the Druze leadership.

We have a new statement from the president’s office which strongly condemns the shelling by the Israelis, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the state and its institution. Intense negotiations have been taking place between the Syrian Druze community and the government and this has now led to a calming of tensions.

Nothing but lies as excuses to keep Syria in disarray. 

Four killed in Israeli air strike on southern Syria

At least four people have been in killed as a result of “Israeli aggression” in Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida governorate, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported.

It cited the Sweida governorate as saying that an Israeli military aircraft launched a strike targeting four people in the town of Kanaker.

Northern Israel under air attack warning as missile fired from Yemen

Missile threat alerts have been activated across parts of northern Israel and the port city of Haifa, according to Israeli media and online public awareness social media sites.

Israel’s military said a missile was launched from Yemen, and air defences were working to intercept the threat. Video clips shared on social media were said to show Israeli interceptor missiles streaking across the dawn sky in an attempt to destroy the Yemeni missile.

Israel says missile from Yemen intercepted

Israel’s military said it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen earlier today. The missile was destroyed before entering Israeli airspace, the military said, noting that several areas of the country had come under emergency air attack warnings.

Despite Yemen’s Houthi fighters having been hit by intense US attacks for more than a month with heavy casualties, the armed group continues to launch regular missile attacks on Israel. Houthi fighters also carried out months of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, saying that vessels owned or linked to Israel would be targeted in retaliation for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Debris from destroyed missile falls on nursery near Haifa: Report

שברי יירוט הטיל מתימן חדרו דרך גג של גן ילדים, שהיה ריק בזמן הפגיעה, בקיבוץ משמר העמק

אורלי אלקלעי

קרדיט: המועצה האזורית מגידו pic.twitter.com/3dnIQAwuIQ

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 2, 2025

Houthis claim missile attack on northern Israel

The Yemeni rebels have claimed responsibility for the strike near the city of Haifa this morning, saying they targeted an army base in northern Israel.

Their military spokesperson said in a televised statement that they launched a ballistic missile towards the Ramat David Airbase, which is located in the southeast of Haifa.

The Israeli army said earlier that hostile aircraft sirens were activated in Haifa and areas around the city at about 5:30am, adding that the missile launched from Yemen was intercepted.

Israeli army reports new missile attack from Yemen

The military says a missile was launched from Yemen into Israeli territory. It added that hostile aircraft alerts were activated in several areas in the north of the country following the attack.

“Interception attempts were made, the results of which are under review,” the statement on X added.

Israeli military continues assault on Jenin, Tulkarem refugee camps

The Israeli military has sent reinforcements to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank over recent hours, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.

Our colleagues report that Israeli forces are bulldozing and destroying parts of the camp, with entry prohibited and iron gates installed, as part of an ongoing “counterterrorism” operation in the area that has continued into its 102nd consecutive day.

The Jenin refugee camp, once a hotbed of Palestinian armed resistance, has been almost entirely emptied of its residents over recent months, with dozens of people killed in the process.

The Israeli military has also continued its assault on the Tulkarem refugee camp for the 96th consecutive day, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Security camera captures Israeli settler attack on Palestinian herders in occupied West Bank

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has shared chilling security camera footage of Israeli settlers – some armed with what appear to be assault rifles – raiding the tent encampment of the Palestinian Abu Sief family in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank.

In the video clip, about 10 masked settlers arrive in a white pick-up truck with a large Israeli flag and three all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). The pick-up rams a car belonging to the Palestinian family, and the settlers then set about stealing the family’s flock of sheep, smashing solar panels and windows, puncturing the tyres of a tractor, destroying and setting fire to tent tarps.

The attack took place on Wednesday night in the presence of guards from a nearby illegal Israeli settlement outpost, who arrived at the scene of the attack in a security ATV with red and blue emergency lights flashing.

Palestinian “community members tried to call the police, but no officers arrived”, B’Tselem said in a post on social media about the attack.

“Settler violence is state violence,” the group said.

On Wednesday, 30 April 2025, at around 10:20 P.M., about ten masked settlers, some of them armed, arrived in a white pickup truck and three ATVs at the tent encampment of the Abu Seif family, one of several Palestinian shepherding hamlets in south a-Nassariyah in the Hamrah area… pic.twitter.com/PfE9cEO7X6

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) May 1, 2025

Palestinian killed in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, sources have told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

Drone attacks Freedom Flotilla ship attempting to break Gaza blockade

An Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reports that the Freedom Flotilla activist group vessel was attacked by an Israeli [unconfirmed] drone off the coast of Gaza when attempting to break Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

Citing sources aboard the ship, Al Jazeera reports that the attack caused a fire. The crew sent a distress signal, which was responded to by the Cypriot navy.

The vessel is now reportedly anchored in international waters off the coast of Malta.

The Freedom Flotilla, formed by peace activists from several countries last year, uses a converted trawler to defy Israel’s blockade and attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.


_{Activists wash the deck of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship Handala as they prepare to sail for Gaza}


Activist ship with 30 people on board sinking after drone attack near Malta

Yasemin Acar, a media officer with the group, has now told CNN there is a “hole in the vessel” and the “ship is sinking”.

Acar said the ship was attacked off the coast of Malta in international waters, and it is now anchored 17km (10.5 miles) from the country. The crew has “sent out SOS calls to the surrounding countries” and a “small boat” from Cyprus has been sent to help, she added.

“We have 30 international human rights activists on that vessel at this very moment, on a vessel that is sinking,” said Acar.

Posting on X, the group said a drone attacked the ship twice at 00:23 Maltese time on Friday morning (22:23 GMT on Thursday night), breaching the hull and causing a fire to break out on board.

BREAKING: At 00:23 Maltese time, a #FreedomFlotilla ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. The ship is currently located in international waters near #Malta. An #SOS distress signal was sent. pic.twitter.com/J6oEQafuOb

— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 2, 2025

Activist ship cannot move due to fears of sinking, says group

All on board Gaza aid flotilla confirmed safe: Malta government

People on an aid flotilla for Gaza that was hit by drones in international waters off Malta overnight are “confirmed safe”, according to the Maltese government.

“The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported,” a statement said, adding that a nearby tug had been directed to aid the vessel.

“The tug arrived on scene and began firefighting operations. By 1:28am (23:28 GMT Thursday), the fire was reported under control. An Armed Forces of Malta patrol vessel was also dispatched to provide further assistance,” the government said.

“By 2:13am, all crew were confirmed safe but refused to board the tug (…) The ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by the competent authorities,” the statement concluded.

_{A tug vessel puts out a fire on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel Conscience outside Maltese territorial waters, on May 2}


Freedom Flotilla says vessel has more people on board than Maltese government alleges: Report

The Maltese government had told the media that the 16 people on board the activist ship that was attacked earlier today had refused to board a tug vessel, which had put out the fire following contact with the Malta Vessel Traffic Services, the Times of Malta reported.

However, the outlet spoke to the activist group’s operations team in Malta, which insisted there are 15 crew members and an additional 15 passengers on the vessel.

A spokesperson for Freedom Flotilla also told Al Jazeera earlier that 30 people in total were on board the ship.

Times of Malta added that communication with the people on board later became “impossible” as the fire from the drone attacks damaged the ship’s electrical system.

The outlet also reported that the crew chose to stay on board the vessel and said it is their responsibility to make sure it remains afloat, along with the humanitarian supplies it holds.

Human rights organisation demands investigation into Gaza-bound activist aid ship

There should be an investigation into the drone attacks on the Gaza aid flotilla, says the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

“The deliberate targeting of a civilian aid ship in international waters is a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, the Law of the Sea, and the Rome Statute, which prohibits the targeting of humanitarian objects,” the organisation said in a statement.

It added: “This attack falls within a recurring and documented pattern of force being used to prevent ships from reaching the Gaza Strip, even before they approach its shores.”

The organisation is calling for an “independent and transparent investigation under Maltese jurisdiction, with the participation of the United Nations”. It is also demanding “guarantees for safe sea passage for humanitarian aid bound for Gaza”.

“Any failure to act today will only encourage further attacks on humanitarian missions and deepen the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza,” said the monitor.

A spokesperson for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla says the group blames Israel or one of its allies for the attack, adding it currently does not have proof of this claim.

Daily fight to survive in Gaza as starvation deepens


_{Palestinians, mostly children, wait in long lines with empty pots in hand to get food aid distributed by charity organisations in northern Gaza City, on May 01}

Gaza likely to witness more child casualties due to malnutrition: NGO network

Amjad Shawa of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network says the situation is worsening quickly for the tens of thousands of children who are suffering from malnutrition in different areas of Gaza.

“We have no food supplies or supplementary materials or medications for these children,” he told Al Jazeera from Gaza City. “So the cases will be complicated and there is high concern that we will witness more casualties in the coming few days,” he added.

Shawa said that “the whole Strip is starving” and the majority of the children in Gaza are suffering from malnutrition.

“Thousands of these children are severe cases,” he stressed, adding: “The health facilities are largely destroyed and out of service. Facilities cannot deal with such a big number of children without medications and supplementary materials.”

Gaza humanitarian work on ‘verge of total collapse’: Red Cross

The Red Cross has warned the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the “verge of total collapse” after two months of Israel blocking aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory.

“Without an immediate resumption of aid deliveries, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will not have access to the food, medicines, and life-saving supplies needed to sustain many of its programmes in Gaza,” it said in a statement.

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before it ended a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.

“Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance,” Pascal Hundt, ICRC deputy director of operations, said in today’s statement.

“This situation must not – and cannot – be allowed to escalate further.”

Ireland says Gaza blockade is ‘completely unacceptable’

The Irish foreign minister has said that Israel’s current siege on Gaza “is the longest blockade since the war began and is completely unacceptable”.

He said on X: “No aid has entered Gaza in over 8 weeks. Children are starving. Hospitals are lacking basic medicine.”

“Ireland calls on Israel to lift the blockade and allow humanitarian aid in immediately,” the minster added.

No aid has entered Gaza in over 8 weeks. Children are starving. Hospitals are lacking basic medicine.
This is the longest blockade since the war began and is completely unacceptable.
Ireland calls on Israel to lift the blockade & allow humanitarian aid in immediately. pic.twitter.com/Mx3c1YDUUe

— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) May 2, 2025

Five killed in Israeli attack on Gaza charity organisation

Five people were killed in an Israeli bombardment of a charitable foundation near al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza is ‘genocide in action’, says Amnesty

Amnesty International is calling on Israel to end its “war crime of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”, the organisation has said in a new statement.

“Harrowing new testimonies gathered by Amnesty International throughout April reveal the catastrophic human cost of Israel’s two-month-long total siege, where starvation and denial of life-saving essentials are being used as weapons of war in flagrant violation of international law,” the statement read.

According to Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns at Amnesty International, Gaza is “an inferno of death and destruction” due to the siege and fighting.

“For the past two months, Israel has completely cut off the supply of humanitarian aid and other items indispensable to the survival of civilians in a clear and calculated effort to collectively punish over two million civilians and to make Gaza unlivable,” Rosas said.

“This is genocide in action.”

‘You may send your child to bring water only for him to return in a body bag’

According to Amnesty International, Gaza’s “severe food scarcity is being exploited and exacerbated by individuals hoarding or looting supplies, selling them at extortionate prices”.

Most Palestinians are having to rely on “overcrowded community kitchens, where displaced people endure hours-long waits for minimal sustenance, often just a single meal per day”, it added.

One displaced parent told the organisation: “We don’t ask if food is nutritious or not, if it’s fresh or good; that’s a luxury, we just want to fill the stomachs of our children. I don’t want my child to die hungry.”

Meanwhile, a fisherman described to Amnesty the risk of being shot at by the Israeli military while at sea:

“When I go fishing, I know that the danger of not returning home to my family is great … but we have no other option. My family’s survival depends on the money we can get out of selling the fish in the market – and it may cost you your life.”

In addition to Israel blocking entry of all aid, it cut power to Gaza’s main desalination plant, which has further crippled access to clean water.

“If we wanted to get just a few bottles of drinking water, I had to send my son to queue for water for hours and he had to walk long distances,” one resident said.

“With the relentless bombardment and danger lurking everywhere, you don’t know. You may send your child to bring water only for him to return in a body bag. Every day is like this here.”

Today’s death toll in Gaza rises again

Medical sources tell Al Jazeera that 43 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the early hours of this morning.

Dozens of Gaza’s rescued treasures on display in Paris

A new exhibition in Paris, titled “Gaza’s Saved Treasures: 5,000 Years of History”, is showcasing around 100 archaeological pieces that highlight Gaza’s legacy as a crossroads of civilisations.

Running from April to November, the exhibit, with amphorae, oil lamps, coins, statuettes, and mosaics on display, tells the story of Gaza as a vital Mediterranean port and cultural meeting point.

Among the most striking items is a dazzling Byzantine mosaic from Jabalia, part of an ecclesiastical complex reflecting Gaza’s early Christian heritage.

According to UNESCO, nearly 70 cultural sites have been destroyed or severely damaged, including the historic Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, one of the oldest active churches in the world, as Israel continues to wage its assault on the territory.

Most Palestinians in Gaza burn old shoes for cooking fires: Report

Many families in Gaza have been forced to resort to using old shoes to light fires instead of firewood, according to the Wafa news agency,

Firewood has become scarce and, even when available, unaffordable for the Palestinians in Gaza, the agency said.

Five kilogrammes of worn-out shoes are priced at about 10 shekels ($2,75), while a kilogramme of firewood costs four shekels, it added.

Gas cylinders, which are the main source of energy for cooking, have been blocked from being transported into Gaza by Israel in the first months after October 7, 2023, Wafa said in its report.

UNICEF slams Israel’s blockade as children face growing risk of illness, starvation

Israel’s aid blockade and more than 18 months of war are pushing Gaza’s children to the brink, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF says.

Children in the enclave have not only faced relentless bombardment, but are also being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

“With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this,” Russell said. “The sea they used for fishing has been restricted. Bakeries are closing, water production is declining, and market shelves are almost bare.”

In the past month, she said, families have been forced to choose between showering, cleaning, and cooking as access to water is quickly deteriorating.

Vaccines are also running out, Russell warned, and diseases are spreading rapidly.

“Malnutrition is also on the rise,” she said, adding that more than 9,000 children have been admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.

With two months of aid blockade on Gaza, children face a growing risk of starvation, illness & death-nothing can justify this.

We again call for the aid blockade to be lifted, the entry of commercial goods, release of hostages & protection of children.👇 https://t.co/3DkBzbkeRr

— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) May 2, 2025