UN special rapporteur takes aim at Western media reporting on Gaza

The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has again questioned the way some media outlets are covering Israel’s war on Gaza.

“Mainstream western media: any sense of journalism ethics left in your veins?” she wrote in a post on X.

Albanese was responding to a post suggesting Israel’s Haaretz newspaper is covering the “brutality” of the war in a way that Western media outlets are not.

Hamas official says ‘no sense’ in further truce talks

Speaking to AFP, senior Hamas official Basem Naim says, “There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip.”

He called on the international community “to pressure the Netanyahu government to end the crimes of hunger, thirst and killings” in Gaza.

The appeal comes a day after Netanyahu said the population of Gaza “will be moved” in an upcoming offensive, and as conditions in the enclave deteriorate from a crippling 65-day blockade.

Gaza’s death toll rises

Forty-eight people have been confirmed killed and 142 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza over the last 24 hours, reports Gaza’s Health Ministry. More victims are trapped in areas that rescuers cannot reach, the ministry said.

The latest casualties bring the total deaths in Gaza since October 7, 2023 to 52,615, with an additional 118,752 injured, according to the ministry’s toll.



Qatar says mediation efforts on Gaza continue

A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry says mediation efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza continue despite the difficult circumstances, adding that humanitarian aid must not be used as a “bargaining chip or a tool for negotiation”.

Qatar’s role as an impartial mediator is internationally recognised, the spokesperson said.

“These mediation efforts have resulted in the release of more hostages than have been freed through military action.”

Smotrich says Gaza’s population to be expelled abroad ‘within months’

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has asserted that Israel will be in a position to “declare victory” in Gaza “within months”, according to Arutz Sheva.

Speaking at a conference in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ofra, Smotrich said Gaza will soon “be completely destroyed”, with its population concentrated by an Israeli-imposed security corridor in the south of the enclave. From there, Palestinians “will leave in large numbers to third countries”, said Smotrich, in the comments carried by Arutz Sheva.

This statement from the minister follows PM Netanyahu’s announcement yesterday that Palestinians in Gaza would be moved.

Loitering munitions being used to ‘terrorise the Palestinians’

Al Jazeera has spoken with Peter Lee from the University of Portsmouth in England and Sultan Barakat of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar about Israel’s use of loitering munitions in its war on Gaza.

Loitering munitions, also known as suicide drones, fly over locations until they locate a target and then fly into it.

“It’s very confusing actually because this kind of drone … can be used very precisely,” Lee said.

“It does seem they’re being used against civilian targets. Now the silence of the Israelis and Israeli army spokesman is quite telling here because in the past, they’ve said that there have been the presence of Hamas fighters or a command centre or some other justification for the attack on a particular place,” but that does not seem to be the case for recent attacks, he said.

In fact, there have been enough incidents recently to indicate that these drone attacks have not been accidents but rather authorised by someone on the Israeli side, Lee added.

The drones appear to be used as a scare tactic. They are able to fly over an area for hours to identify a target. “They’re designed to terrorise the Palestinians and to make sure that they do not feel normal in any way, even in their displacement,” Barakat said.

As Israel expands its bombing campaign across Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, these drones are “an alternative, relatively cheap way to terrorise the Palestinians and to keep them reminded of the fact that Israel is here and we haven’t finished our job”.

Regarding international law, using these drones “leaves Israel very open to the charge that they are deliberately targeting and trying to depopulate an area”; otherwise, it would make sense for them to show more restraint in their bombing campaigns of Gaza, Lee said.

‘She is all bones’: Mother of malnourished child makes plea for food aid

Humanitarian organisations have warned for weeks that the suffocating aid blockade of Gaza is putting its residents, especially children, at grave risk of malnutrition.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows one young girl in the enclave appearing gaunt and skeletal from seeming malnutrition.

“My daughter needs food, she needs vegetables, she needs the natural food that people eat all over the world,” says the girl’s mother in the video. “She needs vitamins and a decent life.”

“We are pleading with the whole world to help us and help the Palestinian people,” she added. “My daughter used to weigh around 30 kilos (66 pounds), but now she is all bones… no flesh, nothing.”

“There is a great danger to her life and I fear for her every day.”

Israeli air attack on Yemen’s capital Sanaa under way

Al Masira TV, a network affiliated with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, reports that Israel has begun bombing the capital, Sanaa. It comes shortly after Israel issued a warning saying it would soon bomb Sanaa International Airport.

Israeli attack on Sanaa could represent new ‘pattern'

Israelis gave a rare warning – this is the first time they’ve issued a warning for Yemen, similar to ones they’ve issued for Lebanon and Gaza. The big question is whether this attack is going to become a pattern and whether a new front has completely opened for Israel.

Yesterday’s Israeli attack on Hodeidah targeted the main port where much of the humanitarian aid gets into Yemen. Today it’s Sanaa airport, which is the main gateway to the country. Hitting this airport would mean Yemen is cut off from the world. By cutting off the port and the airport, it’s as if Israel is trying to besiege the country without besieging it directly.

_{A screengrab shows the aftermath of the attack on Sanaa}

Israeli army confirms attacks on Yemen

The military says it has attacked Houthi targets in Yemen, including the airport in Sanaa and several major power stations in the capital area. In a statement, the Israeli army said the al-Imran concrete factory north of Sanaa was also attacked.

“The operation was approved by the Commander of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff,” it said. The military added that it would “continue to act and strike with force” any group that poses a threat to Israel.

Israeli retaliation no surprise after ‘major blow’ on Tel Aviv airport

Meron Rapoport, an Israeli journalist and editor at the Local Call news outlet, says Israel’s bombing of Yemen was expected after the Houthis attacked the country’s main airport in Tel Aviv days ago.

Rapoport told Al Jazeera that the Houthi missile that hit near Ben Gurion airport was a “major blow” for the Israeli government as it seeks to continue its war on the Gaza Strip.

“It was a failure of its air defence systems, but more than that, it was a real blow internally and externally, while Israel is trying to show its society – and the world – that … it can go on with the war in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Syria as it wishes and things are normal in Israel,” he said.

Rapoport noted that Israel “has to coordinate its attacks in Yemen with the US” since Washington has been leading an intensified bombing campaign there.

“[Israel] cannot go alone and bomb where it wants. It has to fit in with the American plans, this is very clear,” he said, adding that Israel believes its strikes on Yemen will act as a deterrent against future attacks.

“Does it work? Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t,” he said of the strategy.

Which airlines have cancelled flights to Israel after Houthi attack?

Many global airlines have halted their flights to and from Tel Aviv after the Houthi missile attack near Ben Gurion airport on Sunday.

Israel’s attack on Sanaa airport is ‘pure vandalism’

Sultan Barakat, a professor in public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, says Sanaa International Airport is “not a big strategic target” and that Israeli claims it is being used to receive supplies from Iran are “simply not true”.

“I think it’s pure vandalism, to be honest. The airport in Sanaa is not a normal airport. It’s under a huge restriction from the United Nations, from the Saudis, from the coalition – it’s under sanctions,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.

“Only Al Yemenia, the Yemeni airline, is operating and only to Amman – and from it, people can travel around the world. Mostly people seeking [healthcare], humanitarian aid – all sorts of assistance comes from the airport,” Barakat said.

Barakat added that attacking the airport would only hinder the operations of the United Nations and the humanitarian agencies in one of the poorest countries in the world.

“It’s just not worth it,” he said, “except that it maybe fits the eye-for-an-eye – in the sense that ‘you’ve hit our airport, we’ll hit your airport.'”

Israel says it ‘fully disabled’ Yemen’s main airport during attack

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/06/middleeast/israeli-unprecedented-evacuation-warning-yemen-airport-intl

An Israeli army statement says its air strikes on the main airport in Yemen’s capital have caused severe damage, rendering it nonfunctional.

“A short while ago, fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport. … Flight runways, aircraft, and infrastructure at the airport were struck,” the statement said.

“The strikes were carried out with precision and steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

The army said that over the past year and a half, the Houthis have been “operating under Iranian direction and funding with the goal of targeting the state of Israel and its allies, undermining regional stability, and disrupting global freedom of navigation”.

I've been there in FS2020


Sanaa international airport (OYSN) It's one landing strip.

US and Israel have different goals in Yemeni attacks

Speaking to Al Jazeera, former US diplomat Nabeel Khoury outlined what he described as diverging goals in parallel US and Israeli strikes on Yemen.

The US has said it is acting in self defence in response to Houthi strikes on commercial and naval ships. “To some extent the US is reluctant to push matters further into a full confrontation with the Houthis,” Khoury said.

“The Israelis, on the other hand, are retaliating for the missile that landed at Ben Gurion Airport, and the Israelis would like to push matters further,” he added.

“This fits in with the general plan that has been going on in Gaza, in Lebanon, and in Syria. The Israelis, to some extent with American support although there’s some division in Washington, want to change the political landscape. They want to silence any voices from any forces that oppose them.”

Houthis say they’ll retaliate against Israel ‘in the coming hours’

Pro-Houthi journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti reports the armed group has vowed to respond to the “dozens” of Israeli attacks with new missile strikes targeting Israeli airports and energy infrastructure in the coming hours.

“They have announced Ben Gurion airport has become a legitimate target and warned airlines they should not use that airport,” al-Bukhaiti told Al Jazeera. “They’ve said any causalities caused will be the responsibility of Israel and those airlines.”

The retaliation could involve “dozens of ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles”, he added.

The Houthis will continue their attacks until Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza, removes its blockade on aid reaching the Palestinians, and “stops its genocide”, said al-Bukhaiti.

3 killed in Israeli strikes on Yemen: Houthi-affiliated media

Al Masirah reports three people have been killed and 38 people wounded in the air strikes on Sanaa airport, the cement factory, and locations in the area. Citing the Health Ministry, the Houthi-affiliated news outlet did not specify where the deaths occurred. Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the toll.

Trump says Houthis ‘don’t want to fight’ and US bombings will stop

The US president has said the Houthis have told his administration that they no longer want to “fight” and that they would halt attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.

“The Houthis have announced that they don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump told reporters at the White House alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“They just don’t want to fight. And we will honour that, and we will, we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated, but more importantly, they we will take their word they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore,” he said.

“We just found out about that. So I think that’s very, very positive … I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the booties, effective immediately,” he said.

The Houthis have not confirmed the pause. The US has been striking the Houthis on a near daily basis.

Israel has turned 70% of Gaza into no-go zones

Israel has restricted Palestinians’ access to 70 percent of Gaza, either by declaring large areas as no-go zones or issuing forced displacement orders, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In southern Gaza, much of Rafah governorate has been declared a no-go zone, placed under forced displacement orders by the Israeli military since late March. In the north, nearly all of Gaza City is under similar orders, with only small pockets in the northwest still exempt. Entire areas east of the Shujayea neighbourhood and along the Israeli border have been declared a restricted zone.

Gaza starvation policy an ‘expression of absolute cruelty’: UNRWA chief

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has condemned what he described as “manmade” and “politically motivated starvation” in Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini again rejected an Israeli plan to replace the existing aid distribution system in the Palestinian territory, which the UN and humanitarian groups have said violates “fundamental humanitarian principles”.

“Humanitarian agencies have a set of principles to ensure assistance is delivered to all those in need, without exception,” Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

“The proposed model of distribution by the State of Israel falls far short from addressing the devastating hunger.”

‘Humanitarian situation in Gaza untenable,’ EU foreign policy chief says

Kaja Kallas says she has delivered that message in a phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

“Humanitarian aid must resume immediately and should never be politicised,” the EU foreign policy chief wrote in a post on X. “The new aid delivery mechanism should run through humanitarian actors.”

Dozens of ex-contestants demand Israel be excluded from Eurovision

More than 70 former Eurovision contestants, including songwriters, lyricists and other artists, have called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban Israel’s public broadcaster KAN from the popular song contest, accusing it of being “complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza”.

In a letter published by Artists for Palestine UK ahead of the Eurovision finals on May 17, the signatories said that “by continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes”.

Charlie McGettigan, who won the singing competition for Ireland in 1994, said: “I believe that the Israeli government has been and is inflicting genocide on the people of Palestine and for that reason Israel should be barred from competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.”

The letter also said that last year’s decision to include KAN and granting “total impunity to the Israeli delegation while repressing other artists” made the 2024 edition “the most politicized and unpleasant in the competition’s history”.

It accused the EBU of double standards regarding Israel, referring to its decision to expel Russia’s public broadcaster from the competition after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“[It] can’t be one rule for Russia and a completely different rule for Israel. You bomb, you’re out,” said Thea Garrett, who represented Malta in 2010.

The signatories say they “refuse to allow music to be used to whitewash crimes against humanity” and urge EBU to “act now and prevent further discredit and disruption to the festival”.

The release of the letter comes days after Iceland’s broadcaster RUV followed Slovenia and Spain in opposing Israel’s participation in the competition.

Mae Muller joined Salvador Sobral, La Zarra, Charlie McGettigan & dozens of former Eurovision contestants in calling on the EBU to ban Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, accusing it of being “complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza”. https://t.co/zUxyGaD4w3

— Artists for Palestine UK (@Art4PalestineUK) May 6, 2025

Turkish intelligence twarted second Lebanon pager attack: Report

Turkish media outlets report that Turkish Intelligence stopped the second wave of explosive pagers targeting Lebanon.

In September, at least nine people were killed and some 3,000 injured, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, when thousands of pagers exploded – nearly simultaneously – in Lebanon.

Daily Sabah and Hurriyet Daily News report that, shortly after the attack, Turkish authorities intercepted shipments labeled as “food choppers” but revealed them to contain 1,300 Gold Apollo 924 R3 GP pagers.

These devices, similar to ones previously used in explosions targeting Hezbollah operatives, were equipped with chargers, cables, and other materials.