UN chief alarmed 1 in 5 people in Gaza face starvation

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced the fact that Gaza’s entire population is facing the risk of famine and expressed alarm that the vast majority of children experience “extreme food deprivation”.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the dire report on hunger in Gaza released earlier by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System shows that Israel’s 70-day ban on the entry of food and other supplies is “a human made catastrophe that the world should now allow”, Guterres’s spokesman said.

The UN and the secretary-general have repeatedly called on Israel to immediately open border crossings and allow 116,000 metric tonnes of food assistance waiting on the other side to be delivered, Dujarric said.

This could feed 1 million people for four months, he added.

Main events on May 12th

• A UN-backed hunger monitor warned that the entire Palestinian population in Gaza is at critical risk of famine, while 500,000 people face starvation.
• Hamas released Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander from Gaza after a deal was reached directly with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
• Israel is sending a delegation to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the release of additional captives held in Gaza.
• UN agencies and human rights groups have renewed their calls for Israel to end its Gaza blockade, stressing that Palestinians are already dying from a lack of food and other critical supplies.
• Trump will undertake a three-day tour of the Gulf starting on Tuesday for his first state visit since retaking office in January.

‘Immensely frustrating and tragic’ as Gaza aid stuck at border

Kate Phillips-Barrasso from the aid group Mercy Corps says it’s “absolutely heartbreaking” that Israel continues to block humanitarian relief into Gaza as Palestinians suffer from hunger.

“Supplies are literally miles away from people who are starving. So it is immensely frustrating and tragic. This is a crisis that’s happening in broad daylight,” she told Al Jazeera.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the United Nations secretary-general continues to plead with Israeli officials to allow food and other aid into the Gaza Strip.

“For all our meetings with Israeli officials, we continue to push for the reopening of the gates into Gaza. They have the keys to the lock. Those gates need to be unlocked,” he said.

Palestinian author responds to criticism over questioning the hostage status of Israeli captive

“Does this give them more humanity because they are Israelis while my loved ones are being named prisoners and they are tortured?”

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha responded to criticism over questioning the hostage status of freed British-Israeli captive Emily Damari in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday.

MSNBC host Catherine Rampell confronted the 2025 Pulitzer winner over his “controversial” statement, to which Abu Toha responded by saying Damari is an Israeli soldier who, days after being freed, attended an Israeli Air Force graduation, a military unit responsible for the killing of 31 members of Abu Toha’s family.

He then questioned why he is being forced to “sympathise with an Israeli soldier” who lost two fingers, while his cousin, and her entire family including her child, were killed in October 2023 in an Israeli air strike and still remain under the rubble until today.

Damari herself has criticised the Pulitzer board over giving the award to Abu Toha, who she described as “the modern-day equivalent of a Holocaust denier”.

Israel resume air attacks on Gaza after captive’s release

After Israeli forces were handed the US-Israeli captive, they started their air strikes again in the Gaza Strip. We can hear the F-16s and the drones hovering in the sky.

Palestinians have a lot of questions about what is going to happen now on the ground. Palestinian families are unable to secure food. They’re saying they are unable to feed their children. Their children are going to bed hungry.

However, Hamas said that this is a very positive step towards the negotiations, where they’re aiming at a ceasefire, they’re also aiming for the end of the war, the entrance of the humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Journalist killed in Israeli attack on hospital in south Gaza

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that Hassan Eslaih has been killed in an Israeli air raid on the burns department at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

Eslaih was wounded last month in an Israeli attack on a media tent outside the hospital. At least two people were also killed in that attack.


_{The burn unit where Hassan Eslaih was receiving treatment, one other was also killed in the strike}


Israel confirms deadly attack on Nasser Hospital

In a post on X, the Israeli military said it “carried out a targeted attack” in “the area of ​​the Nasser Hospital” where it says Hamas was “operating a command and control complex”.

It did not offer any evidence to back the claim.

Latest Israeli killing takes death toll among Gaza journalists to 215

The Government Media Office in Gaza has confirmed the death of journalist Hassan Eslaih and says it condemns “in the strongest terms the systematic targeting, killing and assassination of Palestinian journalists” by Israeli forces.

It said that Eslaih was “assassinated” as he was receiving treatment at the Nasser Medical Complex earlier today, and that his killing has raised the death toll among journalists since the war began to 215.

• Eslaih was the director of the Alam24 News Agency and a freelancer who contributed to international news organisations, including photos of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
• He was the target of an Israeli attack on a media tent outside Nasser Hospital last month. At least two people were killed in the bombing.
• Eslaih survived, but suffered severe injuries, including burns, and lost two fingers.
• Israel claims Eslaih is a Hamas fighter who participated in the October 7 attack, an allegation he vehemently denied.
• At the time, he told Mondoweiss, a US-based news outlet, that Israel was “trying to obliterate the image of Palestinian journalists with these false claims that they belong to Hamas and other factions”. He added that he did not belong to any party in Gaza.

Does international law permit Israel to attack hospitals in Gaza?

Health facilities, including hospitals and ambulances, are protected under international humanitarian law. This protection is also extended to the wounded and sick, as well as medical staff.

This means hospitals may not be attacked unless they are being used by a party to the conflict to commit “an act harmful to the enemy”, such as to launch attacks.

And even then, the attacking force must issue a warning to cease this misuse, and can only attack after such a warning goes unheeded.

This is why Israel has repeatedly sought to justify its attacks on hospitals in Gaza by claiming – without evidence – that the dozens of such facilities it has destroyed in the enclave have all been “command and control complexes” run by Hamas.

The UN’s human rights office, in a report in December, said Israel is yet to substantiate its claims that Palestinian armed groups are using hospitals for military purposes, and says Israel’s attacks on medical facilities in Gaza may amount to war crimes.

That this question even needs to be asked...

Nasser Hospital attack ‘huge blow to already overwhelmed health system’: WHO

The director of the World Health Organization confirmed two people were killed and 12 others injured, including one critically, as a result of the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza.

“The burn unit was struck, 18 hospital beds in the surgical department, eight beds in the intensive care unit, and 10 inpatient beds were destroyed,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

We reported earlier how prominent Gaza journalist Hassan Eslaih was killed in the attack, and Gaza’s Interior Ministry confirmed the second casualty was a senior police commander.

Two people died and 12 were injured in an attack this morning at Nasser Hospital in #Gaza — @WHO was informed by the hospital’s director.

One of the injured is in critical condition and is undergoing multiple surgical procedures.

The burn unit was struck, 18 hospital beds in… pic.twitter.com/4BEu60Lnwo

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 13, 2025

Death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza rises to 52,908

Gaza’s Health Ministry has released its daily bulletin:

Israel releases more Palestinian detainees

Israel has released at least nine Palestinian detainees, arrested shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack. This comes four days after the release of 11 Palestinians from Israeli detention.

The nine were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross near the al-Karara (Kissufim) crossing, after which they were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital. The Palestinians, aged between 30 and 60, are receiving medical evaluations and support at the hospital.

Released prisoners speak of torture in Israeli jails

Over the past few weeks, Israel has repeatedly released a group of Palestinians while providing no explanation. The prisoners who arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital here in Deir el-Balah looked visibly exhausted and dehydrated. They told us about the horrific acts of torture they suffered in Israeli jails and called for the release of more prisoners.

Meanwhile, we have received reports of more attacks by Israel. In the Shujayea neighbourhood in Gaza City, a group of people including children who were fetching flour were attacked by Israeli drones.

The Israeli military is also detonating huge explosions in the southern city of Rafah as part of its demolition plan aimed at expanding a buffer zone.

Israeli military bombs European Gaza Hospital

After the attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the Israeli military has now heavily bombed the European Gaza Hospital in the southern Gaza city.

The Israeli army confirmed it worked with internal security agency Shin Bet to attack the hospital, which it claimed housed an underground “command-and-control centre” for Hamas.

Israel’s military repeatedly gives this justification without providing evidence when it bombs schools-turned-shelters and medical facilities.

At 2:45 am on 13 May, an Israeli airstrike targeted one of the buildings of Nasser hospital's medical complex, killing 2 people and injuring 12, according to the Ministry of Health. Our team is providing surgery to 2 of the wounded. This is the second attack on the same building… pic.twitter.com/ipFFnzU04W

— MSF International (@MSF) May 13, 2025

Death toll rises in Israeli attack on European Hospital

Gaza’s Health Ministry says nine missiles slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital in the south of the besieged enclave, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70 others.

The fate of several others remains unclear as rescue operations are under way, a civil emergency official said.

The Israeli military earlier said it struck a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital.

Three rockets launched at Israel from Gaza, Yemen missile fall short

The Israeli military reports its air defences shot down two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, and a third fell in an open area without inflicting any casualties.

The Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claimed the attack, which triggered air raid alarms across southern Israel. The group said it was in response to “Zionist massacres against our Palestinian people”.

The Israeli army earlier said a missile was launched by the Houthis in Yemen, but it fell short before reaching Israel and did not trigger any alarms.

Raids, arrests reported in West Bank

Al Jazeera’s sources report that Israeli forces are carrying out a large-scale arrest campaign in the town of Dura, south of the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

In the northern part of the territory, soldiers have also begun raiding the Askar al-Jadeed refugee camp in Nablus, storming homes and defacing property.

Israeli forces shoot man near Jerusalem

Wafa reports that a young man was shot and assaulted at the entrance of the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, by Israeli forces.

Sources told the agency that soldiers opened fire on the man, wounding him in his legs. After shooting, they beat him up.

اعتداء وحشي من جنود الاحتلال على الشاب محمد الكسبة بعد إطلاق النار عليه في مخيم قلنديا شمال القدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/Rij0jfBBSo

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 13, 2025

Translation: A brutal attack by occupation soldiers on a young man, Muhammad al-Kasba, after shooting him in the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem. 

West Bank raids in Nablus as Israel eyes land grab in Bethlehem: Report

The Wafa news agency reports Israeli incursions in Madama village south of Nablus, during which dozens of olive trees and large areas of Palestinian farmland were bulldozed by Israeli forces.

In Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers surveyed Palestinian land in a desert area and arrested one person while assaulting another. The surveyed land reportedly comprises 30 hectares (74 acres).

UN denounces Israel land-registration move in West Bank’s Area C

The United Nations human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territories says it’s “alarmed” by a decision by the Israeli security cabinet on Sunday to resume land registration in Area C of the occupied West Bank.

The UN agency said “Israel purportedly seeks to definitively establish land ownership registration in favour of Israeli settlers” by means of the process of land registration, which was suspended in 1968.

Its resumption “appears to be the latest tool used by Israel to acquire Palestinian land and consolidate the unlawful annexation of the West Bank”, it said.

“If pursued, land registration by the occupying power would likely result in further expropriation of Palestinian land and natural resources in violation of the property rights of Palestinians, as well as other rights such as the rights to housing and shelter, food, and the benefit of Israeli settlers and settlements.”

Israeli military court extends detention of female Palestinian journalist

An Israeli military court has extended the detention of journalist Haneen Qawareeq, 24, on suspicion of “incitement” on social media until Thursday.

Qawareeq, who is from Nablus in the occupied West Bank, was detained on May 7, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.

She was sent to Hasharon Prison before being transferred to Damon Prison, where she is currently being held without any formal charges against her.

Qawareeq is among more than 180 Palestinian journalists detained by the Israeli military since the start of the war on Gaza, with some 50 still imprisoned, according to the monitors.

Two Palestinians injured in West Bank attacks by Israeli settlers, soldiers

Israeli settlers protected by soldiers wounded two Palestinians and detained others during an attack on the village of Khallet al-Dabaa south of Hebron.

The settlers assaulted the Palestinians with clubs and sharp objects, resulting in one person suffering a head wound that required transfer to hospital, according to the Wafa news agency. The Israeli soldiers initially stopped the ambulance from leaving.

Israeli forces also raided the town of Yabad, southwest of Jenin, which was also assaulted on Monday. In the town of Jabal Mukaber, south of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities forced a Palestinian citizen to demolish his own home, which housed eight people, based on the claim that it lacked a permit.

No progress on Abraham Accords as Trump heads to Saudi Arabia

US President Donald Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the first of three Middle East nations he’ll be visiting this week. One place we know that Trump will not be visiting on this tour is Israel.

That is because of the ongoing conflict, with Israel’s war on Gaza. The White House is saying that there has not been any progress when it comes to ceasefire talks there.

Instead, what we know is that, given there has been no progress on those talks, there will also be no furthering of something that Trump has been pressing for, but that has so far eluded the president, and that is furthering of the Abraham Accords, or the normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Because we know that with the ongoing conflict in Gaza, there is no creation of a Palestinian state, something that Saudi Arabia is demanding.



Trump's objectives are to secure major economic deals and make diplomatic progress on issues that affect the region, including a Gaza ceasefire and stalled Saudi Arabia-Israel normalisation talks.

Former Israeli commanders urge Trump to end Israel’s war on Gaza

A group representing more than 550 former senior officers in the Israeli military and intelligence agencies has written to Trump, asking him to use his visit to the region to “bring all our hostages back” and “end the war” in Gaza.

The Commanders for Israel Security also urged the US leader to “end the death and suffering of innocents, launch a Hamas-free ‘morning after’ for the Strip, and pave the way for a regional security coalition that includes Israel”.

By all accounts, “our approach to you represents the view of the vast majority of Israelis”, the group wrote.

The letter also said the war in Gaza “no longer serves Israel’s national objectives”, and that to most Israelis, Israel’s “justified objectives” to “end Hamas brutality” after October 7 “have long been achieved”.

The letter added, “If continued, the war, as well as the aggressive annexation policy on the West Bank, challenges regional stability. Most important, as you have correctly noted, it risks the lives of our hostages.”

Protesters accuse UK government of complicity in Israel’s war


_{A protester dressed as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer joins a protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, organised by aid organisation Oxfam, near London’s Westminster Houses of Parliament, on Tuesday}

UK court set to begin hearings in petition over Israel arms sales

The High Court in London will begin four days of hearings in a petition filed by the Palestinian rights group, Al-Haq, seeking to block the government’s export of fighter jet parts to Israel amid the war in Gaza.

The case is also supported by Amnesty International, Oxfam and other rights groups.

Israel has used the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters to devastating effect in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and the head of Amnesty UK said Britain had failed to uphold its “legal obligation … to prevent genocide” by allowing the export of key parts to Israel.

The plane’s refuelling probe, laser targeting system, tyres, rear fuselage, fan propulsion system and ejector seat are all made in the UK, according to Oxfam, and lawyers supporting Al-Haq’s case said the aircraft “could not keep flying without continuous supply of UK-made components”.

The British government has suspended about 30 licences following a review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law, but the partial ban did not cover UK-made parts for the advanced F-35 stealth fighters.

A spokesperson for the UK government told AFP that it was “not currently possible to suspend licensing of F-35 components for use by Israel without prejudicing the entire global F-35 programme, due to its strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security”.

Israel’s foreign minister visits Japan

Gideon Saar has arrived in Japan for a three-day visit that will include meeting with Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, The Times of Israel is reporting.

It is the first time an Israeli foreign minister has visited Japan in 15 years, the outlet added.

Japan’s Iwaya has previously “unequivocally condemned” the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but has also said his country is “gravely concerned” by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the killing of civilians.

Some Japanese people have also been vocal in their opposition to the war, including survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings who received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, but said they thought the award would go to people working for peace in Gaza.

Japanese guesthouse dismisses Israeli envoy’s criticism over war-crimes pledge

A guesthouse in Kyoto that came under attack from Israel’s envoy to the country for asking an Israeli guest to sign a “pledge of non-involvement in war crimes” has taken to X to explain its rationale.

The Wind Villa quoted Ambassador Gilad Cohen’s tweet and dismissed his claim that the pledge amounted to discrimination against Israelis.

It said the pledge does not target specific nationalities, but rather visitors who had served in military or paramilitary forces that have been determined by the International Criminal Court to have committed war crimes.

“The very definition of ‘discrimination’ is the unequal treatment of individuals based on factors beyond their personal control. To give an example, subjecting someone to unjust violence, confiscating their home and land, denying them legal protection, or detaining them indefinitely without trial simply because they are Palestinian clearly constitutes ‘discrimination’,” the guesthouse wrote.

“If Israeli nationals are more likely to be asked to sign the pledge, it is a consequence of the policies and actions of the Israeli government … Should an individual involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks attempt to stay at our guesthouse, we would likewise ask them to sign the same pledge,” it added.

Our guesthouse’s “Pledge of Non-involvement in War Crimes” applies not on the basis of “nationality,” but rather to individuals who have belonged to a military organization that has been determined by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have committed war crimes. Therefore,… https://t.co/ki2Uko4y6V

— WIND VILLA (@WindVilla) May 11, 2025

Rights groups call for global action after new famine warning

We’ve been covering the IPC’s latest warning of famine in Gaza. Earlier, some 250 Palestinian and international rights groups called on countries around the world to deploy a humanitarian convoy to Gaza and break Israel’s siege.

Here’s more reaction from rights groups: