French actress pays tribute to slain Palestinian journalist at Cannes

The Cannes film festival has kicked off with a highly political ceremony that included a tribute to a slain photojournalist, Fatima Hassouna, by French actress Juliette Binoche. The 25-year-old journalist was killed in an Israeli air strike last month along with 10 of her relatives, a day after a documentary about her was selected to premiere at Cannes.

“She should have been here tonight with us,” an emotional Binoche said, adding that “in every region of the world, artists are fighting every day and make resistance into art”.

On the eve of the festival, more than 380 actors and filmmakers published a letter in the French newspaper Liberation and US magazine Variety saying they were “ashamed” of their industry’s failure to speak out about Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.

The signatories – who include Hollywood actors Ralph Fiennes, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and former Cannes winners Ruben Ostlund, Mike Leigh, Justine Triet and Costa-Gavras – also denounced the killing of Hassouna.

Juliette Binoche rend hommage à la photojournaliste palestinienne Fatima Hassouna, tuée dans un bombardement le 16 avril dernier.

Elle était l'héroïne du documentaire "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" de Sepideh Farsi, sélectionné cette année au Festival de #Cannes2025. pic.twitter.com/QuNWIxp9MR

— france.tv cinéma (@francetvcinema) May 13, 2025

"Deąth on This Scale Has a Sound and a Smell That Does Not Leave You." — UN on Gazą Horror.

UN Official demands countries stand up to Israel for crimes in Gaza

Israel ‘normalisation’ takes backseat as Trump announces Saudi Arabian deals

The White House has made public a flurry of economic and defence pacts with Saudi Arabia involving hundreds of billions of dollars, but any mention of Israel was conspicuously absent from the announcements.

Analysts say that while the so-called “normalisation” drive between Saudi Arabia and Israel dominated his predecessor, Joe Biden’s, approach to the region, Trump is shifting focus elsewhere.

“The Trump administration has made it clear they are willing to move forward on key agreements with Saudi Arabia without the previous condition of Saudi-Israel normalisation,” said Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a think tank.

“This probably reflects growing frustration in the Trump administration with Israeli military action across the region, especially in Gaza.”


Saudi Crown Prince says need to end Gaza war, find ‘lasting solution’

In the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the GCC-US meeting has kicked off. Addressing the gathering of Trump and GCC leaders, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed praised the Gulf states’ relationship with the US, which he hopes will reach even “higher levels”. He said he looks forward to opening “new horizons in all domains, in the interest of all our states”.

The crown prince also brought up the war in Gaza, which he said he looks forward to working with the US on to “end”, while “finding a comprehensive lasting solution” for the Palestinian people.

He referenced ongoing conflicts in Yemen and Sudan, which he said also required “diplomatic solutions”.

All captives have to be released from Gaza: Trump

In Riyadh, Trump has also addressed the war in Gaza, saying he shares the “hope of so many in this region for a future of safety and dignity for the Palestinian people”.

He took a shot at “Gaza’s leaders”, saying their attacks against “innocent people” are blocking progress. He said he “greatly appreciates” GCC leaders’ “constructive role” in “trying to bring an end to this terrible conflict”.

“Ultimately, all hostages of all nationalities have to be released. And I think it’s going to happen,” said Trump.

The remaining captives are all soldiers, aka PoWs, not hostages. Ending the war will get them released, as Hamas has been saying for months.
Israel is blocking progress by continuing to bomb and starve innocent people.


Saudi foreign minister says Gaza war must come to an end

Speaking after the the GCC-US meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said all sides “agreed on the necessity to bring the Gaza war to an end and to ensure the release of captives and detainees and the delivery of aid, and work towards a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region”.

“The kingdom reiterated the principle of the two-state solution on the 1967 border,” he added.

Focus on Gaza, Palestinian state at GCC summit ‘very telling’

The extent to which GCC leaders brought up the war in Gaza and repeated calls for a Palestinian state during the GCC-US summit was “very telling” and shows that they are approaching this issue collectively, says Abdulaziz Alghashian, the director of research at Riyadh-based Observer Research Foundation Middle East.

“There seems to be an agreement of bringing up this issue as a collective,” he told Al Jazeera. “I think [that] this not only strengthens the position but avoids any kind of repercussions on the bilateral front.”

Syria should sign his racist accords while Israel keeps bombing Syria and occupying parts of Syria?

Iran hits back at Trump’s ‘deceptive’ view of its regional role

Iran’s foreign minister has slammed Trump’s remarks that Tehran contributes to “collapse and suffering” in the region, instead pointing to Israel as a destabilising force.

“Unfortunately, this is a very deceptive view,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said of Trump’s comments. “The Iranian nation pursues the same aspirations toward progress and prosperity as other regional countries. It is the US with its sanctions and threats which has blocked Iran’s path to progress.

“Trump turns a blind eye to Israel’s crimes and wants to present Iran as a threat to the region,” he added.

Ceasefire talks to continue in Qatar

Mediated ceasefire negotiations are set to continue in Qatar’s capital Doha today. Israeli and Hamas officials are taking part in the indirect talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US.

The US is represented by its special envoy Steve Witkoff and hostage envoy Adam Boehler, who are due in Doha after meeting families of captives in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Witkoff told the families he believed there was a “genuine chance for progress” in Doha where President Trump is expected to arrive this morning.

Netanyahu requests to leave court to meet US envoy

Netanyahu has requested a break from his court testimony at noon (09:00 GMT) to speak with US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kirya military base, as US officials pressure Israel to expand the mandate given to the negotiating team conducting talks in Qatar.

The team is currently authorised to discuss only Witkoff’s original framework involving the release of 10 captives, while the US wants expanded talks that include a comprehensive arrangement on a war-ending mechanism.

UN aid chief urges action in powerful Security Council speech

Israel is deliberately and unashamedly imposing inhumane conditions on people in occupied Palestinian territory. That was the message from Tom Fletcher, the UN’s top humanitarian official, as he briefed Security Council members in one of the strongest speeches we’ve heard from a UN official in recent memory.

He told the council:

“Now, the ICJ [The International Court of Justice] is considering whether a genocide is taking place in Gaza.

“It will weigh the testimony that we have shared. But it will be too late.

“Recognising the urgency, the ICJ has indicated clear provisional measures that must be implemented now, yet they have not [been].

“Previous reviews of the UN’s conduct in cases of large-scale violations of international human rights and humanitarian law – reports on Myanmar, 2019; Sri Lanka, 2012; Srebrenica and Rwanda, both in 1999 – pointed to our collective failure to speak to the scale of violations while they were committed.

“So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced, what more evidence do you need now? Will you act, decisively, to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?

“Or will you say instead that ‘we did all we could’?”

Years from now, people will be asking, “What did you do to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza?” Fletcher is saying that simply responding, “We did all we could”, is not enough.

What’s happened when Israel, US tried to deliver aid in Gaza?

We’ve been covering global criticism of the US and Israel’s plans to take over aid distribution in Gaza. This is not the first time that the two countries have tried to sidestep the UN’s existing aid delivery system and take over distribution in the enclave.

For instance, in February 2024, after more than a month of denying humanitarian aid into Gaza City and northern Gaza, Israeli authorities organised the delivery of flour via private contractors.

The trucks entered the Strip through its northern perimeter fence, accompanied by Israeli tanks. Large crowds of people had gathered on al-Rashid Street to receive aid, and witnesses say Israeli forces fired on the crowd, causing a crowd crush, and that the tanks also ran over wounded people, adding to the death toll.

At least 110 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded. The incident would become known as the “flour massacre”.

The following month, in March 2024, then-US President Joe Biden announced plans to build a floating pier in Gaza to get aid into the Strip. The endeavour cost $230m to build and took about 1,000 US forces to execute.

But it was only operational for 20 days. It was shut down in July, after only bringing in the equivalent of about one day’s worth of pre-war food deliveries.

Even at the time, aid groups slammed the plan as a waste of time and money, saying the US should pressure Israel to open more land crossings and allow the aid to flow more quickly and efficiently through them.

Don't forget the air drops that ended up crushing civilians at 100x the price of letting trucks into Gaza.

Israeli forces launch drone attack on south Lebanon

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli forces have carried out a drone attack on a vehicle in the Nabatieh district. It happened at the entrance to the Wadi al-Hujeir reserve near the town of Qaaqaait al-Jisr. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says one person has been killed.

NNA also reported that an Israeli drone crashed in the town of Shebaa in the Hasbaiyya district, also in southern Lebanon, due to a technical malfunction. The explosion damaged a house and caused “material losses”, it reported.

Israeli military intercepts missile fired from Yemen

The military says it has shot down one missile launched from Yemen. The launch triggered air raid sirens throughout central Israel and the Jerusalem area, according to The Times of Israel.

This comes hours after Yemen’s Houthis claimed firing a missile towards the Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted that missile, too.

Air traffic suspended at Tel Aviv’s airport

Israeli media is reporting that landings and takeoffs were suspended at Ben Gurion Airport following the launch of a missile from Yemen towards Israel.

Clashes, arrests as Israeli forces raid occupied West Bank

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have shot and wounded a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager with a rubber bullet during clashes in the town of Abwein in the occupied West Bank.

The soldiers also stormed a number of homes and ransacked them, it said. They also demolished a Palestinian home in the village of Shuqba, near the city of Ramallah. Further north, in the town of Meithalun, near the city of Jenin, Israeli forces raided a number of homes and arrested two young men. They also stormed the nearby village of Anza and arrested two others.

The arrests come as Israel’s offensive in Jenin continues for the 114th consecutive day.

Palestinian boy shot, wounded by Israeli forces in West Bank

A Palestinian boy has been shot and wounded by rubber bullets from Israeli forces during a raid on the town of Abwein, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The Wafa news agency is reporting that the 17-year-old was injured in the foot.

The Israeli army raided several homes in the town and searched and ransacked them, the report added.

UNRWA says access to water declining in Gaza

According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, 75 percent of households in Gaza say that “amid deteriorating sanitation conditions”, they have less water access now than a month ago.

UNRWA says it is working to repair damaged wells using recycled and reused parts, as Israel’s total blockade on Gaza continues.

Over 75% of households in Gaza report a decline in water access over the past month, amid deteriorating sanitation conditions.

UNRWA operates 5 water wells across #Gaza and plans to repair more. This is made possible by the support of the local community, helping UNRWA teams… pic.twitter.com/HOOAKsBteh

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 14, 2025

Labour MP calls on UK to halt transfer of F-35 components to Israel

A UK Labour MP has delivered a speech in parliament calling for the suspension of the delivery of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel.

Andy McDonald backed a campaign brought by Palestinian rights organisations against the British government, which is facing a High Court challenge over the export of such components used by Israel in Gaza.

“We cannot say that we’re observing the Genocide, Geneva Conventions and Rome Statutes if we continue to supply Israel’s military,” he said.

F-35s are delivering the weapons dropping on children in Gaza.

There is growing opinion which says the UK is not observing international law.

We cannot say that we're observing the Genocide, Geneva Conventions and Rome Statutes if we continue to supply Israel's military. pic.twitter.com/45h8xE5wWT

— Andy McDonald MP for Middlesbrough & Thornaby East (@AndyMcDonaldMP) May 14, 2025

Germany’s chancellor calls for action to avert ‘famine’ in Gaza

Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has urged all sides to avert a “famine” in Gaza, which has been under an aid blockade by Israel since early March.

“It is a humanitarian obligation on all parties … and I stress, on all parties, that famine in the region be averted as soon as possible,” Merz said in his first government statement in parliament since taking office last week.

UN chief reiterates call for Gaza ceasefire

Speaking alongside the German chancellor in Berlin, Antonio Guterres has appealed for an end to the war.

“I reiterate my call for an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, unimpeded humanitarian access and an immediate cessation of hostilities allowing for an irreversible path towards a two-state solution,” the UN secretary-general told reporters.

Canadian foreign minister says Israel using food as a tool in Gaza

Canada’s new Foreign Minister Anita Anand has accused Israel of using access to food as a political tool in Gaza, which has been under a total blockade since March 2.

“We cannot allow the continued use of food as a political tool … Over 50,000 people have died as a result of the aggression caused against the Palestinians and the Gazan people in Palestine. Using food as a political tool is simply unacceptable,” Anand told reporters before a cabinet meeting.

“We need to continue to work towards a ceasefire. We need to ensure that we have a two-state solution, and Canada will continue to maintain that position.”

Italy’s prime minister calls Gaza humanitarian situation ‘unjustifiable’

Giorgia Meloni also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must respect international law.

“In recent months, I have spoken to Prime Minister Netanyahu on several occasions, they have often been difficult conversations in which I have always called for the urgency of finding a way to end hostilities and respect international law and international humanitarian law,” Meloni said, according to Italian news agency Ansa.

“A request that I renew today, in the face of a humanitarian situation in Gaza that I have no difficulty in defining as increasingly dramatic and unjustifiable”.

‘Gaza has become a hell on Earth for Palestinians’: MSF

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French language acronym MSF, says the world is watching “the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives in Gaza”.

The charity slammed the US-Israeli proposal to control aid distribution in the enclave, describing the effort as “another tool in the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population” in Gaza.

“MSF firmly rejects and condemns any plan that further reduces availability of aid and subjugates it to Israeli military occupation objectives,” it said, adding that its teams in Gaza City have seen a 32 percent increase in the number of patients showing malnutrition in the past two weeks.

The organisation said it is also running out of essential medical items, such as sterile compresses and sterile gloves.

“The survival of Palestinians lies at the mercy of Israeli authorities, who are denying the entire population access to food, water, medical care and shelter. Israel continues to pursue its campaign of ethnic cleansing by deliberately destroying the conditions necessary for life,” MSF said.

UNRWA head says no government can pledge ignorance of starvation in Gaza

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says, “No government can say: ‘we did not know'” as hunger spreads in Gaza. The solution to “manmade starvation” is for Israel to “lift the siege on the children of Gaza now”, he said.

Lazzarini reposted on X a speech given by UN relief chief Tom Fletcher calling on the UN Security Council to “act now” and “prevent genocide” in the Gaza Strip.

No government can say: “we did not know”.

The lack of action turns into an unbearable indifference towards a manmade starvation.

The solution is known to all:
Israel must lift the siege on the children of #Gaza now. https://t.co/VBJ7vL9JTP

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 14, 2025

They're not pledging ignorance, they just won't go beyond useless statements of 'concern'.

How many Gaza children will be ‘sentenced to death’ before blockade lifted?: UNRWA chief

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), has shared a photo on social media of a four-year-old Palestinian boy named Youssef who is injured and suffering from malnutrition in Gaza.

“How many more Youssef’s need to be sentenced to death to lift the siege on Gaza?” Lazzarini asked.

“It requires no more than political will & decision.”

Youssef, 4 years old, severely
malnourished & injured in #Gaza

No access to food, no access to medical care.

How many more Youssef’s need to be sentenced to death to lift the siege on Gaza?

It requires no more than political will & decision pic.twitter.com/N1pOnwI3NO

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 14, 2025