Risk of ‘famine, illness, death’ growing each day: UNICEF

UNICEF has decried the “daily suffering and killing” of children in Gaza, compounded by Israel’s ongoing blockade of emergency aid, including food and medicines.

“For the past two months, the situation has further deteriorated, due to the imposed blockade of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa branch said in a post on X.

“Aid MUST enter Gaza now. The ceasefire MUST be reinstated NOW.”

Children in the #Gaza Strip are facing relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care since the beginning of the conflict.

For the past two months, the situation has further deteriorated, due to the imposed blockade of humanitarian… pic.twitter.com/snuAuYQiPK

— UNICEF MENA - يونيسف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا (@UNICEFmena) May 18, 2025

Italian politicians protest at Egypt’s Gaza border against ‘massacre’

Members of the European Parliament and the Italian Parliament demonstrated in front of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.

“Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre,” MEP Cecilia Strada told AFP.

The group – including 11 Italian MPs, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs – held signs reading “Stop genocide now”, “End illegal occupation” and “Stop arming Israel”, according to the agency.

“There should be a complete embargo on weapons to and from Israel and a stop to trade with illegal settlements,” Strada said.

The protesters laid toys on the ground in solidarity with Gaza’s children, who the UN warns face “a growing risk of starvation, illness and death” more than two months into a total Israeli aid blockade.

_{Italian politicians protest in front of the pictures of European leaders}

Egypt’s el-Sisi calls for truce, aid entry to Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for a ceasefire in Gaza during a meeting with Massad Boulos, senior adviser to Trump, in Cairo.

The two sides discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza as well as other regional issues, according to a statement by el-Sisi’s spokesman on Facebook.

El-Sisi stressed “the need to work on an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the implementation of humanitarian aid, evaluating the joint efforts between Egypt, the United States and Qatar for mediation”, the statement said.

Five Palestinian journalists among recent victims

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that five journalists have now been confirmed killed in recent Israeli attacks, up from the previously reported three.

Among them are husband and wife Khaled Abu Seif and Nour Qandil, several of whose relatives were also killed by Israel, they reported.

Hamas condemns killing of journalists in Gaza

Israel’s latest “simultaneous deliberate operation” against Palestinian journalists is part of “its ongoing persecution and killing” of media members, the Palestinian group says.

“Their homes and tents were bombed at dawn today, leading to their martyrdom, along with their children and families, in a complex crime that embodies the brutality of this fascist entity,” the group said.

“It is reprehensible that the world remains powerless to stop the unprecedented war crimes being committed for months on live television against innocent civilians,” it said. Hamas stressed that more than 230 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Three more killed in Deir el-Balah; today’s death toll hits 135

An Israeli bombardment has killed three people in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah. Others were also wounded in the aerial assault, which took place on al-Baraka Street, according to the report. These casualties bring today’s total death toll to 135.

Israel deliberately kills wounded people, Gaza health official says

Dr Muhammad Zaqout, the director general of hospitals in Gaza, tells Al Jazeera:

Four babies among the dead in relentless Israeli attacks

The Israeli air strikes in Gaza are still escalating as drones and fighter jets hover in the sky. There has been a series of Israeli attacks in different parts of the Gaza Strip. These include the northern part, Gaza City and the central area as well as Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

At least 135 people have been killed in recent hours as the Israeli army continues targeting residential homes or camps hosting Palestinians seeking refuge.

Dozens of Palestinians have been wounded, and doctors say they’re facing numerous challenges in treating injuries because of a lack of medical supplies. The Civil Defence agency says many Palestinians are trapped under the rubble. In the last couple of hours, at least four infants have been killed.

Israeli military announces beginning of widescale ground offensive in Gaza

Israel’s army says it has initiated a major ground offensive from Gaza’s north to its south against Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

“Over the past day, regular and reserve forces launched a large-scale ground operation throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip as part of the opening salvo of Operation Gideon,” an Israeli army statement said.

The air force launched attacks on “more than 670 Hamas terrorist targets” in Gaza, it added. “To date, the forces have eliminated dozens of terrorists, destroyed above and underground terrorist infrastructure, and captured controlled areas throughout the Gaza Strip.”

As we’ve been reporting, Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed at least 135 people today.

Truce talks in Doha include ‘unacceptable’ ideas: Hamas

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas leader, says some “unacceptable” proposals have been put forward during ceasefire talks in Qatar.

“We are still negotiating, and ideas that are unacceptable to us are being put forward, and we are also putting forward ideas,” Hamdan told Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency. No final agreement has been reached, he added.

The release of an American-Israeli captive last week was an initiative by Hamas to accelerate the establishment of a ceasefire, he said. The Palestinian people will decide who their leaders will be, and the only way to achieve this is through elections, Hamdan added.

Far-right Israeli cabinet members saying ‘the quiet part out loud’ on captives

Netanyahu’s office has noted that there are negotiations for an end to the war but there are pretty strict conditions there: Hamas would need to completely disarm, lay down all of its weapons, and its fighters and members would be exiled outside of the Gaza Strip.

How that would work exactly is still a little bit unclear.

But also, according to Netanyahu, there are military objectives and goals that need to be achieved – which is why they are interested in prolonged fighting.

Meanwhile, members of Netanyahu’s right-wing government only want to see an expansion of the war, and they have said the quiet part out loud: that the captives are not the main goal for Israel any more, that the main goal for them is defeating Hamas no matter what the cost that Israel has to pay.

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn rises to 140

Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that 140 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday. The sources said that 69 people have been killed in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip.

Hospital officials said earlier that one Israeli attack hit a camp sheltering displaced people in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, killing dozens of people – including children – as they slept in their tents.

No sign of Trump pressuring Israel to halt Gaza attack

Despite skipping Israel on his Middle East tour last week, Trump and his administration have voiced full support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, and the president has shown no public sign of pressuring Netanyahu’s government over the aid cut-off or the mass deaths of civilians.

Hamas released an Israeli-American soldier before Trump’s visit to Gulf Arab countries last week in what it said was a goodwill gesture aimed at getting the long-stalled ceasefire talks back on track.

Trump has said he wants to get the rest of the captives out but hasn’t called on Israel to end the war.

Instead, he has proposed resettling much of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians in other countries and redeveloping the territory for others.

Israel has embraced the proposal, which has been condemned by Palestinians, Arab countries and much of the international community. Legal experts said it would violate international law.

Western governments unwilling to stop Israel’s attack on Gaza

Since the two-month ceasefire, Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular have intensified the bombing and plans for dividing Gaza, taking it over, and ethnically cleansing it. So this is an ongoing process.

Because of Arab impotence and Western indifference and hypocrisy, what we have today is Israel bombing like there’s no tomorrow. It’s impunity on steroids. It’s racism on steroids. They can bomb whatever moves in Gaza – the children, the hospitals, the tents, and the “safe zone” areas.

Western societies that have leverage over Israel have moved to cautiously understand that this is a war crime happening in Gaza, and it needs to stop. The continuation of more of the same is an unraveling genocide.

There is more and more consciousness of that, and governments seem to understand that, too. There are shy and timid calls for Israel to stop. But none of the Western governments with leverage over Israel are willing to apply the pressure necessary to do so.

Israel’s military issues forced displacement orders for central Gaza

Israel’s Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee has urged residents in parts of central-eastern Gaza to evacuate immediately, warning of an imminent military attack.

In a post on X, Adraee listed the newly designated red zones – shown on a map – as al-Qarara in southern Deir el-Balah, along with the nearby neighbourhoods of Ja’afrawi, al-Sawar, Abu Haddab and al-Satar.

“This is a final and preemptive warning before the attack. We will attack with extreme force every area used to launch rockets,” said the message, which urged civilians to head west towards al-Mawasi.

‘Palestinians not seen as part of humanity,’ says rights group

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the inaction of the international community as Israel intensifies “its genocidal campaign of mass slaughter and starvation in Gaza”.

“Israel’s genocide, and the world community’s failure to stop its crimes against humanity, have exposed international law as a myth that is only invoked when those the West regards as human beings are impacted,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, in a statement.

“It is clear that after a decades-long and systematic dehumanization campaign, Palestinians are not seen as part of humanity, otherwise the genocide would have ended long ago.”

CAIR said it is “now or never” for elected officials to speak out against Israel’s plan to “flatten and occupy” Gaza and finish the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

People in Gaza trying to flee westwards

We’re seeing a series of attacks from the north to the south. One of the latest attacks targeted a house in Jabalia without any warning.  At least one Palestinian has been killed and dozens more injured.

More people are fleeing to the western parts of Gaza, trying to escape the Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling. They are evacuating under fire.

Palestinian Civil Defence teams are saying they’re unable to reach the wounded and those trapped underneath the rubble because Israeli quadcopters are targeting whoever approaches these destroyed homes. They’re also saying they don’t have the necessary equipment to rescue victims.

Israeli forces kill at least 144 people in Gaza since dawn

At least 144 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, medical sources have told to Al Jazeera.

Houthis warn of attacks on Israeli airports over Gaza assault

Yemen’s Houthi group will carry out military strikes targeting Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and other airports, says senior official Nasr al-Din Amer.

“This is due to the recent Zionist escalation against the Gaza Strip and the aggression against Yemen, and in continuation of the Yemeni leadership’s decision to impose a ban on this airport and other airports, in addition to the naval ban and the closure of the Umm al-Rashrash port until the aggression stops and the siege on Gaza is lifted,” said Amer.

He warned airlines and passengers, especially foreigners, to leave for their safety.

French rabbi gets death threats for criticising Israel’s war on Gaza: Report

A Paris-based rabbi, Delphine Horvilleur, who leads a Reform congregation, has received death threats for criticising the far-right Israeli government, which is justifying the humanitarian blockade in Gaza, according to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.

In an article published last week in the quarterly magazine, Tenou’a, Horvilleur wrote, “Without a future for the Palestinian people, there can be none for the Israeli people either.”

Haaretz reported that since the publication of the article, Horvilleur faced “a torrent of online abuse”, including calls for her execution.

“There are petitions against me, and 90 percent of the messages I receive are misogynistic,” Haaretz quoted her as saying. “They comment on my appearance, insist that a woman shouldn’t speak, shouldn’t be in a position of religious authority.”

The tide is certainly turning, all the vermin are crawling out from under their rocks to spew hatred out in the open.

Four injured in protest against Israel’s Eurovision participation

Three police officers and one protester have been injured during a demonstration against Israel’s participation in Eurovision’s grand final in Basel, Switzerland, authorities say.

Police said 700 to 800 demonstrators, some masked, gathered outside the St Jakobshalle Basel arena, where finalists from 26 countries performed on Saturday night, according to a report by the dpa news agency.

Swiss public broadcaster SRF said a man and a woman attempted to rush to the stage during Israel’s performance but were stopped before reaching it.

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael finished second in the competition, behind Austrian singer JJ, who won for the song, Wasted Love.

Tens of thousands protest against Israel’s war at The Hague

The organisers are saying more than 100,000 people are marching through the city of The Hague. We haven’t seen anything like this since the start of the war. There are people from all walks of life. They have come from cities all over the Netherlands.

The protesters are wearing red clothes and are forming a red line. They want the government to draw a red line in its stance against Israel, meaning to end support through trade and the import and export of weapons.

Last week, the government sent a letter to Brussels requesting a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which means free trade. They want that to be reviewed because they say Israel is seen as breaking international law. But according to these protesters here, this is all far too late, and the government should just stop the association treaty immediately.

On Tuesday, there will be a meeting in Brussels to discuss all this. This protest will definitely exert pressure ahead of the meeting.


_{People in The Hague, Netherlands, protest against Israel’s blockade of Gaza}

Far-right Dutch politician calls protesters pro-Hamas

Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right, anti-Islam Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, has denounced antisiege protesters in The Hague as being “confused” and pro-Hamas.

“Today a demo in The Hague against Israel + for Hamas,” Wilders said in a post on X without substantiating his characterisation. “Thousands of confused people draw a red line.”

The protest organiser, Oxfam Novib, said participants were marching against Israel’s nearly three-month total siege of Gaza, where more than half a million people face starvation.

Israeli forces shoot, wound 2 in Tulkarem camp: Report

Israeli forces have intensified operations inside the Tulkarem camp, stationing soldiers on rooftops and tightening control at a checkpoint at the city’s southern edge, reports Wafa.

This morning, Israeli forces in the camp shot and wounded two brothers as they tried to enter their home, according to the agency.

The raids in Tulkarem and the nearby Nur Shams camp – ongoing daily for more than three months – have destroyed more than 400 houses and displaced some 4,200 families, says Wafa.