Israeli forces attack Nasser Hospital amid intense bombardment

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that Israeli forces have bombed the pharmaceutical laboratory of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, as Palestinians who were killed and wounded from other attacks were being brought to the hospital.

Israeli forces have launched some 30 air raids on Khan Younis in the past hour, AJA reported.

Palestinians pull survivors from the rubble in Jabalia


<sub>A rescue team searches under the rubble after an Israeli army attack on a building in the Jabalia refugee camp on Sunday


Rescuers pulled survivors, as well as bodies, from under the rubble</sub>

Israeli forces blocked rescue effort after deadly attack on south Gaza: Report

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has released the findings of a preliminary investigation into an Israeli attack on the multistorey home of Abdul Karim al-Afghani, located east of Khan Younis, on May 13.

It said the building was housing at least 24 people, most of them women and children, when it was struck amid “intense fire belts targeting” the European Hospital and its surrounding area.

Shortly after the bombing, civil defence crews arrived at the scene.

“Footage captured rescuers calling out to locate anyone alive. A young girl’s voice was heard pleading for help. As one rescuer moved toward the sound, Israeli warplanes suddenly struck the same site again, targeting the building and rescue teams,” it said.

“The attack injured two civil defence workers, while others narrowly escaped. The team was forced to withdraw, leaving the child who had cried out for help unrescued.”

Euro-Med said that residents of the neighbourhood kept issuing urgent appeals for help, but rescuers were unable to respond, “as Israeli aircraft continued to target anyone approaching the area – whether unarmed civilians or emergency responders”.

The group added, “The repeated targeting of the home and rescue teams can only be seen as a deliberate decision to execute those still alive beneath the rubble and to obstruct all rescue efforts. This represents a stark example of systematic mass killing and a clear intent to exterminate civilians – not only through bombing, but also by denying them any chance of survival.”

Hamas official denies group agreed to two-month truce

Sami Abu Zuhri has denied reports that Hamas had agreed to release nine Israeli prisoners in exchange for a two-month truce.

In an interview with Al-Aqsa TV, the senior Hamas official said that the group is ready for a mass release of captives if Israel agrees to end the war under international guarantees.

“We took the initiative to hand over soldier Edan Alexander to create an atmosphere for reaching an agreement, but the US administration did not appreciate our step,” he said.

He also added that Hamas is not concerned about its future, and that its “operations continue despite the massive military imbalance with the Israeli army”.

I wondered about that BBC article yesterday, hence I didn't post it yet as it was only coming from the BBC

Hamas proposes releasing some hostages in fresh talks after new Israel offensive

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7geg3lvz1o

Hamas has proposed releasing more hostages under a new Gaza ceasefire deal, after new negotiations were held on Saturday. The talks began hours after Israel's military launched a major new offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has agreed to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce and Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian official told the BBC.

It seems misinformation is ramping up again, more smokescreens to distract from the genocide reaching the extermination phase.

As well as attacks on Journalists are increasing again, to make it easier for disinformation to thrive.

Press body says 219 journalists killed, 430 wounded since October 2023

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has condemned the Israeli army’s “continued systematic policy of targeting and killing journalists” and their families.

In a statement quoted by the Wafa news agency, the organisation said 219 Palestinian journalists and media personnel have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, including 30 females.

The PJS added that Israel has wounded at least 430 journalists and killed 685 family members of Palestinian journalists during the same period.

At least 1,000 journalists in Gaza are living in repeated displacement, it added.

Israeli forces arrest, beat Palestinian child in occupied West Bank

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have raided the town of Beit Ummar, in Hebron, where they arrested a child after severely beating him.

It identified the child as Shams al-Din Saeed, but did not state his age.

Israeli settlers also wounded two young Palestinians in an attack on the town of Deir Ballut, in Salfit, according to Wafa. The settlers also set fire to three homes and fired live bullets during the attack

Large numbers of Israeli forces also raided the town of Idhna, in Hebron, and the village of Kafr ad-Dik, in Salfit, local sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.

More arrests in Hebron, Bethlehem

Israeli forces have carried out more violent raids in Hebron and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

In Hebron, Israeli troops raided homes – several belonging to former prisoners – and rounded up three people, according to Wafa. They also broke down doors to homes in the nearby town of Idhna and defaced furniture, said the agency.

In Bethlehem, Israeli forces arrested a young man at a military checkpoint, it said.

Palestinian Authority calls for international response to Israeli raids in occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has called on the international community to address Israeli actions in Gaza and consistent raids and settler attacks against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

The report says the ministry statement comes as a “massive attack” that has targeted communities such as Jenin, Tulkarm, and the towns of Kafr ad-Dik and Burqin, west of Salfit, enters its fifth day.

In a social media post, the ministry said it had briefed “ambassadors, consuls, and representatives of more than 35 countries and international organisations” on the “extensive destruction” caused by Israeli raids in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps.

Israeli forces wound two Palestinians, arrest 14 others in occupied West Bank raids

Two Palestinians were injured and 14 others detained in Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank amid escalating tensions in the territory, medics and local media said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said two Palestinians were hospitalised after being injured by live fire in the town of Sair near Hebron in the southern West Bank.

Meanwhile, two young Palestinians were taken into Israeli custody in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus after a raid on their house, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

A 16-year-old Palestinian was also detained in Sair town following clashes between residents and Israeli forces, witnesses said.

An ex-prisoner was also arrested in Tubas in the northern West Bank after Israeli forces raided his house, according to Kamal Bani Odeh, the local director of the Palestinian Prisoner Society.

Ten more people were arrested in raids in the northern city of Qalqilya and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, Wafa said.

Israeli politicians, groups slam plan to let aid into Gaza

Earlier, we reported that far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had called Netanyahu’s decision to let some aid into Gaza a “grave mistake”.

We now have more reaction to the move.

The Times of Israel is reporting that Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, from Ben-Gvir’s party, has described the plan as a “tragedy”, saying, “Letting humanitarian aid in now directly harms the war effort to achieve victory and is another obstacle to the release of the hostages.”

Legislators from Netanyahu’s Likud party also slammed the move.

Avichai Boston called it “insanity” while Moshe Saada said letting aid in while expanding the offensive is “an incorrect and immoral decision”.

The Times noted there has been no comment from the powerful finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. But it said the far-right minister previously told local media that he would leave the government “if a single speck of humanitarian aid enters [Gaza] and reaches Hamas”.

An Israeli group that has previously blocked aid trucks en route to Gaza has meanwhile called on its activists to resume these actions.

“Netanyahu, this is on you. Hamas can’t be pampered and given aid until the last hostage is back here,” said the right-wing Tzav 9 group.

Egypt already had its turn 'governing' Gaza "The Gaza Strip was under Egyptian military rule from 1949 to 1956 and again from 1957 to 1967". The Palestinians need to govern Palestine, not Israel, not the US, not Egypt or anyone else.

Six Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Khan Younis

We’ve been reporting on Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that at least six Palestinians have been killed in the attacks, while dozens more have been wounded.

‘A skeleton covered in skin’: Aid workers on Gaza’s malnourished children

Nutritionist Rana Soboh says she has been pushed to her wits’ end after seeing two extreme malnutrition cases in Gaza, which is on the brink of famine due to Israel’s aid blockade.

The first was a woman who was rushed to an emergency room after fainting while she breastfed her newborn, who had not eaten for days, the humanitarian worker with MedGlobal told the Associated Press news agency.

The next day at another medical facility, Soboh found a severely malnourished one-year-old boy weighing 5kg (11 pounds), less than half what is normal on average. He had not grown any teeth and was too weak to cry, the report quoted Soboh as saying.

The mother was also malnourished, “a skeleton, covered in skin”.

When the mother asked for food, Soboh started crying uncontrollably. A feeling of powerlessness overwhelmed her. Soboh said sometimes she gives a little money or a bit of her own food. But now she, too, is struggling.

“This is the worst feeling, wanting to help but knowing you can’t. I wished the earth would crack open and swallow me,” she said. “What more cruel scenes does the world need to see?”

Gaza’s mothers fight to survive as Israel destroys last maternity hospital

In an Al Jazeera interview, obstetrician Dr Asil Jallad described Gaza’s catastrophic maternal healthcare collapse after two medical missions.

During her first deployment, partial hospital functionality allowed limited care for displaced women, but her second trip, during a brief ceasefire, revealed utter devastation: the sole OBGYN hospital serving 400,000 now lies in ruins.

Every pregnant woman suffers severe malnutrition and anaemia (some with life-threatening haemoglobin levels of 4.3), with births occurring in tents or via phone-guided deliveries.

Israel’s siege has blocked all medical aid, leaving women to labour in darkness, transported by donkey carts when ambulances are bombed. Despite this, 67,000 births have occurred since October, a testament to resilience amid what Dr Jallad called “the worst period of the war”.

Aid likely to enter Gaza ‘can’t cover people’s massive needs’

As we have reported, the Israeli government has announced it will allow limited aid into Gaza. But what exactly does “limited” mean?

Wassem Mushtaha, the Gaza response lead of aid group Oxfam, says humanitarian workers understand this to mean “minimal quantities of food, water and medicine, which cannot cover people’s massive needs”. Any aid, he added, is unlikely to include fuel, hygiene kits or other sanitation supplies that are crucial for hospitals.

“Currently, people are not just starving, they are traumatised, sick and displaced,” Mushtaha told Al Jazeera. “While any help is welcome, its scale and depth should be increased.”

He added that his organisation does not “have clarity” about Israel’s plan to subvert existing aid networks and distribute aid its own way, but that Oxfam would not be part of a system that “compromises… the rights of the people we serve”.

“What is urgently needed is not new obstacles on the ground, but real access, safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law,” he said.

Israel’s plan to get limited aid to Gaza ‘insufficient’: Netherlands

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has slammed Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel will allow limited aid into the war-torn enclave, calling it “flawed and “insufficient”.

“Massive humanitarian aid is urgently needed to end food insecurity and human suffering in Gaza,” Veldkamp said in a post on X. “There must be an immediate ceasefire, and Hamas must release all hostages.”

Netanyahu says Israel will control all of Gaza: Report

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reports, quoting the PM: “We are going to take control of all areas of the Gaza Strip.”

Amid unconfirmed reports on a “special operation” this morning in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, he said Israeli forces “are doing a great job there, including this morning”, according to Kan.

“I cannot go into details,” he added.

Just like Putin's "special operation"

Israel kills commander acting under Hamas in undercover operation

What we have seen since this morning is a concentration of attacks on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

In the early hours of the day, undercover Israeli units infiltrated deep into the city and raided a house. They used a civilian vehicle and a truck camouflaged by carrying what looked like Palestinian properties to guarantee the success of the operation.

Witnesses said Israeli forces managed to execute a Palestinian man in the operation. The man turned out to be a senior figure in al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades – an organisation that typically operates under Hamas’s umbrella.

They also managed to abduct his wife and children.

The operation was carried out under very intense aerial cover by Israeli drones and jets. At least five other people were killed, in addition to Sarhan, according to Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military gave no immediate comment on the apparent raid.

“The quadcopters are … not allowing anyone to move,” said Safi at the scene. “As you can see, they made a hole in the [wall], entered the house, executed the father and took a child and his mother then left. As they withdrew, they hit anything that moved.”

Palestinian group confirms its leader killed in Israeli raid in Khan Younis

Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, a Palestinian group in Gaza, has confirmed that Ahmed Sarhan was killed in the city in southern Gaza.

The group said Israeli special forces tried to capture the commander, but he was killed in a shootout after he fought back.

His wife and child were detained by Israeli forces, according to witnesses.

‘Feel so helpless’: Aid workers desperate as Gaza famine spreads

After months of trying to raise alarm, humanitarian workers in the Palestinian enclave are overflowing with anger, frustration and horror over Israel’s nearly three-month blockade.

The AP talked to a dozen aid workers in Gaza. At his kitchen in Khan Younis in the south, Nihad Abu Kush says more than 2,000 people show up every morning. There are no lines, just a sea of people terrified of being among the half who will miss out.

“I feel so helpless because the numbers grow every day,” Abu Kush said. “I look at their faces and I am unable to do anything.”

He says he recently gave up his portion after he locked eyes with a child with an empty pot. “I was among the 1,000 who didn’t get any,” Abu Kush said.

Mahmoud al-Saqqa, Oxfam’s food security coordinator, said parents tell him their kids are dizzy from lack of food. They search through rubbish for scraps.

“We see the hunger in their eyes,” he said. His group, like most, distributed its last food stocks weeks ago.

_{Palestinians, struggling with hunger due to Israeli blockade, wait in line to receive hot meals distributed by the charity organisations in Jabalia, Gaza on May 17}

Three killed in Beit Lahiya, today’s death toll at 32

Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahiya has killed three more Palestinians, report our colleagues on the ground. The casualties bring today’s total death toll in Gaza to 32, they say.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum says many of the victims are reportedly women and children.

Israeli army says it hit 160 targets in past 24 hours

An Israeli military update says it continues its attacks as part of its newly launched operation across the Gaza Strip. “More than 160 targets have been attacked in the past 24 hours,” the statement said.

It claimed to have destroyed infrastructure used by Palestinian fighters in different parts of Gaza, including antitank rocket launcher sites and weapons depots.

‘Chaos’ in Khan Younis as families forced to flee

It seems we are heading for more escalation. Just 30 minutes ago, the Israeli military issued new forced displacement orders for residents of Khan Younis, particularly those living in the Abasan and Bani Suhaila neighbourhoods in the east.

The Israeli military used clear rhetoric, saying the city will witness an “unprecedented” attack. This signals a potential full-scale attack in the coming hours.

Many families are in a state of chaos. They are trying to get whatever they can from their properties and move to al-Mawasi, where the Israeli military has instructed them to go to. But controversially, a makeshift tent was struck in al-Mawasi in the past hour, killing two civilians, according to medical reports.

The repeated issuance of evacuation orders has shattered any sense of safety for Palestinians as Israel appears to expand its ground offensive to include more densely populated areas.