Israeli protesters try to block aid from crossing into Gaza

A group of Israeli protesters gathered at the Karem Abu Salem (Israel’s Kerem Shalom) crossing, blocking aid from entering, reports Israel’s Arutz Sheva media.

One of the protesters, Reut Ben Haim, said it is an “unimaginable injustice” for aid to reach Gaza while Hamas continues to hold Israeli captives there. “We cannot stand idly by while this harm to our hostages continues,” she said, according to Arutz Sheva, before being arrested by police.

Another protester, Asriel Machlev, said it was “national suicide” for Israel to let any aid into Gaza and pledged to keep trying to block it.

“Every truck that enters the Strip prolongs the war,” Arutz Sheva quoted Machlev as saying. “It’s time to say: Until the hostages are home, no aid. We’ll be here every week, hundreds of reservists, to physically stop this insane move.”

Despite Israel’s pledge to let some aid into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade, only a handful of trucks have reached the enclave. The UN and rights groups have accused Israel of weaponising hunger against Palestinians, pushing half a million people to the brink of starvation.


_{Israeli border police officers prevent activists from blocking the road leading to the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Israel, on May 21}

Attack victims rushed to hospitals on donkey carts

Over the past hour, there has been a clear increase in Israeli air strikes.

In Gaza City, the Israeli military targeted a group of Palestinians and killed at least eight of them. Residents helped transport the wounded on donkey carts to al-Ahli Arab Hospital.

In Deir el-Balah, we heard a huge explosion. It took place near the city’s busiest market, where hundreds of people usually gather. Dozens were wounded. The courtyard of the city’s hospital has been in a state of emergency, with rescuers going back and forth from the scene of the attack.

There has also been a huge series of explosions heard from the city of Khan Younis, where the Israeli military is actively expanding ground operations.


_{In the southern city of Khan Younis 24 people were killed, 14 of them from the same family. A week-old infant was killed in central Gaza.}


Israel hitting power generators, putting hospitals ‘out of service’

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israel deliberately hit power generators to put Gaza’s hospitals out of operation.

“The health situation in northern Gaza is now catastrophic after the Indonesian Hospital went out of service,” the ministry said. “The [Israeli] occupation aims to destroy electromechanical systems to put more hospitals out of service.

“Hospitals are operating on limited fuel supplies, threatening the continued provision of emergency medical care to the wounded and sick.”

Gaza death toll rises

Israeli attacks on the besieged territory have killed at least 82 Palestinians and wounded 262 during the past 24-hour reporting period, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The casualties bring the total number of people confirmed killed in Gaza during the war to 53,655 with 121,950 wounded, the ministry said. Since March 18, when Israel broke the nearly two-month ceasefire in Gaza, at least 3,509 people have been killed and 9,909 injured, it added.

Israel’s army claims to hit 115 Gaza targets in 24 hours

In its latest war update, the Israeli army says its aerial attacks struck 115 targets in Gaza in the last day, including fighter cells, rocket launchers, tunnels and other military infrastructure.

One strike, it claimed, killed a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba special forces unit who took part in the October 7 attack.

As we’ve been reporting, Israel’s latest attacks in Gaza have killed numerous civilians, including a strike on a school-turned-shelter yesterday that killed children and a pregnant woman.

_{Military vehicles stand near the border with Gaza, in Israel, May 20}

Still no aid coming in as people ‘waste away’ with malnutrition

Ahmed Bayram, the Middle East spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), has spoken to Al Jazeera about Gaza’s humanitarian situation, which continues to deteriorate.

Bayram, citing reports from his colleagues on the ground in Gaza, said there is still “no aid coming in as of this morning”.

“As things stand, the impact of the blockade continues,” he told Al Jazeera. “It’s going to be a while before we see any impact really … particularly with the meagre numbers [of aid trucks approved] by Israel.”

Bayram said people’s needs in Gaza are “soaring” with many families surviving on just one modest meal per day.

“More people are coming to us, telling us how they are watching their children waste away,” he said. “These children suffer from malnutrition, some of them will probably never make it, never recover from it.”

He urged for greater global pressure on Israel to allow aid in without “limits or conditions”. “I hope countries do continue to apply that pressure … people are literally on the verge of death,” he said.

Gaza struggles with food, water shortages amid ongoing attacks

With air raids and tank fire continuing to pound the enclave, local bakers and transport operators said they had yet to see fresh supplies of flour and other essentials.

Abdel-Nasser al-Ajramy, the head of the bakery owners’ society, told the Reuters news agency that at least 25 bakeries that were told they would receive flour from the World Food Programme had seen nothing and there was no relief from the hunger for people waiting for food.

“There is no flour, no food, no water,” said Sabah Warsh Agha, a 67-year-old woman from northern Gaza sheltering in a cluster of tents near the beach in Gaza City.

“We used to get water from the pump. Now the pump has stopped working. There is no diesel or gas.”

Dozens of trucks of humanitarian aid for Gaza still sitting at border entry

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-humanitarian-aid-un-1.7539737

_{Internal notes circulated among aid groups say trucks have yet to leave Kerem Shalom}

United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday evening that although the aid has entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time.

Internal notes circulated among aid groups Wednesday and seen by The Associated Press said that no humanitarian trucks had left Kerem Shalom, the border crossing in southern Gaza that is operated by Israel. The notes said 65 trucks moved from the Israel side of the crossing to the Palestinian side, but hadn't made it into Gaza.

Vehicle targeted near Gaza’s European Hospital, today’s death toll at 62

We are getting reports of a deadly Israeli attack in the Khan Younis area. The attack, which targeted a vehicle near the European Hospital, located east of the city, has killed at least one person, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

That casualty brings today’s total death toll in Gaza to 62, they report, citing local medical sources.

Israeli drone attack targets car in southern Lebanon

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that an Israeli drone hit a car on al-Hawsh-Ain Baal road near Tyre, in southern Lebanon.

The attack comes as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is due in Beirut to discuss the issue of weapons in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, according to US-based news site Al-Monitor.

Israeli soldiers arrest two brothers in Bethlehem

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli soldiers arrested two brothers from the town of Al-Doha, in Bethlehem.

Israeli soldiers also opened fire in the Jericho Valley, injuring one Palestinian, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

Meanwhile, Wafa also reported that Israeli forces fired tear gas during raids on the village of Al-Mughayyir, in Ramallah and al-Ras, south of Tulkarem, with no arrests or injuries reported.


_{An Israeli soldier aims a weapon at a Palestinian man sitting at a watermelon stand in the Old Askar refugee camp in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday}

Israeli forces arrest Palestinian amid raids in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian man has been detained in Qalqilya city by the Israeli army after they raided his home, the Wafa news agency is reporting.

Israeli forces also seized three vehicles in a raid on al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, and raided homes in Sarta, west of Salfit, as well as in the city of Nablus.

Twenty Palestinians detained in latest West Bank raids

Israeli forces have rounded up 20 people in raids throughout the occupied West Bank since last night, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Among those detained are three women and numerous former prisoners, it said.

Since October 7, Israeli forces have made about 17,000 arrests in the West Bank, according to the  group’s tally, holding many without formal charge.

Israeli forces demolish dead Palestinian’s home for second time

Israeli forces have demolished the home of Abdul Qader al-Qawasmi, killed in November 2023, in Hebron for the second time, Wafa news agency is reporting.

According to security sources quoted by Wafa, a large contingent of Israeli soldiers stormed multiple neighbourhoods, set up positions near a central traffic circle and carried out the demolition.

During the operation, several families were detained and a military checkpoint was installed at Hebron’s northern entrance. The house was previously demolished in January 2024.

Israeli forces ‘shoot towards’ European diplomatic delegation in Jenin

Local media is reporting that Israeli forces fired towards a diplomatic delegation visiting Jenin camp in the occupied West Bank.

The delegation included diplomats from the European Union, reports Quds News Network. They were fired at near a gate at the camp’s eastern entrance, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

According to Wafa news agency, Israeli soldiers fired five bullets towards the delegation, which was made up of officials from numerous European and Arab states. The report did not mention any casualties.

The delegation had travelled to Jenin, along with a group of journalists, to see the camp’s conditions and speak to its governor, Wafa said.

_{An Israeli soldier is seen next to an iron gate at the entrance to Jenin camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank}

Palestinian Foreign Ministry shares footage of Israeli shooting near diplomatic delegation in Jenin

The footage, shared by the ministry on its X platform, appears to show Israeli soldiers firing shots near the foreign diplomatic delegation.

Shouts are heard as the shots ring out, before members of the delegation rush away from the scene.

The ministry said the Israeli forces fired the shots to “intimidate” the delegation as it toured the camp.

The occupation forces opened heavy fire from inside the Jenin refugee camp to intimidate the diplomatic delegation that is conducting a field tour around the camp to witness the extent of the suffering endured by the residents of the area.

قوات الاحتلال تطلق النار بشكل كثيف من… pic.twitter.com/qafjqQP0Sg

— State of Palestine - MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) May 21, 2025

Foreign diplomats come under Israeli fire on official West Bank visit

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/middleeast/diplomats-israeli-fire-west-bank-intl


_{Members of a diplomatic delegation from the European Union during a visit to the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on May 21}

Delegations from more than 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada and others, were on an official mission to see the humanitarian situation in the besieged camp, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called the incident a “deliberate and unlawful act.”

Israeli army admits firing shots near foreign diplomats in Jenin

The Israeli army has issued a statement addressing reports its forces fired shots near a delegation of foreign diplomats in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. The military said the bullets were “warning shots”, fired after the delegation “deviated” from their approved route and moved to an “unauthorised” area.

“No injuries or damage were reported,” said the military, adding that a commander is reviewing the incident and their findings would be relayed to the relevant diplomats.

The military said it “regrets the inconvenience caused”.

Shoot first, Hasbara later

Shooting incident in Jenin underlines harsh ‘reality’ of West Bank occupation

The Israeli army said it “regrets any inconvenience” [from the shooting incident in Jenin] and that army officials are speaking with diplomats in different counties to try to mitigate the situation.

Nonetheless, this just goes to show the reality of what’s happening on the ground in the West Bank.

Even if you go to visit as part of a delegation from another country, some of which are allies of Israel, you can be subjected to that same type of treatment by the Israeli army, which has imposed a siege on the refugee camp since January.

EU top diplomat calls on Israel to investigate incident in Jenin

We have been reporting throughout the day on an incident in which Israeli forces fired shots near a delegation of foreign diplomats in Jenin, occupied West Bank.

Kaja Kallas has called on Israel to investigate the incident.

“I heard about the incident in Jenin today where Israel’s Defence Forces shot warning shots, but still shots, at a group of diplomats approaching the refugee camp, within the visit organised by the Palestinian Authority,” Kallas told reporters.

“We definitely call on Israel to investigate this incident and also hold [to] account those who are responsible for this, and any threats on diplomats’ lives are unacceptable.”

She said Israel was a signatory to the Vienna Convention and hence had the obligation to “guarantee the security of all foreign diplomats”.

This girl is trying to keep her family alive in Gaza. Hunger already killed her baby niece

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/20/middleeast/gaza-hunger-jana-israel-blockade-intl-cmd



The bright pink jumper with a picture of Cinderella hangs off Jana’s skinny shoulders as she walks through the northern Gaza moonscape, piles of rubble, dirt and dust all around her. Clutching a large tub in her hand, the 12-year-old is on a mission: find food and water.

Jana Mohammed Khalil Musleh Al-Skeifi and her family say she has been responsible for getting supplies for them all since an Israeli sniper killed her older brother more than a year ago. Her parents are in poor health, so it now falls on her to provide for them.

“I don’t want my father to get tired. That’s why I’m strong. I want to be strong, so my father doesn’t suffer,” Jana told CNN while waiting in a queue at a water distribution spot in Gaza City. “My father is elderly and has heart disease. If he tries to carry the bucket, he’ll fall.”


_{Jana's family live in a half destroyed building in Gaza City. They fled there after their home was destroyed.}

Doctors without Borders, the humanitarian organization, said that more than two-thirds of the 1,700 water and sanitation items it sought to deliver to Gaza between January 2024 and early March 2025 were rejected by Israeli authorities.

“You can barely fill one bucket, because there’s no proper queuing system, and if you wait, you might not get anything. Sometimes we have to go without,” Jana said. “I sit there for hours just waiting to fill one bucket. It’s an awful feeling.”

The family told CNN it has resorted to using salt water to clean and cook in the past.

The hunger is becoming catastrophic. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that at least 57 children have died from the effects of malnutrition since the start of the war. Jana’s baby niece Janat was one of them, her family says.

While Janat was born small, weighing just 2.6 kilograms (5 lb 12 oz), her mother Aya told CNN the baby girl was growing and putting on weight. She became a healthy baby, reaching a weight of around 4 kilograms (8 lb 13 oz). She learned to smile, she was alert.

But things changed when Janat was six weeks old.

On March 2, Israel imposed its total blockade on Gaza, preventing even the most basic supplies, including baby formula and medicines, from entering the strip.

Aya said that when food became scarce, she began to struggle to breastfeed Janat, who started to lose weight. The baby developed chronic diarrhea, became dehydrated and was soon so poorly that she needed medical attention.

“(At the hospital) they said there was a special medical milk that would help her gain weight and stop the diarrhea — but we couldn’t find it. We searched all over Gaza, hospital by hospital, pharmacy by pharmacy. Even the Ministry of Health told us it wasn’t available,” Aya told CNN.

A CNN video of Janat from mid-April shows the tiny baby wrapped up and held tightly by Aya. Her tiny face is all bones beneath the skin, and she looks more like a newborn than a four-month-old. Her skinny, long fingers are poking out of the blanket, and she looks sleepy. Her big brown eyes are the only part of her exhausted body that seem able to move, her gaze following people as they move around her.

_{Jana plays with her baby niece Janat on April 12. Janat died of the effects of malnutrition three weeks after this video was filmed}

At the same time, Janat’s mother was struggling too, weakened by the lack of food and clean water. Like many new mothers in Gaza in these conditions, she lost her milk – leaving her unable to feed her baby. The UN-backed hunger report said that almost 11,000 pregnant women in Gaza are already at risk of famine, and nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition over the coming months.

Janat kept deteriorating. Her mother told CNN the baby began to struggle to maintain her body temperature and doctors said her blood sugar level was dangerously low. Her oxygen levels were dropping. The malnutrition caused her kidneys and liver to malfunction and her blood became acidic as a result.

“I pleaded to the whole world to save her. I just wanted someone to save her, to provide the milk she needed. But no one could help. Everyone was just watching,” Janat’s mother said.

Janat’s mother told CNN that doctors at the hospital had recommended Janat for medical evacuation abroad. The family even managed to obtain the necessary paperwork, including a referral and a permit for Janat to leave.

But the baby girl died on May 4, before that was possible. At four months old, she was only 2.8 kilograms (6 lb 3 oz), barely more than her birth weight.


Medical evacuations from Gaza have been extremely rare, even more so since Israel restarted military operations after the collapse of the ceasefire in March.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that some 12,000 patients in Gaza need medical evacuation, and that only 123 people have been evacuated since hostilities restarted in March.

...

Canadian Media Faceplants In Report On Netanyahu



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Cenk Uygur UNLEASHES on IDF Spokesman Shamelessly Lying for Israel: You're a “Monster”

The U.N.’s humanitarian chief is warning that 14,000 babies in Gaza could starve to death within 48 hours due to Israel’s 11-week blockade of food and medicine. Israel has also intensified its bombing campaign as they prepare to permanently reoccupy the Gaza strip. A former IDF spokesperson, Doron Spielman, was defending Israel’s crimes against humanity on an episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, but thankfully Cenk Uygur—who was also on the panel—tore into Spielman, calling him a “monster” for defending Israel’s atrocities. In this video we’ll talk about the aforementioned viral exchange, but mostly focus on the genocide in Gaza as well as the response to Israel’s mass starvation campaign from world leaders.

'Utterly intolerable' and 'monstrous': Papers react to Gaza hunger crisis

PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, May 21: The humanitarian situation in Gaza is on most front pages today, many of them picking up on a UN report which suggested that 14,000 babies could die if aid does not get through. Israel seems to be losing the support of many of its allies. Also, a medical journal has found that teenagers today are facing an unprecedented health crisis. And, a local Chicago newspaper has published a summer reading list almost entirely made up of fake books.

No aid has been distributed in Gaza, UN says | BBC News

The UN says no aid has yet been distributed in Gaza despite aid lorries starting to cross the border after an 11-week blockade. Israeli officials said 93 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, carrying aid including flour, baby food, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical drugs. But the UN said, despite trucks reaching the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, no aid has been distributed so far.

Ms. Rachel Opens Up About Her Advocacy for Gaza’s Children and Ensuing Backlash

Whether or not you have toddlers, by now chances are you’ve heard of Ms. Rachel, the children’s educator who has taken the world by storm. With more than 14 million subscribers on YouTube and billions of views worldwide, Rachel Accurso has become a superstar in children’s entertainment, teaching them everything from how to sound out syllables to learning about their emotions.

But Ms. Rachel, as she’s known, has not just garnered attention for her educational videos, she’s also become an outspoken advocate for children in conflicts worldwide. But it’s her advocacy for the children in Gaza in particular, who have been displaced, starved, injured, and killed in their thousands by Israel’s offensive, that has turned her into a target.

In this exclusive interview with Mehdi Hasan and Zeteo, Ms. Rachel opens up about why she decided to speak out against Israel's war in Gaza, how her experience as a teacher and mother informs her perspective, and responds to the backlash she's received.

MEPs discuss EU response to Israeli government plan to seize the Gaza strip

MEPs will debate the EU’s response to the Israeli government's plan to seize the Gaza Strip, and how to provide effective humanitarian support and secure the hostages’ release.

‘Grinding pace of destruction’ continues across Gaza

That’s what makes this period of time quite different – and what distinguishes it this time is not just the scale of destruction … but the magnitude, as well as the grinding pace of destruction that is going places that were off limits in the past weeks.

We’re talking about solar panels, generators and facilities that were long considered protected under international law – facilities that belong and are operated by international organisations.

In terms of new attacks, three people were killed in a drone strike on a residential home in Jabalia refugee camp. Three more [were killed] almost at the same time in al-Amal neighbourhood at the heart of Khan Younis.

The number [of casualties] keeps increasing by the hour.

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza rises again

Our colleagues on the ground report that at least 82 people have been killed today across Gaza as Israeli attacks show no signs of letting up.

Dozens of people were also wounded today, our team says, quoting medical sources in Gaza.

Gaza ‘a graveyard for humanity’s conscience’: Save the Children

Save the Children UK says Palestinian children in Gaza “are suffering day after day” under Israel’s bombardment and blockade of the territory.

“These children have names, they have hopes and dreams for the future. They are someone’s everything, their entire universe,” the child rights group said in a post on X.

“We refuse to allow their suffering to become normalised.”