‘Please, I ask everyone to be her voice’

We have more from Dr Ahmed Alfarra at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza who described Dr Alaa al-Najjar as a dedicated colleague who loves her children after they were bombed to death.

“It is unbelievable,” he told Al Jazeera about what happened. “You can’t imagine the shock that she had when she heard about that [attack]. But up until now, she is trying to be near her son and her husband to survive.”

Alfarra said no words of condolence can help in the aftermath of the Israeli attack. “It is a massacre,” the doctor said, stressing that these types of deadly bombings have been happening daily across Gaza since October 2023.

“Complete families were eradicated completely from the civilian records.”

Alfarra called on people around the world to “be on the right side of humanity” and to speak out about what is happening. “These children, they have no voice. Their mother … she’s [in shock],” he said. “Please, I ask everyone to be her voice [in] this world. Please.”

Killing children ‘a source of pleasure’ for Israel’s military: Media Office

The Government Media Office has denounced the Israeli army strikes on the home of a Gaza doctor that killed nine of her 10 children.

“The horrifying massacre committed by the Israeli occupation in which nine children from the al-Najjar family in Khan Younis were killed confirms that killing has become a hobby and source of pleasure for an army that takes pride in extinguishing the lives of innocent children,” it said in a statement.

Seven of the children’s bodies have been recovered, but two remain buried in the rubble – “a scene that epitomises the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”, it added.

UK doctor shares eye witness account as Gaza doctor couple lose 9 children

A fresh Israeli attack has killed nine out of 10 children of a doctor couple in Gaza with the youngest being just six months old. A British doctor currently working in Gaza termed the development ‘unbearably cruel.’ Rifat Jawaid raises the double standard of the western leaders and demands firm action against Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Main events on May 24th

Genocide deniers' dumbest talking point: "Gaza famine is caused by Hamas stealing food"

Stealing it for what? "To buy weapons" US Amb. says

FROM WHERE? Walmart? Gaza is fully sealed off

"To sell on the blackmarket" he says. AND DO WHAT WITH THE MONEY? Only thing to buy is FOOD… pic.twitter.com/ouhkwlWPaq

— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) May 24, 2025

Tom Fletcher WARNS UN: Gáza's Reality is Far Worse Than it Appears!

Freed captive says Israeli air strikes put her ‘in the most danger’

Naama Levy, an Israeli soldier who was released in January, has described surviving an Israeli air attack during her time in captivity in Gaza.

“I was convinced every single time that this was my end, and it’s also what put me in the most danger,” she said at a protest, according to The Times of Israel. “One of the bombardments collapsed part of the house I was in,” she said. “The wall I was leaning on didn’t collapse, and that’s what saved me.

“They come by surprise. First, you hear a whistle, pray it doesn’t fall on you, and then the booms, a noise loud enough to paralyse you. The earth shakes. “That was my reality, and now it’s their reality,” she added, referring to the 58 captives who remain in Gaza, including some who died in captivity.

“At this very moment, there are hostages who hear those same whistles and booms, shaking with fear. They have nowhere to run, just pray and cling to the wall in a horrible feeling of powerlessness,” she said.


_{Demonstrators hold a banner, saying ‘Save the hostages, end the war”, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday}

What’s the latest on talks for a ceasefire?

Family members of Israeli captives have once again taken to the streets of Tel Aviv, in an area that has become known as hostage square, as well as other parts of the country, to try to send a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they want a deal.

It’s been nearly 600 days since Israel’s war on Gaza began, and the Israeli delegation that was negotiating for a ceasefire deal in the Qatari capital, Doha, has returned with those talks still at a stalemate.

That’s because Netanyahu said he has new conditions for ending the war on Gaza. It’s not just disarming Hamas, it’s not just releasing the captives, and it’s not just the exile of political and military leaders. He says he wants to integrate Trump’s plan for Gaza into his conditions.

This is the plan that has been widely condemned internationally, with many saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing. But the Israeli leader says he will not end the war until all of his military objectives have been met and until there’s absolute victory.

Family members of Israeli captives say he’s prolonging the war for his own political and personal gain.

Rights groups seek ban on Israeli firms at Paris weapons expo

Palestinian and French rights organisations say they are taking legal action to prevent eight Israeli weapons companies from participating in the Paris Air Show next month.

The rights groups, including the Palestinian organisation Al-Haq, have asked the Bobigny judicial court to compel the organisers of the event to take all possible measures to stop a “manifestly unlawful disturbance”.

“There should be no doubt that these companies are supporting Israel’s ongoing military onslaught in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), given the information available on their official websites and networks,” the groups said in a statement.

“Some even go so far as to promote their weapons as having been ‘tested in combat’ in Gaza,” the statement added.

Last year, the French government banned representatives of Israeli companies from taking part in the Eurosatory weapons expo, but the decision was overturned by a court at the last minute.

📣 Al-Haq & partners take legal action to prevent Israeli Arms Companies from participating in Paris Airshow amid #GazaGenocide w/ @contactujfp @attac_fr @stopfuellingwar @Survie
🚨Some Israeli arms companies featured promote weapons as ‘tested in combat’ https://t.co/yfIo6TzEta

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) May 24, 2025

Israeli soldiers escort settlers into West Banks’ Hebron


<sub>Dozens of Israeli settlers walked through Hebron in the occupied West Bank, escorted by armed Israeli soldiers, on Saturday


Hebron is an important hub for shopping for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank but rights groups say the segregated city is also an illustration of Israeli apartheid


Israeli soldiers pointed weapons at Palestinians who live and work in Hebron’s old city during the raid</sub>

Several Palestinians wounded in Israeli settler attack in West Bank

The Palestinian Red Crescent is reporting that seven Palestinians have been wounded in an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of al-Maniya, near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Another group of Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian vehicles near the Kedumim settlement, between the Nablus and Qalqilya governorates, and Palestinian homes in the town of Bruqin, west of Salfit.

The settler attacks came as Israeli soldiers continued raids in the occupied West Bank, including in the town of Yabad, southwest of the city of Jenin.

Israeli settlers, accompanied by soldiers, set fire to West Bank home

Wafa has more details on the Israeli settler attack on Bruqin, west of Salfit.

The agency is reporting that settlers set fire to the home of Yafi Barakat, a local Palestinian resident, and that Israeli soldiers who accompanied the assailants fired live bullets and tear gas at residents who tried to stop the attack.

Israeli soldiers also raided the nearby villages of Yasouf and Iskaka.

Wafa is also reporting that Israeli soldiers shot a 16-year-old, injuring his foot, during a raid on the Old City of Nablus. He was taken to hospital.

Israeli forces also fired tear gas and sound bombs in the area.

Israeli occupation forces storm the Old City of Nablus in the northern West Bank. pic.twitter.com/rTu6a5g0i1

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 25, 2025

Two teenagers arrested in Bethlehem, Israeli raids hit Ramallah towns

At least two Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli soldiers in the town of al-Khader, located south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. An unnamed security source cited by the Wafa news agency said two 16-year-old boys were arrested by soldiers who raided their family homes.

Israeli forces also raided several towns and villages, as well as the Jalazone refugee camp, located in Ramallah and the el-Bireh governorate, this morning. No arrests have been reported so far.

Israeli forces arrest 11 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

We reported earlier how two Palestinian teenagers were arrested this morning in Bethlehem during raids on their family homes by Israeli forces. The Palestinian prisoners’ Asra Media Office has now confirmed those arrests, along with nine more.

Four other young men were arrested during dawn raids on their homes in Qabatiya, south of Jenin. Two arrests took place in Hebron, one in Nablus, one in Ramallah, and another in Tulkarem.

#شاهد | تواجد قوات الاحتلال على دوار الشهداء في مدينة نابلس. pic.twitter.com/BmKXaz9AFm

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) May 25, 2025

Israeli settlers more ‘organised’ in West Bank attacks, outpost expansion

Israeli settler attacks on both built-up Palestinian villages and remote Bedouin communities in the occupied West Bank have become increasingly frequent and organised, according to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, who cited recent attacks in Bruqin, where a Palestinian home was set on fire, and in al-Mughayyir near Ramallah.

“They [settlers] have been attacking Palestinian Bedouin communities day and night,” Ibrahim said, noting that settlers often let their sheep graze on Palestinian land as a form of encroachment. “The Bedouins feel they’ve been left alone by everyone – by the Palestinian government and the international community.”

Ibrahim explained that settlers typically begin by establishing West Bank outposts that are not recognised even by the Israeli government, but gain formal recognition over time.

“So, the settlers basically create reality on the ground – not just among the Bedouin communities but all across villages and towns in the occupied West Bank,” she said. “It’s all under one goal – to grab as much land as possible.”

_{A Palestinian inspects the damage after an attack by Israeli settlers, in Sinjil, near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, April 23}

Israeli defence minister engaged in ‘systematic boycott’ of legal system: Top lawyer

Amit Becher, the head of the Israel Bar Association, says Defence Minister Israel Katz must “deal with security, the release of hostages, equality of burden [of military service], and reservists, and not with PR announcements for the needs of the primaries”.

Becher accused Katz of engaging in a “systematic boycott of the entire legal system and the dismantling of state institutions” in a post on X.

Becher posted the message shortly after Katz banned the military’s top lawyer, Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, from participating in the bar association’s upcoming annual conference.

Katz argued that the advocate general must focus on work “refuting domestic and foreign fabrications regarding the conduct of soldiers in the war in Gaza” rather than engaging in “political” affairs.

Netanyahu’s government has been pushing to strip away some of the authority of Israel’s judicial system and has clashed with the bar association and the attorney general on many occasions.

At the same time, the Israeli army has faced mounting cases of abuses in Gaza that could amount to war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law.

Israeli opposition leader calls Netanyahu ‘corrupt, failed prime minister’

Yair Golan, leader of Israel’s left-wing Democrats party and one of Netanyahu’s fiercest domestic critics, has denounced the prime minister over a report that he is planning a budget proposal that is favourable to ultra-Orthodox parties to retain their support for his coalition government.

“While soldiers and reservists are being sent to Gaza, Netanyahu is looting their tax money and using it to bribe the ultra-Orthodox who avoid service,” Golan said in a post on X.

“Netanyahu is a negligent, corrupt and failed prime minister who sacrifices those who serve and work – just to cling to power,” Golan said. “We will replace him.”

Malaysia urges ASEAN to speak up for Palestine

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan has condemned Israel’s “atrocities” in Gaza and called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to speak up for Palestinians.

His comments come ahead of the regional bloc’s summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

“The atrocities committed against the Palestinian people continue to reflect indifference and double standards,” Mohamad told his ASEAN counterparts. “They are a direct result of the erosion of the sanctity of international law,” he said.

“ASEAN cannot remain silent,” he added. The 10-member regional bloc had previously asserted its “longstanding support” for Palestinian rights in February.

Spain to host Madrid Group meeting on Gaza war

Foreign ministers from European and Middle Eastern nations are set to meet in the Spanish capital, Madrid, later today as part of efforts to step up pressure on Israel to end its war on Gaza.

The talks – which will bring together diplomats from Spain, Norway, Slovenia, Ireland, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar and Bahrain – will be the fifth meeting of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group or the Madrid Group.

“We want to mobilise the voices of the EU but also those outside the European Union in Arab and Islamic countries,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the El País newspaper last week.

“We all want the same thing: to end this war, prevent Gaza from becoming a mass graveyard, and break the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid,” he said.

The talks will also include discussions on an upcoming international conference on the two-state solution, which is set to take place at UN headquarters in New York in June. That conference will be co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France.

Peru opens criminal investigation into Israeli soldier over direct role in Gaza genocide

Peru has formally opened a criminal investigation into an Israeli national accused of participating in the genocide in Gaza, according to the Hind Rajab Foundation and human rights lawyer Julio Cesar Arbizu Gonzalez, who filed the complaint.

According to the foundation, the individual being investigated in Peru was a combat engineering soldier who played a direct role in the destruction of civilian neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip.

Gonzalez said in a post on X that “Peru has an international obligation to prosecute these crimes under universal jurisdiction”, after the soldier flew into an airport in the Peruvian capital Lima.

Lebanon to ‘liberate’ all of its lands from Israeli occupation: Prime minister

Today is Resistance and Liberation Day in Lebanon, a holiday to mark the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon 25 years ago.

Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said in a statement that “our joy will not be complete until all our lands are liberated from the Israeli occupation”. He promised that his government would remain faithful to the following principles:

Cooking in Gaza is now a toxic affair

We used to know well the tiny click of a gas stove burner starting – that small spark at the start of a day that meant a hot meal or a cup of tea was coming.

Now, that sound is gone, replaced by the hollow clang of emptiness.

We used our last drop of cooking gas in the middle of Ramadan. Like all other families in Gaza, we turned to firewood. I remember my mother saying, “From today, we cannot even make a cup of tea for suhoor.”

Families who have no trees to chop have turned to burning plastic, rubber and trash – anything that will catch fire. But burning these materials releases toxic fumes, poisoning the air they breathe and seeping into the food they cook. The taste of plastic clings to every bite, turning each meal into a health risk.


_{A Palestinian mother cooks beans over a fire fuelled by burning plastic at a tent sheltering displaced families in Gaza City on Saturday}

Famine in Gaza enters a ‘new phase of mortality’

Izzedin Shaheen, a doctor in Gaza, says famine in Gaza is now affecting children who are otherwise healthy.

In a post on X, he wrote:

“Famine has entered a new phase of mortality, which may have once been limited to children with chronic illnesses or special needs, but is now affecting children who were otherwise healthy and had no pre-existing illnesses other than malnutrition.”

The comment comes after health authorities in Gaza announced the death of a four-year-old boy from starvation. Mohammed Yassine’s death has taken the number of Palestinians who have died of hunger since Israel’s blockade to 58.

Hundreds of aid trucks need to enter Gaza daily: UNRWA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says at least 500 to 600 trucks need to reach Gaza every day, “managed through the UN including UNRWA”.

“A meaningful and uninterrupted flow of aid into Gaza is the only way to prevent the current disaster from spiraling further,” UNRWA said in a post on X.

“The people of Gaza cannot wait any longer.”

The Israeli military claims that about 300 aid trucks have entered Gaza since Israel lifted its total blockade last week, although one Palestinian official said the number is much lower, just 92 trucks.

A meaningful and uninterrupted flow of aid into #Gaza is the only way to prevent the current disaster from spiraling further.

The least needed is 500-600 trucks every day managed through the UN including UNRWA.

The people of Gaza cannot wait any longer. pic.twitter.com/Jyns9kLPjV

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 25, 2025

‘Trickle of aid’ not responding to Gaza’s deepening crisis

A trickle of aid was allowed to enter Gaza in the past few days, which is not enough to respond to the great needs created by months of devastation and bombardment across the Strip.

We are talking about close to 100 – no more than that – of trucks filled with flour and other basic necessities that are not responding to the deepening crisis.

The Israeli military is also preventing the entry of much-needed heavy machinery to remove rubble and save lives.

_{A child cries as Palestinians gather to receive meals at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp on May 24}

Aftermath of the Israeli strike that killed a Gaza doctor’s 9 children

_{The attack hit the home of Dr Alaa al-Najjar while she was at work on Friday and set it ablaze}

The dead children, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old. They are Sidar, Luqman, Sadin, Reval, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rakan and Yahya. Al-Najjar’s husband and her 11-year-old son, Adam, were severely wounded and are receiving care at the Nasser Hospital’s intensive care unit.

Israel’s entire standing army, armoured brigades now in Gaza: Report

The Israeli military has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the Gaza Strip, representing its entire standing army, as it continues its intensified ground invasion, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The military has also deployed all of its armoured brigades of tanks and other military vehicles to Gaza, the publication reported, citing the Israeli military.

This includes Israel’s Golani, Paratroopers, Givati, Commando, Kfir, Nahal, 7th, 188th, and 401st brigades, as well as reserve units, The Times of Israel added.


_{Israeli tanks and bulldozers deploy as smoke billows over destroyed buildings in Gaza on May 17}

Israeli forces control 77 percent of Gaza: Government Media Office

The Israeli military now in effect controls 77 percent of the total geographical area of the Gaza Strip, according to the enclave’s Government Media Office.

“This is achieved through direct ground incursions and the deployment of occupation forces within residential and civilian areas, through heavy fire control that prevents Palestinian citizens from accessing their homes, areas, lands, and property, or through unjust forced eviction policies,” it said in a statement.

The office called on the UN and the international community to take action to stop the Israeli expansion.

“The continued genocide, ethnic cleansing, colonialism, aggression, and occupation control over the vast majority of the Gaza Strip reflects an Israeli political will to impose a ‘final solution’ by force, in blatant defiance of all international laws and norms,” the statement said.

Journalist among victims of Israeli attack on northern Gaza’s Jabalia

Wafa reports that a journalist and his relatives were among seven people killed in an Israeli attack on a home in Jabalia an-Nazla. It identified the journalist as Hassan Majdi Abu Warda.

Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed his death, saying the number of journalists killed by Israel in the enclave has risen to 220. It said Abu Warda was the director of the Barq Gaza news agency.

“He was martyred along with several members of his family after the Israeli occupation bombed their home in the Jabalia al-Nazla area (northern Gaza Strip),” the office said in a statement on Telegram.

Meanwhile, a separate Israeli attack in the nearby Jabalia refugee camp killed at least one person, according to our colleagues on the ground. Rescuers also recovered three bodies near Khan Younis.

These casualties bring today’s total death toll to 14, report our colleagues, citing a Health Ministry update.

Thousands died under rubble due to lack of equipment: Gaza’s Civil Defence

Mohammed al-Mughair, director of supplies and equipment at Gaza’s Civil Defence, says members of the emergency organisation suffer greatly as they are regularly targeted by the Israeli army.

“We have fulfilled more than 170,000 emergency calls, many of which led to the transfer of injured or killed Palestinians. Our forces are facing not only physical fatigue, but also psychological burdens as more than 25 percent of our crew members were killed,” he told Al Jazeera from Gaza City in the north of the enclave.

“We are using simple tools like shovels and hammers, along with our bare hands, to try to rescue people from under the rubble. We do not have any heavy machinery or equipment.”

He said many of the Israeli targets are residential areas that were not in the forced displacement red zones set by the Israeli army.

“Israeli forces have adopted these policies to multiply the number of victims, so that those injured will lose their lives. We have documented 9,700 survivors who took their last breath under the debris because we could not help them.”


_{Civil defence workers extinguish a fire in Khan Younis in southern Gaza after a deadly Israeli air attack, May 23}

Two children among 5 relatives killed in Deir el-Balah: Report

Israeli bombardment has hit a tent camp for displaced people in Gaza’s central city of Deir el-Balah, killing five people from the same family, according to medical sources cited by Wafa.

Two children were among those killed, it reported.

It follows Wafa’s report of an earlier attack in northern Gaza’s Jabalia an-Nazla that killed at least seven people, including a journalist and his relatives.

Grieving mother pleads for children’s bodies

A woman who has lost two children to Israeli attacks is worried she will not be able to bury them if their bodies are not recovered soon.

In footage posted on Instagram and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit, Naama Shahwan says her children were killed near the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis on Saturday after they went out to search for bread.

“Bring me my children. I want to bury them. They are innocent kids,” Shahwan said, expressing fears that their bodies will be found by stray dogs. “They died and I am patient, but I want to bury my children. For God’s sake, bring me my children.”

Gaza’s Civil Defence says operations director killed with wife

In a statement on Telegram, Gaza’s Civil Defence – the agency responsible for rescue services – says an Israeli attack in the Nuseirat refugee camp has hit the home of its operations director, Ashraf Abu Nar, killing him and his wife.

The agency described Abu Nar as “a disciplined and responsible officer committed to his humanitarian and professional work”.

Gaza death toll rises

At least 38 Palestinians have been killed and 204 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The statement published on Telegram said the numbers do not include victims received by hospitals in northern Gaza “due to the difficulty of accessing them”.

The total death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has risen to 53,939 people killed and 122,797 injured since October 7, 2023, it said. At least 3,785 people have been killed and 10,756 injured in the enclave since March 18 when Israel broke a two-month ceasefire, the ministry said.