Ireland, Norway, Spain, Slovenia renew call for recognition of Palestinian state

The four European countries have released a joint statement reaffirming their “commitment to the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine”.

The governments of Ireland, Norway, Spain and Slovenia said the upcoming conference on Palestine – to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia in June – is “the appropriate framework in which to finally advance the implementation of the two-State solution”.

“We remind that recognition is another step for the implementation of the two-state solution, and we call on all members of the international community to take the necessary steps to make it reality,” their statement reads.

That includes “individual recognition of Palestine and Israel by those who have not yet done so, UN membership of Palestine and support of an agreement between the parties, with eventual mutual recognition between Palestine and Israel”, the countries said.

“It is up to the parties to bring peace to the region, but the international community has the obligation to change the ongoing dynamics on the ground that have created an endless cycle of violence and devastation.”


Switzerland urges unimpeded aid deliveries to Gaza

The Swiss government says that, in line with international law, humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza “without delay, without impediment and in sufficient quantities”.

“This isn’t a discretionary choice: the obligation stems from international law and applies to both parties to the conflict. As the occupying power, Israel holds – as per the Geneva Conventions – a special responsibility to protect civilian populations,” it said in a statement.

Switzerland also urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli captives held in the enclave, and talks to reach a long-term political solution.


Yet you're hosting GHF, registered in Geneva, Switzerland. You're fully complicit with the ethnic cleansing scheme.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/swiss-authorities-exploring-probe-into-us-backed-gaza-aid-group-2025-05-25/

Swiss authorities said on Sunday they were exploring whether to open a legal investigation into the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organisation that plans to oversee aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave.

The move comes after a Swiss NGO submitted a request for a probe into GHF's aid plan, which the United Nations has opposed, saying it is not impartial or neutral and forces further displacement and exposes thousands of people to harm.

OCHA warns Gaza humanitarian crisis ‘at its darkest point yet’

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached its worst stage as Israeli authorities have undermined our teams’ ability to provide real humanitarian aid, says the statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian Territory.

Its statement said Israel allowed “a trickle” of aid into Gaza – some nutrition and medical supplies, as well as flour – but banned most other items, including fuel, cooking gas, shelter and hygiene products.

“They also imposed the condition that we could only deliver flour to bakeries and not directly to families. This required people to face large crowds to collect bread from a limited number of bakeries daily,” the OCHA statement read.

“Over the weekend, bakeries that were once supported with humanitarian supplies have shut down due to growing insecurity from large desperate crowds,” it added.

“Food needs to be distributed in multiple forms, and at multiple sites across all Gaza governorates. This is the only way to restore order and prevent mass starvation.”

Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory – on #Gaza: https://t.co/c2qjKTG3rT pic.twitter.com/X0xYzfXPx0

— OCHA OPT (Palestine) (@ochaopt) May 28, 2025

Main events on May 28th

• Israel has continued its bombardment of the Gaza Strip while maintaining a blockade that has pushed the enclave to the brink of famine, killing at least 63 people, including a journalist.
• Gaza’s Government Media Office has said the Israeli army killed 10 people trying to get aid in the past two days when its soldiers opened fire at an aid distribution centre run by the newly formed, Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
• The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed its warehouse in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah was broken into by hungry Palestinians in search for food supplies, where at least four people were killed.
• The Red Cross field hospital in southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi area has come under Israeli fire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which said the incident sowed panic among patients and visitors, resulting in several injuries.
• Twenty-two out of Gaza’s 38 hospitals are out of service, the Health Ministry has said, with those still operating facing a “catastrophic” shortage of supplies.
• Israel has carried out four air strikes on Sanaa International Airport, targeting the runway and a Yemeni Airlines plane, destroying the last remaining civilian aircraft.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that a strike on Gaza has killed Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar, but the group has yet to comment.

Trump says Gaza aid ‘very nasty situation’ as chaos worsens

It is, says President Trump, a "very nasty situation". Speaking at the White House, the President said his administration is working on accelerating food deliveries to Palestinians living in Gaza. The US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it had been able to open an additional distribution centre, after their first site was overrun yesterday. But in Gaza city more chaotic scenes unfolded today as desperate people stormed a UN warehouse that was holding flour.

Trump’s extraordinary confession on warning Netanyahu on Iran; Gaza ceasefire soon

In a remarkable development, President Trump on Wednesday publicly admitted that he had warned Benjamin Netanyahu against attacking Iranian nuclear facilities. This comes amidst weeks of reports of his differences with Netanyahu. Trump had bypassed Netanyahu on Houthis, Gaza and Iran talks triggering speculations that all was not well between the two. Today’s public confession appears to confirm those speculations.

Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that there will be a ceasefire in Gaza pretty soon.

Confirming Trump / The USA can stop the genocide. They're still not ready to do so, how many more have to die.

Canadian doctors returning from Gaza detail eyewitness accounts: 'We are telling the truth'

Canadian doctors returning from Gaza detail first-hand accounts of the ongoing crisis, pleading for interference from the federal government to call for a ceasefire.

‘Never Seen Aid Weaponized To This Extent’: UNWRA Spokesperson On Famine In Gaza

Orphaned children, the spread of diseases, and increasing levels of malnutrition; every statistic in Gaza is “increasingly horrific,” says Jonathan Fowler, Senior Communications Manager at UNRWA, as he accuses Israel of weaponizing aid for Gaza. “We see pockets of famine in Gaza,” made worse by severe malnutrition and stunting in children, he adds.

"Gaza Deserves More Than Survival" – UN Security Council Briefing

In an address to the UN Security Council, Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, called for urgent international action to revive the two-State solution and end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kaag warned that the region is at a critical juncture, saying “The two-State solution is on life support,” and emphasized that peace “needs to be built on international consensus and legitimacy.” She condemned Hamas’s attacks and demanded the unconditional release of all hostages, while also urging Israel to halt strikes that have devastated civilian life in Gaza. “The people of Gaza deserve more than survival. They deserve a future,” she declared.

Kaag highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the rising violence in the West Bank, and the dangerous erosion of hope. She stressed that “aid cannot be negotiable” and rejected forced displacement. Pointing to the upcoming international conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, she urged bold steps toward a lasting peace based on justice, dignity, and rights for all. “Statehood is a right, it is not a reward,” Kaag reminded the Council, urging global leaders to act before it’s too late: “Let us not be remembered as the generation that let the two-State solution disappear.”

Al Jazeera investigation: Gaza community kitchens targeted by Israeli air strikes

‘Very good feeling’ about ceasefire agreement: Witkoff

The White House is optimistic a new proposal from US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff could result in a ceasefire agreement soon, US outlet Axios reported, quoting three sources involved in the negotiations.

“If each side moves just a bit, we could have a deal within days,” the outlet reported one source as saying.

Last night, Hamas said it had reached an agreement with Witkoff on a general framework for a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid.

Following that, Witkoff made an appearance alongside Trump in the Oval Office and announced he had drafted “a new term sheet” for the president’s approval, Axios reported.

“I have some very good feelings about getting to a temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict,” Witkoff said.

Witkoff has been negotiating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top adviser Ron Dermer, as well as with Hamas leaders in Doha through Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah.

Israel’s recent statements signal that it has no intention of ending its war on Gaza.

Biden and Blinken had very good feelings all the time, never delivered... Every time Hamas agrees to something US/Israel change the agreement again.

Israeli opposition leader says PM must accept ceasefire deal

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire framework mediated by a US envoy.

He said he is willing to give political support to Netanyahu to accept the deal, even if hardliners in the Israeli cabinet reject it. “Israel must publicly and immediately accept the outline published this morning by American mediator Steve Witkoff,” Lapid posted on X.

“I remind Netanyahu: He has a full safety net from me to accept the outline, even if [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich try to torpedo it.”

Last night, Hamas said it had reached an agreement with Witkoff on a general framework for a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid.

Following that, Witkoff made an appearance alongside Trump in the Oval Office and announced he had drafted “a new term sheet” for the president’s approval, Axios reported.

Here’s what we know about the proposed ceasefire agreement

Hamas has said that it has reached an agreement with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy to the region, on a “general framework” for a ceasefire. The group said the deal would involve the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the flow of aid into the territory, and the transfer of power to an independent “professional committee” once the agreement was announced.

The proposed deal would see Hamas release 10 living Israeli hostages, and an unspecified number of bodies of dead hostages, in exchange for Israel’s release of a number of Palestinian prisoners, the group said. While Witkoff has not released details of the proposal, sources have told Al Jazeera that the release would take place in two stages over the course of a 60-day ceasefire.

The AP news agency reported, citing a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, that more than 1,100 Palestinians prisoners, including 100 serving long sentences for deadly attacks, would be released, and that Israeli forces would withdraw to positions held during the previous ceasefire, while both sides pledged to hold serious negotiations to reach a long-term deal.

Israel’s government, though, has said it will only agree to temporary halts to the fighting to secure the release of hostages, while Israeli media has quoted officials saying the proposed agreement, as reported, was a non-starter.

Hardline government ministers have railed against the proposal, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying it would be “a lifeline to Hamas”. “We are not leaving areas we’ve conquered,” he said. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that Netanyahu’s accepting such a deal would be crossing a “red line”.

Israeli opposition figures, though, have voiced support for the proposal, with opposition leader Yair Lapid urging Netanyahu to “immediately” accept the framework, pledging to give him political support for the deal if the prime minister’s hardline allies tried to “torpedo it”. Benny Gantz, chairman of the opposition National Unity Party, has also called for Netanyahu to accept the proposal, saying he had “no excuse” not to.

Approval of new settlements aims to thwart two-state solution

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim has said Israel’s decision to approve 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank aimed to cement Israel’s hold over the area and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“They are retroactively recognising illegal settlements that already exist [to fill] in the gaps of places remaining for the Palestinians in the West Bank,” she said.

“More Western governments are now discussing recognising a Palestinian state, that’s why we have seen settler leaders pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to … cement their control.”

According to the UN, Israel demolished more than 1,700 Palestinian homes last year and seized 24 square kilometres of land. Palestinians need Israeli permits to build infrastructure in 61 percent of the occupied West Bank, which are rarely approved.

Israel’s Defence Ministry stated that the goal was “to strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory, to avoid the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to create the basis for future development of settlement in the coming decades”.

Almost a year ago now the ICJ ruled the occupation of the Westbank illegal https://www.icj-cij.org/node/204176

"This illegality relates to the entirety of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. This is the territorial unit across which Israel has imposed policies and practices to fragment and frustrate the ability of the Palestinian people to exercise its right to self-determination, and over large swathes of which it has extended Israeli sovereignty in violation of international law. The entirety of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is also the territory in relation to which the Palestinian people should be able to exercise its right to self-determination, the integrity of which must be respected.

Responding to an argument made by three participants, the Court observes that the Oslo Accords do not permit Israel to annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in order to meet its security needs. Nor do they authorize Israel to maintain a permanent presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for such security needs."

The UN / UNSC have yet to act on the ruling.

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

Here are the latest updates:

Israeli military raids occupied West Bank as settler attacks continue

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Duma, south of Nablus, in preparation for home demolitions, our colleagues have reported.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency said the Israeli military also blocked roads in Tulkarem and its camp, as well as the Nur Shams camp. Residents of 58 buildings in Tulkarem camp received immediate demolition orders on Wednesday and were forced to leave their homes.

Several attacks by Israeli settlers were also reported across the West Bank. Residents in the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, told Al Jazeera that Palestinian farmers and shepherds were attacked in the Marj Sa’i plain.

Settlers also vandalised Palestinian agricultural land east of Yatta, south of Hebron.

Palestinian farmers brace for Israel’s settlement expansion plan

Abbas Milhem, executive director of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union, says the international community must respond to Israel’s plan to establish nearly two dozen new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Ramallah, Milhem said the Israeli settlement push would hit Palestinian farmers particularly hard.

“This is the first wave of settlement expansion … and this will bring a big burden to Palestinian farms who are already suffering and [struggling] to get access to their farmland,” said Milhem, who explained that Israel has restricted access to Palestinian lands for decades.

Palestinian farmers also have faced a wave of “increased settler violence”, he said, including harassment and fatal attacks.

“And those settlers are supported and financed by their government … All this will make farming and farmers’ existence in the West Bank very challenging,” said Milhem, adding that supporting Palestinian farmers is a form of resistance to the Israeli occupation and settler attacks.

Israel kills 10 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza in 48 hours

At least 10 Palestinians desperately seeking aid from a contentious and heavily criticised United States-backed organisation have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the last 48 hours, according to the besieged enclave’s Government Media Office.

In a statement, the Government Media Office said Israeli forces “opened direct fire on hungry Palestinian civilians who had gathered to receive aid” at the distribution site, wounding at least 62 people.

Harrowing video showed thousands of starving Palestinians rushing to get aid, with many of them herded into cage-like lines, from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza.

The initiative has been widely condemned by UN officials and the humanitarian community, who have repeatedly said that life-saving aid could be adequately and safely scaled up in Gaza if Israel would allow access to aid and let those organisations that have decades of experience handle the flow.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said Israel was using “aid as a weapon of war”.

Visual guide to how the Gaza aid distribution turmoil unfolded
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/5/29/visual-guide-to-how-the-gaza-aid-distribution-turmoil-unfolded



In the early hours of Tuesday morning, thousands of starving people made the long journey to south Gaza, many walking tens of kilometres in the scorching summer heat to reach a newly established aid distribution centre run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Among them was Walaa Abu Sa’da (35), mother of three children who decided to go to Rafah by herself.

“My children were on the verge of starving. No milk, no food, not even baby formula. They cried day and night, and I had to beg neighbours for scraps,” Abu Sa’da told Al Jazeera.

While the previous United Nations-led distribution network operated about 400 sites across the Strip, the GHF, guarded by armed private security contractors working for a US company, has set up only four “mega-sites” for Gaza’s population of about two million Palestinians.

Chaos has erupted as troops fired on desperate aid seekers near several of these sites over the past few days, killing at least 10 people.

Witnesses described a slow and tightly controlled entry process, with people funnelled through narrow fenced corridors that resembled cattle chutes.

Once inside the distribution area, people were subjected to ID checks and eye scans to determine who was permitted to receive aid.

As crowds grew restless while waiting in the heat, people began pushing forward, eventually breaking through the fences. The scene turned chaotic as people surged towards the aid parcels, desperately trying to seize whatever they could, causing the security personnel to flee.

“Crowds surged in - thousands of people. There was no order at all,” Jehad al-Assar, 31, told Al Jazeera. “People rushed towards the yard where aid boxes were stacked and moved into the inner hall, where there were more supplies.

“It was chaos - a real struggle. Men, women, children, all crammed together, pushing to grab whatever they could. No queues, no system - just hunger and disorder,” al-Assar added.From a distance, plumes of dust could be seen as people rushed to grab whatever they could. Israel has not allowed food into the Strip for nearly three months, adding to people's desperation.

(That's supposed to last a family for a week...)

Despite the GHF saying it distributed 8,000 food boxes on Tuesday, amounting to 462,000 meals, Al Jazeera correspondent Hind al-Khourdary said the rations would do little to sustain families for long.

Khoudary described a typical box with 4kg (8.8lb) of flour, a couple of bags of pasta, two cans of fava beans, a pack of tea bags and some biscuits. Other food parcels contained lentils and soup in small quantities.

Water is scarce and electricity is almost non-existent in Gaza, making it nearly impossible for people to use the limited supplies they manage to obtain.

Reporting live from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum explained that it is “impossible to cook any dry food in Gaza - including lentils, rice, or even pasta - without having water".

"And if you had water, you would also need electricity or a fuel source, which have both been completely cut off entirely from Gaza," he said.

Another journalist killed by Israel

The Gaza Journalists Syndicate says that Moataz Raja was “assassinated” by the Israeli army while covering its war on the Strip. It said that an Israeli aircraft targeted a civilian vehicle he was riding on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City, killing him instantly.

At least 221 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to syndicate figures.

Major strikes on central Gaza kill 19, Health Ministry says

A series of Israeli attacks on residential buildings in the Bureij refugee camp have killed 19 people, the ministry confirmed. This brings today’s death toll to at least 37 people killed by the Israeli army.

Israel used internationally banned weapons in Bureij camp attack: Hospital spokesperson

Israeli forces used internationally prohibited weapons to bomb the Bureij refugee camp, says the spokesperson of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the facility where victims and the wounded were taken to after the attack.

Bodies arrived to the hospital charred, the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

The spokesperson also sounded the alarm on Gaza’s destroyed healthcare system, stating that 22 hospitals are completely out of service, with 70,000 children at risk of death due to malnutrition, and 11,000 patients in need of immediate treatment while there is a shortage of supplies and medicine due to Israel’s blockade.

Gaza Health Ministry says cancer treatment in ‘catastrophic’ condition

The Health Ministry has said intravenous chemotherapy and medical follow-up services for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip have been suspended, while 64 percent of cancer medications are out of stock.

The evacuation of the European Hospital and the Gaza Cancer Centre exacerbated the situation, the statement said, adding that 11,000 cancer patients are without adequate treatment and healthcare.

“Cancer patients are trapped in catastrophic health, social, psychological and economic conditions,” it said. “[We call] on all parties to pressure [Israel] to enable patients to travel for treatment abroad and bring in the necessary medication.”

Gaza death toll rises

At least 54,249 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza and 123,492 wounded, according to the latest update by Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Israeli army has killed 3,986 Palestinians and wounded 11,451 others since resuming hostilities in Gaza on March 18. The ministry added that 67 bodies and 184 injured people arrived at Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours

Third US, Israeli aid centre to begin operating today: Israeli Army Radio

The third US and Israel-backed aid centre will open today in central Gaza, south of the Netzarim Corridor, Israel’s Army Radio has reported. The new distribution centre, like the two that have already opened, will be able to provide food and humanitarian aid to 300,000 Palestinians every week, the army-operated station stated.

The location of the new centre is intended to push people from Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip to evacuate south, it added.

“The mission is to break the barrier of fear. We are already recognising the beginning of Hamas’s deterioration and loss of control over the population,” security officials were quoted as saying by the station.

The aid centres, run by an organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, have faced international criticism, including from the UN and humanitarian groups. At least 10 Palestinians desperately seeking aid from the organisation have been killed by Israeli forces in the past three days.

300,000 every week, that's only 43 thousand a day. It was never intended to help the entire population anyway. Even fully scaled up it can barely provide enough to keep half of the population on minimal life support.

And Israel is not even trying to hide the fact they're using aid for ethic cleansing.

Limited humanitarian aid a ‘strategy’ to distract from ongoing violence: Doctor

Emergency physician James Smith, who spent several weeks working in Gaza since Israel launched its war, has criticised the Israeli-led and US-backed mechanism that began distributing some aid in Gaza this week.

“This is a strategy to distract from ongoing violence and ongoing ethnic cleansing,” the British doctor told Al Jazeera. “This strategy has long been used, it has a name, it’s called the ‘humanitarian alibi’, whereby so-called humanitarian provision distracts from the acts perpetrated by genociders and other belligerents.”

Smith said the distribution of dry food posed a question of how Palestinians would be able to find water to cook it with. The distribution of much-needed medicine has also not been addressed.

Such conditions leave medics largely unable to respond to emergencies. “I’ve worked with medics who had spent the previous day and night looking for food for themselves and their family, living in tents, being subjected to the same conditions as everyone else,” Smith said. “Everyone is collectively traumatised by Israel’s violence in Gaza.”

Almost 700 attacks on medical facilities and personnel have been documented, but Smith said the figure was likely to be “a gross underestimation”.

Israel’s mass displacement campaign is ‘erasing’ Gaza: Oxfam

Global advocacy group Oxfam International has accused Israel of “erasing Gaza itself” through its relentless military campaign and mass displacement orders, and called on world powers to apply real pressure on Israel to lift the siege.

The UK-based charity said Israel’s military offensive and use of displacement orders have squeezed civilians into five zones that make up less than 20 percent of Gaza’s territory.

Along with its blockade of supplies into the territory, it appeared that Israel’s strategy was not about targeting fighters, but “a deliberate campaign to dismantle and depopulate Gaza”, the group said in a statement, adding that the process of forced displacement was a war crime.

“For over 600 days, Israel has been saying it’s targeting Hamas, but it is civilians who have been corralled, bombed and killed en masse every day,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory.

She said the displacement orders followed a “clear and calculated pattern: using the threat of violence to herd civilians into ever-shrinking zones of confinement”.

Oxfam described the areas where Palestinians are being driven as dust-choked encampments that offered no real protection, and were often hit by Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, Israel had expanded its military presence along five “security corridors” which cut across Gaza, slicing the territory into zones.

“This isn’t counterterrorism, as Israel alleges – it’s the systematic clearing of Gaza through militarized force into enclaves of internment.”