Summary of the day so far
Here is a summary of today’s developments:
The UK suspended trade negotiations with Israel over its Gaza blockade, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told parliament on Tuesday. He said the Israeli ambassador had been summoned. The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, described the situation in Gaza as “horrific” and “utterly intolerable”. It comes after the UK, France and Canada on Monday issued their strongest condemnation yet of the way Israel is conducting its war on Gaza and repeated calls for a ceasefire.
Israel said external pressure will not change its course after the UK paused free trade talks over the war in Gaza and levelled new sanctions on settlers in the occupied West Bank. “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The European Union has agreed to review its trade agreement with Israel over alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday. The decision comes almost 15 months after Irish and Spanish leaders called on the European Commission’s chief, Ursula von der Leyen, to make such a move. The change comes after a proposal from the Netherlands last week gained widespread support amid growing alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
No humanitarian aid has been distributed yet in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric. Separately, Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, claimed 93 UN aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday.
As many as 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, warned. “I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he told the BBC. Fletcher said five trucks of aid went into Gaza yesterday but described this as a “drop in the ocean”. A UN spokesman later provided more detail, saying: “We are pointing to the imperative of getting supplies in to save an estimated 14,000 babies suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Gaza, as the IPC partnership [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification] has warned about. We need to get the supplies in as soon as possible, ideally within the next 48 hours.”
At least 87 Palestinians were killed and more than 290 injured by Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Tuesday. At least 53,573 Palestinian people have been killed and 121,688 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the ministry said. Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, the Nuseirat refugee camp, the Jabalia refugee camp and the Bureij refugee camp were among the places targeted in deadly Israeli strikes on Tuesday, according to reports.
Benjamin Netanyahu ordered part of his country’s delegation negotiating a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Doha to return to Israel, according to Israeli media reports. Separately, Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza had undermined peace efforts. “This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace,” the Qatari leader said.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Washington has not discussed the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, but he said Washington had asked other countries in the region if they would be open to accepting Palestinians who want to move voluntarily. Rubio was testifying before the Senate foreign relations committee on Tuesday on Tuesday, when a pro-Palestine protester disrupted the hearing.
Australia joined 22 other nations in condemning Israel over its decision to allow limited aid into Gaza while announcing a military expansion to “take control” of the besieged strip. 23 countries, including the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, urged Israel not to politicise humanitarian aid for the starving population.
The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli airstrike injured nine people in a drone attack on the coastal Tyre district in the south of the country. Three people are now in “critical condition”, the ministry said, adding that two children were among the injured.
Updated
Footage from Gaza shows thousands of people scrambling to get food outside a soup kitchen while only five aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza after an 11-week blockade.
The UN says 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours if the aid does not reach them in time. This comes after mounting international pressure.
Israel has said it will allow a further 100 trucks into Gaza, but this is only a fifth of what was arriving into Gaza before the war.
As he suspended trade negotiations with Israel, the UK foreign secretary also imposed sanctions on a further three Israeli settlers and four entities on the West Bank, including veteran settler extremist Daniella Weiss, head of the Nachala movement, who featured in Louis Theroux’s recent documentary, The Settlers.
Other individuals targeted were Zohar Sabah, an Israeli who the US imposed sanctions on in November. It was from the Zohar Zabah farm, that settlers, some of them minors, set out to attack the principal of a Palestinian school in the grounds of the school.
When contacted by phone, Weiss shrugged off the sanctions, which she attacked as “childish” and claimed they would not affect her personally or the broader settler movement.
“My husband ordered tickets already for an around the world tour, without including Britain,” she said.
“It is not mature, it is not serious. If it were a child doing it I could say that the child doesn’t understand.
“Britain knows, the (British) government knows, that we were attacked, and if it were up to the Israeli government we wouldn’t have started any war.
“But as we were attacked and as there are intentions to continue attacks, so we fight. And we will have the upper hand.”
The landmark decision by the EU to review its trade association deal with Israel comes almost 15 months after Irish and Spanish leaders called on the European Commission’s chief, Ursula von der Leyen, to make such a move.
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepening, other countries piled on the pressure including the Netherlands with the Dutch-led initiative to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a trade accord signed in 2000, discussed today by foreign affairs ministers.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Harris welcomed the move:
Since then, the situation has become immeasurably worse, with catastrophic consequences for the civilian population and a real risk of famine.
Today, a clear majority of Member States agreed on the need to send a strong signal to Israel to reverse course, to halt its military operations and to lift the blockade on lifesaving aid.
Britain’s arms export licences to Israel will remain under review, Downing Street said, after the UK announced a suspension of negotiations over a new free trade deal.
Asked if the UK had considered banning further arms export licences to Israel, a No 10 spokesperson said:
I think our longstanding answer to that is we always keep such arrangements under review.
Asked if the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, believes a genocide is taking place in Gaza, the spokesperson said:
I think we’ve been clear on that in the past, as has the prime minister that any judgments as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies.
The EU has launched a review of its relationship with Israel, citing the “untenable” situation in Gaza.
For more than a year, the EU has faced calls to reassess its relationship with Israel, but only a handful of countries, such as Ireland and Spain supported this move.
That changed after a proposal from the Netherlands last week gained widespread support amid growing alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the Israeli government decision that only private contractors, rather than the UN and humanitarian organisations, should supply aid to the strip.
Dutch foreign minister Casper Veldkamp said Israel’s aid blockade was a violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law and therefore the EU-Israel agreement, which includes provisions to respect human rights.
Updated
EU to review trade relations with Israel
The European Union has agreed to review its trade agreement with Israel over alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday.
Kallas said a “strong majority” of EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels backed the move in a bid to pressure Israel. She told reporters:
What it tells is that the countries see that the situation in Gaza is untenable, and what we want is to really help the people, and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid so that it will reach the people.
The situation in the Palestinian territory is “catastrophic”, she said, adding:
The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed.
Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered part of his country’s delegation negotiating a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Doha to return to Israel, according to Israeli media reports.
A small group from the negotiating team will remain in Qatar, according to the reports.
The Times of Israel, citing Walla news site, reports that Netanyahu believes that the Israeli team has exhausted efforts in light of the lack of progress in the talks.
No humanitarian aid distributed yet in Gaza, says UN
No humanitarian aid has been distributed yet in the Gaza Strip, according to a spokesperson for the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric, on Tuesday.
Reuters quotes Dujarric as saying:
Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to access the Kerem Shalom area and collect the nutrition supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse.
Summary of the day so far
It is approaching 8pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here is a summary of today’s developments:
The UK has suspended trade negotiations with Israel over its Gaza blockade, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told parliament on Tuesday. He said the Israeli ambassador had been summoned. UK prime minister Keir Starmer described the situation in Gaza as “horrific” and “utterly intolerable”. It comes after the UK, France and Canada, yesterday issued their strongest condemnation yet of the way Israel is conducting its war on Gaza and repeated calls for a ceasefire.
Israel said on Tuesday that external pressure will not change its course after the UK paused free trade talks over the war in Gaza and levelled new sanctions on settlers in the occupied West Bank. “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a statement.
As many as 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, warned. “I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he told the BBC. Fletcher said five trucks of aid went into Gaza yesterday but described this as a “drop in the ocean”.
EU foreign ministers will discuss plans to review the bloc’s relationship with Israel, amid growing alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry said 87 people were killed by Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours and 290 were injured. “There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, the ambulance and civil defense teams cannot reach them,” it added in its post on Telegram.
Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, the Nuseirat refugee camp, the Jabalia refugee camp and the Bureij refugee camp were among the places targeted in deadly Israeli strikes, according to reports on Tuesday.
Qatar’s prime minister said Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza had undermined peace efforts. Speaking at Qatar’s economic forum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said: “This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace.”
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said that the “siege on Gaza” could be stopped “if there is a political will”. Philippe Lazzarini, Unrwa’s commissioner general, said: “I think we are out of words to try to describe the hell and the horror people are going through.” Lazzarini said US president Donald Trump had the unique power to force Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “change the situation” in Gaza.
Australia has joined 22 other nations in condemning Israel over its decision to allow limited aid into Gaza while announcing a military expansion to “take control” of the besieged strip. In a statement on Tuesday morning Australian time, 23 countries, including the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, urged Israel not to politicise humanitarian aid for the starving population.
Sweden’s top diplomat said on Tuesday that the Nordic country would work within the EU to push for sanctions against certain Israeli ministers over Israel’s treatment of civilian Palestinians in Gaza. Sweden’s foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the sanctions should target “[Israeli] ministers who are pushing an illegal settlement policy and actively opposing a future two-state solution”. But she insisted that Sweden was a “friend of Israel”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the US has not discussed the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, but he said that Washington had asked other countries in the region if they would be open to accepting Palestinians who want to move voluntarily. Rubio, was testifying before the Senate foreign relations committee, when on Tuesday, a pro-Palestine protester disrupted the hearing.
Israeli authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested two citizens suspected of carrying out “intelligence-gathering missions” at Iran’s behest near the defence minister’s home. The arrests are the latest in a spate of cases in which Israel has charged its own citizens with spying for the country’s arch-foe since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results. “We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen,” said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “a big mistake”.
The Lebanese health ministry said earlier today that an Israeli airstrike injured nine people in a drone attack on the coastal Tyre district in the south of the country. Three people are now in “critical condition”, the ministry said, adding that two children were among the injured.
Syria’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that the lifting of sanctions on his country shows an “international will” to support his country, after EU countries agreed to end most of its sanctions. Asaad al-Shaibani said “the Syrian people today have a very important and historic opportunity to rebuild their country”.
Updated
A member of Mahmoud Abbas’s delegation to Beirut told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday that the Palestinian president will discuss the issue of weapons in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps during his three-day visit to the country.
“The issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps will be one of the topics on the agenda for discussion between President Abbas, the Lebanese president and the Lebanese government,” said Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s executive committee accompanying Abbas during the visit, which begins on Wednesday.
The visit comes after Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said late last month that authorities were working to “withdraw (unauthorised) heavy and medium weapons from all Lebanese territory”, and that he would raise disarmament of the camps with Abbas.
A Lebanese government official, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media, told AFP earlier this month that Abbas and Lebanese leaders would discuss “extending state authority to all Lebanese territory, including the Palestinian camps”.
Majdalani said “what matters to us in this new regional context is that we do not become part of Lebanon’s internal conflicts, and that the Palestinian cause is not exploited to serve any party”.
By longstanding convention, Lebanon’s army stays out of the Palestinian camps – where Abbas’ Fatah movement, militant group Hamas and other armed groups are present – and leaves the factions to handle security.
Hamas has claimed attacks on Israel from Lebanon during more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian group’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah that erupted over the Gaza war.
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, 500,000 Palestinians are registered as refugees in Lebanon, most of them descendants of those who fled their land during the creation of Israel in 1948. Due to their refugee status, most are unable to work legally in Lebanon, an issue Majdalani said Abbas would also address during the meeting.
Updated
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the United States has not discussed the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, but he said that Washington had asked other countries in the region if they would be open to accepting Palestinians who want to move voluntarily.
“What we have talked to some nations about is if someone voluntarily and willingly says I want to go somewhere else for some period of time because I’m sick, because my children need to go to school, or what have you, are there countries in the region willing to accept them for some period of time?,” Rubio said, adding that he was not aware of Libya being included in that, reports Reuters.
Rubio also told the Senate foreign relations committee that the US was pleased to see the resumption of food shipments to Gaza, adding that the US understands that another 100 trucks are behind the initial ones to cross in to Gaza and more might enter in the coming days.
Updated
Israel arrests two accused of spying on defence minister for Iran
Israeli authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested two citizens suspected of carrying out “intelligence-gathering missions” at Iran’s behest near the defence minister’s home, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The arrests are the latest in a spate of cases in which Israel has charged its own citizens with spying for the country’s arch-foe since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
Police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said that “in a joint operation … Roi Mizrachi and his friend, Almog Attias, both 24, were arrested at the end of April for committing security offences after collecting intelligence in Kfar Ahim”, where defence minister Israel Katz lives.
The men were acting “on behalf of Iran” and motivated by “financial gain”, said the statement from the security agencies.
The Shin Bet and police said that Mizrachi and Attias were asked to carry out a number of missions near Katz’s home.
Indictments against the two men are expected to be filed in the coming days, the statement said.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the Conservative frontbench was “refusing to confront the appalling reality of what is happening in Gaza and what the Netanyahu government is doing”, after the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, queried the government’s decision to condemn Israel’s siege and stop free trade talks.
You can listen to that exchange in the video below:
A University of Cambridge college has announced it will divest from arms companies after student protest, reports the PA news agency.
King’s College said on Tuesday that its governing body has voted to “adopt a new responsible investment policy” to align with the values of its community.
It comes after pro-Palestine protesters staged demonstrations and set up encampments against the war in Gaza at Cambridge University last year.
Student-led group Cambridge for Palestine has been calling on the university to divest from companies “complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine”.
Under the new policy, King’s College’s financial investments will exclude companies that are involved in activities “generally recognised as illegal or contravening global norms, such as occupation”. It will also exclude companies which produce military and nuclear weapons, weapons restricted by international treaty, or companies that produce key or dedicated components of such weapons.
The policy builds on discussions about the relationship between the college’s investments and its values, which were “prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories”.
Gillian Tett, provost of King’s College, said:
This is a positive result from a process that engaged voices from all areas of our community.
I commend the members of the working group for their incredibly thoughtful engagement and deep commitment to work towards an approach that reflects the college’s values and demonstrates our capacity to model transformation.
According to the PA news agency, King’s College said the next steps will be to implement the changes across the college’s investment portfolio in the coming months, with an aim to complete no later than the end of the calendar year.
Student activist group King’s Cambridge 4 Palestine (KC4P) said:
King’s College’s decision must trigger global condemnation of Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people.
Stella Swain, youth and student officer at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said:
This is a massive victory, and speaks to the incredible power and commitment of student campaigning, at King’s College and across the country.
If King’s College, at the heart of Cambridge, can finally listen to its students and divest from the arms industry and companies complicit in the illegal occupation of Palestine, then every university can act to ensure they are on the right side of history.
Australia has joined 22 other nations in condemning Israel over its decision to allow limited aid into Gaza while announcing a military expansion to “take control” of the besieged strip.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his troops were “making progress” on taking control of Gaza after Israel’s military had earlier declared a central city a combat zone and killed more than 60 people in airstrikes, while a senior minister said Israel’s army would “wipe out” what remains of Palestinian Gaza.
The escalation comes as those in Gaza face a looming famine following Israel’s 11-week blockade of food, fuel and aid supplies from entering the territory.
In a statement on Tuesday morning Australian time, 23 countries, including the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, urged Israel not to politicise humanitarian aid for the starving population.
About nine aid trucks were reportedly allowed into Gaza after the nearly three-month siege, but the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, warned it was a mere “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed”.
The joint statement acknowledged “indications of a limited restart of aid” but implored Israel to uphold humanitarian principles by allowing the full resumption of aid and for aid groups to be able to work independently and impartially.
“Food, medicines and essential supplies are exhausted. The population faces starvation. Gaza’s people must receive the aid they desperately need,” the countries said.
'If there is a political will, the war can stop', says head of Unrwa
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said that the “siege on Gaza” could be stopped “if there is a political will”.
Speaking at the European Humanitarian Forum in Brussels, Philippe Lazzarini, Unrwa’s commissioner general, said:
I think we are out of words to try to describe the hell and the horror people are going through. It’s definitely beyond imagination.
But the worst in all this is we are confronted in a situation where, if there is a political will, the war can stop, the siege imposed on Gaza can be lifted."
A pro-Palestine protester has disrupted a hearing where the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, was testifying before the Senate foreign relations committee. The protester was seen being carried out as the hearing continued. The Guardian video team have shared this clip:
A leading writers’ advocacy group has condemned “ongoing threats, intimidation and violence against Palestinian journalists in Gaza by Hamas”.
PEN America said in a statement on Tuesday:
Threats and violence against Palestinian journalists for doing their work are unacceptable and Hamas and its affiliates must cease such attacks.
As journalists in Gaza continue to report under the constant threat of Israeli bombardment-the deadliest conditions for media workers in modern history-they must not also face persecution by Hamas for covering dissent and criticism of Hamas by Palestinian society.
The targeting of journalists through beatings, arrests, surveillance, and threats not only violates press freedom but chills coverage of critical issues, including public opposition to Hamas’s rule and the humanitarian toll of the war.
The writers’ advocacy group said that violations by Hamas are underreported due to fear of reprisal.
Israel says 'external pressure will not divert' it after UK pauses trade talks
Israel said on Tuesday that external pressure will not change its course after the UK paused free trade talks over the war in Gaza and levelled new sanctions on settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy – that is its own prerogative,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction.”
In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Sweden’s foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the sanctions should target “[Israeli] ministers who are pushing an illegal settlement policy and actively opposing a future two-state solution”, with EU discussions determining which officials would be targeted.
But she insisted that Sweden was a “friend of Israel”. She added:
We will therefore now also push for EU sanctions against individual Israeli ministers.
Her comments came as she met EU counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday.
“In all of our contacts with the Israeli government, we have long demanded increased humanitarian access and have been very critical of the fact that they have not secured it,” Stenergard said.
She also said Sweden was concerned with “how the Israeli government continues to escalate the situation, both in terms of statements and actions”.
Sweden’s top diplomat said on Tuesday that the Nordic country would work within the EU to push for sanctions against certain Israeli ministers over Israel’s treatment of civilian Palestinians in Gaza.
“Since we do not see a clear improvement for the civilians in Gaza, we need to raise the tone further. We will therefore now also push for EU sanctions against individual Israeli ministers,” foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that the officials targeted would be the subject of discussions within the EU.
Speaking in the House of Commons, David Lammy also said the “threat of starvation is hanging over civilians” in Gaza, warning that the “humanitarian catastrophe” there is intensifying. You can watch the British foreign secretary address MPs here:
Updated
UK suspends trade negotiations with Israel over Gaza aid blockade - foreign secretary
The UK foreign secretary David Lammy has told parliament the UK has suspended trade negotiations with Israel over its Gaza blockade. He said the Israeli ambassador had been summoned. You can read more about this over in Andrew Sparrow’s UK politics live blog.
It comes after the UK, along with France and Canada, yesterday issued its strongest condemnation yet of the way Israel is conducting its war on Gaza.
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the three allied governments said in a statement on Monday.
Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza and of carrying out an ethnic-cleansing operation in the territory.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
As many as 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them in time, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, warned.
Fletcher said five trucks of aid went into Gaza yesterday, when Israel eased its 11 week long blockade, but described this as a “drop in the ocean” and totally inadequate for the population’s needs.
The UN has been given permission to send “around 100” aid trucks into Gaza - but this is still only a fifth of what was arriving into the Strip before the war.
It came after leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned on Monday they could take “concrete actions” against Israel if it did not stop its expanding assault in Gaza and lift restrictions on aid which has pushed much of the territory to the brink of famine.
EU foreign ministers will discuss plans to review the bloc’s relationship with Israel, amid growing alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry said 87 people were killed by Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours. The total death toll from Israeli attacks on the territory since October 2023 now stands at 53,573, according to the ministry.
Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, the Nuseirat refugee camp and the Jabalia refugee camp are among the places targeted in deadly Israeli airstrikes, according to reports.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reaches 53,573, says health ministry
At least 53,573 Palestinian people have been killed and 121,688 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ministry said 87 people were killed by Israeli attacks and 290 others injured in the territory over the past 24 hours.
“There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, the ambulance and civil defense teams cannot reach them,” it added in its post on Telegram.
Updated
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen,” said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “a big mistake”.
Iran and the United States have held four rounds of Omani-mediated nuclear talks since 12 April, the highest-level contact between the two countries since Washington abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord. They had confirmed plans to hold another round of discussions during their last meeting on 11 May, which Iran described as “difficult but useful”, while a US official said Washington was “encouraged”.
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60%, far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90% needed for a nuclear warhead.
Western countries, including the US have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Iran has repeatedly insisted its right to maintain uranium enrichment was “non-negotiable”, while chief US negotiator Steve Witkoff has called it a “red line”.
On Sunday, Witkoff reiterated that the United States “cannot allow even one percent of an enrichment capability”.
“The American side involved in these indirect negotiations should refrain from speaking nonsense,” said Khamenei.
Earlier, Iran’s foreign minister and lead negotiator Abbas Araghchi said “enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal”.
He said in a post on X:
If the US is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome.
The UK said on Tuesday it had sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank who it said had been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians.
More details soon …
Syria’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that the lifting of sanctions on his country shows an “international will” to support his country, after EU countries agreed to end most of its sanctions, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In a press conference in Damascus alongside his Jordanian counterpart, Asaad al-Shaibani said that “lifting sanctions expresses the regional and international will to support Syria”, adding that “the Syrian people today have a very important and historic opportunity to rebuild their country”.
UK's Starmer says 'level of suffering' in Gaza is 'utterly intolerable'
The PA news agency has more detail on Tuesday’s comments by the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.
At the dispatch box, he told the House of Commons:
First I’d like to say something about the horrific situation in Gaza, where the level of suffering, innocent children being bombed again, is utterly intolerable.
Starmer later added:
We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel. We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages.
We repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale-up humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
The recent announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza, a basic quantity, is totally and utterly inadequate, so we must coordinate our response because this war has gone on for far too long.
We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve, and the foreign secretary [David Lammy] will come to the house shortly to set out our response in detail.
Updated
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday he, along with the leaders of France and Canada, was horrified by the military escalation in Gaza, repeating calls for a ceasefire.
“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” Starmer told parliament, after releasing a joint statement with French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney (see 7.35am BST).
According to Reuters, Starmer said that the foreign secretary, David Lammy, would set out the UK’s “response in detail” later on Tuesday.
France seems increasingly likely to recognise a Palestinian state after Paris, along with London and Ottawa, threatened Israel with “concrete actions” for its renewed assault in Gaza.
Asked if the UK was leaning towards official recognition of a Palestinian state, Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said on Tuesday:
We have been clear that the UK will never give up on the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state and Israel living side-by-side in peace dignity and security.
The prime minister is clear that statehood is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people.
The spokesperson, according to the PA news agency, said the UK was “ready to work with our allies” when asked if the UK would follow France in official recognising a Palestinian state.
French president Emmanuel Macron has indicated he could do this at a coming UN summit (for context: Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state last year, provoking outrage in the Israeli government).
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN office for coordination for humanitarian affairs (OCHA), has responded to comments made by the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, who told the BBC this morning that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die over the next 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them (see post at 08.59 for more details).
Speaking to reporters, Laerke said:
For now let me just say that we know for a fact that there are babies who are in urgent life-saving need of these supplements that need to come in because their mothers are unable to feed themselves.
And if they do not get those, they will be in mortal danger. That is as much as I can say right now. If we have more specifics, we’ll go back to you on that.
Israel is not only conducting a war in Gaza, it is also launching frequent attacks in Lebanon.
The Lebanese health ministry said earlier today that an Israeli airstrike injured nine people in a drone attack on the coastal Tyre district in the south of the country.
Three people are now in “critical condition”, the ministry said, adding that two children were among the injured.
Israel has continued to launch strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which sates only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed in southern Lebanon.
Israel, however, has retained its forces in five areas it has declared strategic. Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
BREAKING: An Israeli strike targeted a motorcycle near a school in the village of Al-Mansouri, southern Lebanon, injuring at least nine civilians, including children, in yet a new breach of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement. pic.twitter.com/bKOtSOkzHp
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 20, 2025
Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Gaza:
“We have requested and received approval of more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for UN office for coordination for humanitarian affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva.
Laerke added that “we expect, of course, with that approval, many of them, hopefully all of them, to cross today to a point where they can be picked up and get further into the Gaza Strip for distribution.”
'Around 100' aid trucks to be allowed entry into Gaza - UN
As we’ve reported earlier in the blog, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said only five aid trucks were allowed into Gaza yesterday.
The UN has just confirmed it has been given permission to send “around 100” aid trucks into Gaza today (for context: pre-war an average of 500 trucks were entering per day).
Fletcher earlier acknowledged the risks to staff who may be caught in Israeli airstrikes as they try to deliver the supplies.
Charities have warned of a looming famine across Gaza caused by Israel’s food blockade, which was eased yesterday to a bare minimum level only because of fears key allies (i.e. US senators) were distressed by images of “mass hunger” and could pull support over such scenes.
Israel imposed its blockade in early March, cutting off all supplies including food, medicine, shelter and fuel in what has been widely condemned as the collective punishment of the civilian population in Gaza. Israel claimed the blockade was to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages.
Because of the blockade, most community kitchens have now shut down. Vegetables and meat are inaccessible or unaffordable. The World Health Organization said yesterday that two million people were starving in the Gaza Strip while tonnes of food was being blocked at the border.
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Al Jazeera is reporting that at least two people were killed by Israeli drone fire in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, while two others were killed by Israeli artillery shelling in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Israel has justified its blockade of Gaza by claiming that Hamas steals food from humanitarian agencies and the UN. The Israeli government denies targeting civilians and says it is fighting a war of survival.
EU policy on Israel has typically been hobbled by the difficulties in finding unanimity among 27 member states with different views, from countries that have recognised Palestine, such as Spain and Ireland, to staunch allies of Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic.
While the EU-Israel can only be suspended by unanimity, key provisions, including on trade and Israel’s participation in Europe’s Horizon research funding programme can be suspended on the basis of a weighted majority vote.
EU foreign ministers to discuss plans to review bloc's relationship with Israel
Jennifer Rankin is Brussels correspondent for the Guardian
EU foreign ministers will discuss plans to review the bloc’s relationship with Israel, amid growing alarm about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
Arriving at a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ministers would discuss a Dutch proposal to review the EU-Israel association agreement, a trade accord signed in 2000.
“It’s going to be a very, very hard discussion on Gaza,” she said, noting that member states took different views in their approach to Israel’s government.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told local media earlier on Tuesday that Paris backed a review of the EU-Israel agreement to see if Israel was respecting its commitments to human rights.
In a letter to Kallas, Dutch foreign minister Casper Veldkamp said Israel’s aid blockade was a violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law and therefore the EU-Israel agreement, which includes provisions to respect human rights. He also expressed concern about Israel’s plans to entrust the delivery of aid to Palestinians to private companies, rather than the UN and humanitarian organisations.
He wrote:
All of this merits a broader reflection on and discussion of our relationship with Israel.
Ireland’s development minister Neale Richmond told reporters that ten countries now supported the decision to review the agreement, up from only a handful a year ago.
Commenting on the growing momentum to review the agreement, he said:
I can only imagine it’s because other member states have eyes and ears and they can see the absolute horrors that are unfolding on a daily basis live on our television screens in Gaza.
Children are dying, children are starving, families are being murdered every day. This is not acceptable and it’s clearly now time for the EU to look at that EU-Israel trade association and the very clear breaches of the human rights under article 2 [of the agreement].
He called on Kallas to provide “a clear message [that] we won’t stand for the status quo”.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of Unrwa, the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees, has been speaking to Euronews.
He said US President Donald Trump has the unique power to force Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “change the situation” in Gaza.
Lazzarani told Euronews:
I do believe that President Donald Trump has the necessary influence to change the situation in Gaza and make sure that the siege be lifted and that the population get access to the assistance it deserves.
He added:
It’s an outrage that we are confronted by a situation of starvation when it comes to Gaza. It’s a completely fabricated one. We are in a situation where hunger and food are being weaponised for political and military purposes…
What is needed in Gaza is a massive, unhindered, uninterrupted assistance of supply to make sure that we are reversing the trend of the spreading hunger.
Unrwa has been the major distributor of aid in Gaza and has provided education, health and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.
But an Israeli ban on the agency in Gaza and the occupied West Bank took effect earlier this year as Israel accuses Unrwa of being infiltrated by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group. Unrwa denies this claim.
Palestinian Unrwa personnel in Gaza continue to provide services and assistance to the civilian population and staff do the same in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
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Sam Jones is Madrid correspondent for the Guardian
Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called on Israel to withdraw from the Eurovision song contest, saying it should be held to the same standards over the war in Gaza as Russia has been over the invasion of Ukraine.
“I don’t think anyone put their head in their hands when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine three years ago and people demanded it withdraw from, or not participate in, international competitions - as we’ve seen with Eurovision this weekend,” he said on Monday. “And Israel shouldn’t be participating either, because we can’t allow double standards when it comes to culture, either.”
Sánchez added: “Spain’s commitment to international law must be constant and coherent - and so must Europe’s.”
Ahead of Saturday’s Eurovision final, Spain’s public broadcaster, RTVE, had ignored warnings from Eurovision organisers the European Broadcasting Union, and shown a message before the start of the contest that read: “When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and Justice for Palestine.”
Sánchez has long been one of the most outspoken European critics of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Last week, Israel said it had summoned the Spanish ambassador for a formal reprimand after the prime minister described Israel as a “genocidal state”.
Sánchez made the remarks on Wednesday during an exchange in the Spanish parliament in which his government was accused of continuing to trade with Israel. “I want to clarify one thing,” the prime minister said. “We don’t trade with a genocidal state. We don’t.”
At the end of April, Spain scrapped a €6.6m (£5.7m) order for millions of bullets from an Israeli company after the junior partners in Sánchez’s coalition government denounced it as a “flagrant breach” of the alliance agreement that jeopardised the country’s sustained efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.
The Sánchez administration has frequently clashed with Israel over their view of the war; in 2023 the Israeli government recalled its ambassador to Madrid after Sánchez said he had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza.
Qatar’s prime minister has said Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza has undermined peace efforts.
Speaking at Qatar’s economic forum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said:
When Israeli American soldier Aidan Alexander was released, we thought that moment would open a door to end this tragedy, but the response was a more violent wave of strikes.
This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace.
Qatar is an influential Gulf state and a key US ally in the region. It has been a key mediator in Israel’s war, along with Egypt.
Tom Fletcher went on to tell the BBC that he hopes 100 trucks will enter Gaza today.
“It’ll be tough,” the UN’s humanitarian chief said, explaining how they will face obstacles along the way.
“But we’ll load those up with baby food and our people will run those risks,” he added.
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UN warns 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours without aid
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has been speaking to the BBC’s Radio 4’s Today’s programme about the dismal amount of aid Israel is letting into Gaza.
International pressure over a looming famine forced Benjamin Netanyahu to announce on Sunday night that he would ease the devastating 11-week aid blockade to prevent a “starvation crisis” in Gaza – but only to a minimum level.
Fletcher said five trucks of aid went into Gaza yesterday, but described this as a “drop in the ocean” and totally inadequate for the population’s needs.
He said the aid lorries, which contain baby food and nutrition, are technically in Gaza but have not reached civilians as they are just on the other side of the border.
Fletcher said 14,000 babies could die in 48 hours if aid doesn’t reach them in time.
“I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he told the BBC.
Asked how the UN arrived at this figure, he responded: “We have strong teams on the ground - and of course many of them have been killed… we he still have lots of people on the ground - they’re at the medical centres, they’re at the schools...trying to assess needs.”
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Why is the US continuing to back Israel despite starvation claims and renewed assault on Gaza?
As key western allies demand Israel change course in its assault on Gaza, the US, Israel’s biggest arms supplier, remains largely unmoved.
Here is an extract from a story by my colleague Joseph Gedeon, who explains why Washington’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu is so solid despite the increasing international pressure.
Despite Israeli promises to “flatten” Gaza, opposition from Congress – and mainstream Democrats more broadly – has been largely muted. While the besieged territory faces what the World Health Organization (Who) calls “one of the world’s worst hunger crises”, more than three dozen members of Congress from both parties recently appeared in an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) video in celebration of Israel’s 77th birthday. In New York, leading mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo held up an Israeli flag in the city’s annual Israel Day Parade on Sunday.
This political genuflection comes as a March Gallup poll shows American support for Israel has dropped to 46% – its lowest point in 25 years – while sympathy for Palestinians has risen to a record 33%. Democrats reported sympathizing with Palestinians over Israelis by a three-to-one ratio.
On a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Senator Bernie Sanders blamed Washington’s reluctance to change course on the financial muscle of lobbying groups. “If you speak up on that issue, you’ll have super Pacs like Aipac going after you,” Sanders said, noting Aipac’s record $14.5m campaign to unseat Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman after he accused Israel of genocide.
You can read the full analysis here:
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As we mentioned in the opening post, the UK, France and Canada issued a rare joint condemnation of Israel, denouncing its expanded offensive in Gaza and the blocking of aid into the territory.
It marks a change in tone from the UK and Canada - in particular – which have broadly backed Israel’s war and insisted on its “right to defend” itself following the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
This is despite Israel being accused of committing genocide and carrying out widespread and systematic violations of international law. France has been more openly critical of the Israeli military’s conduct.
All three countries have called for more humanitarian aid to be let into the Strip, for the return of hostages and an end to the fighting but strong, coordinated diplomatic pressure has not been put on the Netanyahu government.
Last year, the UK government suspended some arms sales to Israel (affecting equipment such as parts for fighter jets, helicopters and drones), saying there was a “clear risk” the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international law.
But ministers gave a carve out for the supply of UK components to the global pool of F-35 jets, saying such disruption to the entire F-35 programme would be a threat to Nato’s peace and security.
Canada stopped approving permits for arms exports to Israel last year, but its global affairs ministry had exported military goods and technology to Israel before this.
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Israeli airstrikes have killed 44 Palestinian people so far today, Gaza rescuers say
Gaza’s civil defence agency said in its latest update that Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 44 Palestinian people in Gaza so far today.
“Civil defence teams have transferred (to hospitals) at least 44 dead, mostly children and women, as well as dozens of wounded” across Gaza since 1:00 am (2200 GMT Monday), agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
Bassal said eight Palestinian people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City and 12 other people in an airstrike on a house in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
Another 15 Palestinian people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a gas station near the Nuseirat refugee camp and nine others in an airstrike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp.
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First aid trucks trickle into Gaza after months of Israeli blockade
The first few aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday after nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and other supplies, Israel and the UN said.
Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli defence body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, Cogat.
The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called it a “welcome development” but described the trucks as a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed”.
Food security experts last week warned of famine in Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel shattered in March with a wave of deadly airstrikes, about 600 aid trucks entered Gaza each day.
Fletcher said an additional four UN trucks were cleared to enter Gaza. Those trucks may enter Tuesday, Cogat said. Fletcher added that given the chaotic situation on the ground, the UN expects the aid could be looted or stolen, a growing problem as resources became increasingly scarce.
Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume “minimal” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support Israel’s expansion of its assault if there were “images of hunger” coming from the Palestinian territory.
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Netanyahu hits back after UK, France and Canada threaten action against Israel
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the developments in the Middle East and Israel’s war on Gaza
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada on Monday condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza and warned of joint action if Israel did not stop its military offensive.
But Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hit back at British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, saying their joint statement was a “huge prize” for Hamas in the war.
Starmer, Macron and Carney criticised Israel’s blocking of aid and comments by ministers in Netanyahu’s government who have threatened the mass displacement of Palestinians.
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions,” the leaders said. “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.”
Netanyahu gave a furious response in a statement released by his office.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” he said, referring to the Hamas attacks in 2023 that set off the war.
Netanyahu said “all European leaders” should follow US president Donald Trump’s example in supporting Israel.
“The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled and Gaza is demilitarised. No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t,” Netanyahu declared.
“This is a war of civilisation over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved.”
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