Gaza

In its latest assault on Gaza’s decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory.

Health officials said late on Sunday that fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” forced it to shut down.

It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli air strikes last year also forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon hospitals to stop providing health services.

“There is direct targeting on the hospital including the intensive care unit,” Indonesian Hospital director Dr Marwan al-Sultan said in a statement, adding that no one could reach the facility, which had about 30 patients and 15 medical staff inside.

Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals during its 19-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza’s healthcare system.

Earlier, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged enclave’s north, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the latest strikes – which have been ongoing since Saturday – indicate that Israeli attacks on Gaza’s hospitals are intensifying.

“The medical teams are really suffering, and we have a few numbers of medical teams and staff … and a lot of people are in need [of] more medical care,” Abu Salmiya said by phone from the hospital on Sunday.

Thousands of sick and wounded people could die, he warned. Blood donations are urgently needed.

This has been underscored by Gaza’s Health Ministry, which confirmed that Israeli forces besieged the facility in Beit Lahiya, adding that “a state of panic and confusion is prevailing”.

The ministry later said that Israel had cut off the arrival of patients and staff, “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”.

With “the shutdown of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate are now out of service”, it said.

Gaza’s healthcare facilities have been targeted repeatedly throughout Israel’s deadly assault that began 18 months ago.

Other facilities in the north that have been bombed, burned, and besieged by the Israeli military since the start of the war include Kamal Adwan Hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital. Dozens of other medical clinics, stations, and vehicles have also come under attack.

The targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Israel has also battered several hospitals in Gaza’s central and southern areas, including Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

Earlier this week, Israel struck two hospitals in Khan Younis. Nine missiles slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital, killing at least 16 people, while an attack on the Nasser Medical Complex killed two people, including a wounded journalist.

Incessant attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector have left it reeling, devastating its ability to function, while doctors say they are out of medicine to treat routine conditions.

Hospitals have also been on the verge of total collapse amid a brutal and ongoing blockade, where Israel continues to bar the entry of much-needed medical supplies, fuel, and other humanitarian aid including food and clean water.

The crisis in Gaza has reached one of its darkest periods, humanitarian officials warn, as famine also looms.

Israeli air strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the last 72 hours.

Strikes over the weekend have also put the European Hospital, the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza, out of service.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said dozens of Palestinians have been wounded, and doctors say “they’re facing numerous challenges in treating injuries because of a lack of medical supplies”.

“Israeli air strikes in Gaza are still escalating as drones and fighter jets hover in the sky,” Khoudary said.

The death toll has reached the same level of intensity as the earliest days of the war, said Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, an independent group in London that tracks recent conflicts.

She says preliminary data indicate the number of incidents where at least one person was killed or injured by Israeli fire hovered around 700 in April. It’s a figure comparable only to October or December 2023 – one of the heaviest periods of bombardment.

In the last 10 days of March, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates, an average of 100 children were killed or maimed by Israeli air strikes every day.

Almost 3,000 of the estimated 53,000 killed by Israel since October 7, 2023, have lost their lives since Israel broke a fragile ceasefire on March 18, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Among those killed in recent days include a volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, who was killed with her family in a strike on Gaza City on May 4.

A midwife from Al Awda Health and Community Association was also killed with her family in another strike on May 7.

A journalist working for Qatar-based television network Al Araby TV, along with 11 members of his family, was also killed.

May 18 (UPI) — Israel reported Sunday it found the body of Hamas‘ de facto leader, Muhammad Sinwar, in a tunnel in Khan Younis after he was killed in a series of airstrikes last week.

At least 100 people have been killed in the latest series of airstrikes, and Sinwar’s body was found as Hamas has offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day military stand down in an effort to slow down the fighting in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader in Gaza. Another brother, Zakaria Sinwar, was killed in an airstroke Saturday night, other reports claimed. It’s the third Sinwar brother to be killed in the ongoing battle.

Israeli forces overtook a hospital in northern Gaza Saturday as an offensive to seize territory on the Gaza Strip continues, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Forces seized the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, preventing patients, staff and medical supplies from arriving, the ministry said on Sunday, according to the BBC, leaving the medical facility inoperable.

Hamas made its hostage release offer on Saturday following a new round of peace negotiations in Qatar. Officials said there could also be a larger deal in the works to end the fighting that would include a Hamas withdrawal.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia  — President Trump’s four-day visit to the Middle East was marked by a flurry of activity: Billion-dollar trade deals, a meeting with Syria’s new president and diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran.

But the fate of Palestinian people and the war in Gaza, where the dead are piling up in recent days under an Israeli onslaught, appears to have received short shrift.

Trump finished his visit to the Persian Gulf on Friday, touting his abilities as a deal maker while he forged trade agreements worth hundreds of billions of dollars — his administration says trillions — from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

But despite his repeated insistence that only he could bring a peaceful end to the world’s intractable problems — and saying Friday that “we have to help” Palestinians — there were no breakthroughs on the Israel-Hamas war, and the president repeated his suggestion of U.S. involvement in the Gaza Strip.

Noting the widespread destruction in the territory, Trump said, “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good — make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone.”

President Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Friday.

(Luis M. Alvarez / Associated Press)

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1. Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Jehad Alshrafi / Associated Press) 2. Islam Hajjaj holds her 6-year-old daughter Najwa, who suffers from malnutrition, at a shelter in central Gaza City, on May 11, 2025. Amnesty International accuses Israel on April 29 of committing a ‘’live-streamed genocide’’ against Palestinians by forcibly displacing Gazans and creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged territory, claims Israel dismisses as ‘’blatant lies’’. (Majdi Fathi / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Trump’s comments Friday came as the Israel military began the first stages of a ground offensive it called “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” — an apparent fulfillment of a threat by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month that he would launch an attack on Gaza to destroy Hamas and liberate detainees if there wasn’t a ceasefire or a hostage deal by the time Trump finished his time in the Middle East.

Trump’s concerns “are deals that benefit the U.S. economy and enhance the U.S.’ global economic positions,” or preventing costly military entanglements in Iran or Yemen, said Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, based in Qatar.

“Unlike Syria or Iran,” Rabbani said, “ending the Gaza war provides no economic benefit to the U.S., and doesn’t risk American troops getting involved in a new war.”

Ahead of Trump’s four-day trip, there were moves that had buoyed hopes of a ceasefire or allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, which Israel has blocked for more than two months as aid groups warn of impending famine. On May 12, Hamas released Edan Alexander, a soldier with Israeli and U.S. citizenship and the last American detainee in its hands, as a goodwill gesture to Trump, and there were rumors of a meeting between Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

But that meeting never took place, and instead of a ceasefire, Israel launched strikes that health authorities in the enclave say have killed at least 250 people in the last few days, 45 of them children, according to UNICEF.

A man looks at burned vehicles in the Barkan Industrial area, near Salfit in the occupied West Bank, on Friday, after more than 17 Palestinian workers’ cars were reportedly set on fire by Israeli settlers the night before. Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence has soared in the West Bank where Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

(John Wessels / AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu insists his aim is to destroy Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and seizing roughly 250 hostages. Israel’s military campaign has so far killed at least 53,000 people in Gaza — including combatants and civilians, but mostly women and children, according to health authorities there — and many believe that toll to be an undercount.

A ceasefire that Trump’s incoming administration brokered in January broke down in mid-March after Israel refused to continue second-stage negotiations.

“We expect the U.S. administration to exert further pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to open the crossings and allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, food, medicine and fuel to hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” said Taher El-Nounou, a Hamas media advisor, in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday.

He added that such moves were part of the understandings reached with U.S. envoys during the latest meetings, under which Hamas released Alexander.

Yet there has been little sign of that pressure, despite fears in Israeli circles that Trump’s actions before and during his Middle East trip — which skipped Israel, saw Trump broker a deal with Yemen’s Houthis and lift sanctions on Syria without Israeli input — was a snub to Netanyahu.

President Trump speaks on Air Force One at Abu Dhabi International Airport before departing on Friday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he left the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, on Friday, Trump sidestepped questions about the renewed Israeli offensive, saying, “I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see.”

“We have to help also out the Palestinians,” he said. “You know, a lot of people are starving in Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”

On the first day of Trump’s Mideast trip, in Saudi Arabia, he announced that the U.S. was ending sanctions on Syria, now headed by an Islamist government that overthrew longtime dictator Bashar Assad in December. He met Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and praised him as a “tough guy” and a “fighter.”

Israel views Al-Sharaa’s government as a threat and has made incursions into its territory since Assad’s fall, and launched a withering airstrike campaign to defang the fledgling government’s forces.

When asked whether he knew Israel opposed the lifting of sanctions, Trump said, “I don’t know, I didn’t ask them about that.”

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, on Friday.

(Abdel Kareem Hana / Associated Press)

Commentators say that although Washington’s leverage over Israel should make a Gaza ceasefire easier for a Trump administration seeking to project itself as an effective peacemaker, the conflict there remains a low priority for Trump.

“Gaza may seem like low hanging fruit on the surface, but it’s also low political yield — how does acting decisively on Gaza benefit Trump? It doesn’t,” said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

He added that going along with Netanyahu would be more in line with Trump’s vision for owning and remaking Gaza, while on Iran, Syria and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, it makes sense to separate U.S. interests from Israel’s.

“Palestinians have nothing to offer Trump. And the Gulf states offered their investments for free, with no conditions on Gaza. Gaza is a moral imperative, not a strategic one, and Trump is not known for acting on moral grounds.”

Israel’s intensified attacks on Gaza have killed more than 130 Palestinians in a matter of hours, as ceasefire negotiations continue. Horrific videos show people in pieces and on fire following strikes on tents sheltering displaced civilians.

Protesters were assaulted and dragged away for shouting ‘Free Palestine’ and raising the Palestinian flag during Israel’s performance at the Eurovision final. Outside, police attacked demonstrators who said Israel’s violation of international law in Gaza should have ruled them out.

Pope Leo XIV condemned hatred, prejudice and exploitation of the earth and poor, during his inauguration mass at the Vatican. World leaders were among the hundreds of thousands who attended, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was seen shaking hands with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The first US pontiff arrived at St Peters Square riding his popemobile for the first time.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied across the world in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza and to mark the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Jewish militias, remembered as the Nakba, or catastrophe.

The Nakba resulted in the permanent mass displacement of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948. Activists say that history is repeating itself today in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

In Stockholm, thousands assembled at Odenplan Square, responding to calls from various civil society organisations to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Participants waved Palestinian flags, displayed photographs of children killed, and carried banners stating: “Stop the Zionist regime’s genocide in Palestine”.

Many demonstrators bore placards listing the names of civilians killed in Gaza, seeking to highlight the ongoing massacre.

Meanwhile, in London, United Kingdom, hundreds of thousands marched towards Downing Street, demanding an end to what they described as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, 77 years on from the Nakba. Protesters, some dressed in keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, chanted slogans such as “Stop the genocide in Gaza”, “Free Palestine”, and “Israel is a terror state”.

The demonstrators denounced the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, accusing it of deliberately starving more than two million Palestinians, and criticised the UK government for its political and military backing of Israel, alleging complicity in the humanitarian crisis.

In Berlin, Germany, people gathered at Potsdamer Platz to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and held signs reading: “Your silence is complicity” and “You cannot kill us all”. Women in traditional dress carrying Nakba-themed visuals were also present.

The event took place amid heavy security measures, with at least three people reportedly detained.

A solidarity march was held in Athens, Greece, where protesters, adorned in keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags, marched first to the embassies of the United States and Israel.

Protests have erupted after hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the past few days as Israel intensified its attacks, with the announcement of a new ground offensive.

Globally, May 15 was observed as the 77th anniversary of the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians from their homes following the establishment of Israel in 1948.

The Israeli military has killed 53,272 Palestinians and injured 120,673 since it launched an offensive on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, noting that thousands still missing beneath the rubble are presumed dead.

The Israeli military has killed hundreds of Palestinians in the past several days as it expands its ground invasion.

The Israeli military has killed at least 125 Palestinians, including children sleeping in tents, as it unleashed a wave of air strikes across the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Sunday.

At least 36 people were killed and more than 100 wounded after Israeli warplanes bombed a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Horrific verified videos from the scene showed many bodies, including some on fire. The dead and wounded were taken to a nearby field hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex.

At least 125 people were killed on Sunday morning, including 42 in the heavily-bombarded northern parts of Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. Three journalists were also among the victims.

The death toll has been rising sharply in the past four days, with hundreds massacred as the Israeli military prepares to significantly intensify its ground invasion of the Palestinian territory despite international criticism.

Hamas said in a statement early on Sunday that the attacks on displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis marked a “brutal crime” that was a flagrant violation of international laws and norms.

“By granting the terrorist occupation government political and military cover, the United States administration bears direct responsibility for this insane escalation in the targeting of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and the elderly,” the Palestinian group said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel’s expanding operation in Gaza. “I am alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more.”

On Saturday, both Israel and Hamas confirmed that more mediated talks were under way in Qatar.

Israel emphasised that the talks are being held with no conditions, including the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been completely blocked since March 2 despite looming famine.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull the negotiating team back from Doha talks and refrain from signing any deal with Hamas.

The Israeli military has also been systematically targeting hospitals across the enclave and putting them out of commission, including two hospitals in the past week.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli army had laid siege to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza since dawn.

This meant that “a state of panic and confusion has prevailed among patients, the wounded, and medical staff” as a result of the attacks, hindering medical care with very limited resources still available, it added.

The Middle East—a cradle of history, culture, and geopolitical contradictions—has repeatedly witnessed alluring promises of peace that ultimately sank into the whirlpool of its complex realities. The doctrine of “peace through strength,” which became a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy in the region during Donald Trump’s second presidential term, relies on displays of military might, economic sanctions, and aggressive diplomacy. It claims to tame rogue actors and bring stability to a turbulent region. However, the history of the Middle East, from the failure of “maximum pressure” policies to the inability of the Abraham Accords to resolve the Palestinian conflict, demonstrates that such an approach not only fails to deliver lasting peace but often fuels instability and heightens tensions.

The strategy of “peace through strength” is based on the assumption that military posturing and economic pressure can alter the behavior of regional players or compel them to cooperate. This approach was tested during Trump’s first term through the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, beginning with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018. The goal was to force Iran into negotiations by imposing crippling sanctions, but the outcome was quite the opposite. A 2024 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms that Iran has enriched uranium to 60%, just a step away from weapons-grade. This advancement not only signals the failure of the pressure campaign to contain Iran’s nuclear program but also escalated regional tensions. Moreover, the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani—intended as a show of strength—did not weaken Iran but rather empowered its proxy forces, including Hezbollah and Iraqi militias. A 2024 UN Security Council report confirms that these groups expanded their operations following Soleimani’s death.

The Abraham Accords, hailed in 2020 as a major achievement of power-driven diplomacy, are another illustration of the limitations of this approach. These agreements, which normalized relations between Israel and countries like the UAE and Bahrain, were largely facilitated through U.S. economic and military incentives. However, they ignored the core issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading to increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza. UN reports from 2025 indicate that violence surged in these areas post-Accords, as Palestinians felt sidelined. This underscores that peace achieved by privileging some parties while excluding others is neither durable nor just—it fosters mistrust and unrest. An analysis by the Middle East Institute (March 2025) likewise emphasizes that the marginalization of the Palestinian issue has rendered the Abraham Accords fragile and incapable of withstanding regional shocks.

The Middle East is a region where history, identity, and national interests are so deeply intertwined that power-centric solutions often prove ineffective. Regional rivalries—such as the Iran-Saudi conflict or the Israeli-Palestinian struggle—are rooted in complex historical and identity-based issues that cannot be resolved through military or economic coercion. Unconditional U.S. support for Israel, a hallmark of Trump 2.0’s power-based approach, has eroded public trust across the Arab world. Pew Research Center polls in 2024 show that 72% of respondents in Arab countries perceive U.S. policies as biased and destabilizing. This distrust has only deepened with recent developments, such as Trump’s controversial proposal to relocate Gaza’s population to Egypt and Jordan and transform Gaza into the “Middle East Riviera.” The plan, strongly opposed by Egypt, Jordan, and Palestinian officials, has been condemned not only as impractical and illegal but also as an attempt to redefine the Palestinian issue as a humanitarian crisis rather than a political one.

Trump 2.0’s aggressive policies—including increased U.S. military presence in the region and threats of strikes against Iran—have exacerbated rather than reduced tensions. An April 2025 analysis by the Middle East Institute notes that Trump’s abrupt announcement of “direct” talks with Iran, while simultaneously threatening military action, sowed confusion and distrust among regional allies, including Israel. This oscillation between threats and diplomacy reflects the absence of a coherent strategic framework in Trump’s foreign policy. Additionally, U.S. military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and support for Israeli operations in Gaza—disregarding their human and political consequences—have further fueled instability. A February 2025 Newsweek analysis warns that such actions have increased the risk of direct conflict between Israel and Iran.

One of the most significant flaws of the “peace through strength” doctrine is its failure to build trust among regional actors. Lasting peace requires frameworks that account for the concerns of all parties involved, but a power-based approach often strengthens one side at the expense of another. The Abraham Accords, by excluding Palestinians, contributed to growing distrust among Arab societies. In contrast, more successful examples—such as the 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel—demonstrate the importance of inclusive diplomacy. That agreement, reached through U.S. mediation and extensive negotiations, resulted in a durable peace because it addressed the concerns of both parties. Similarly, the 2015 JCPOA negotiations, which involved global powers and Iran, effectively curbed Iran’s nuclear program until the U.S. withdrawal in 2018. IAEA reports confirm that Iran complied with the deal until that point. This success highlights the superiority of multilateral diplomacy over unilateral pressure.

The “peace through strength” doctrine has not only failed to resolve Middle Eastern conflicts but has also contributed to economic and political instability. While broad sanctions against Iran pressured its economy, they also strengthened nationalist narratives in Tehran. A 2024 World Bank report shows that Iran has mitigated some of the sanctions’ impact by expanding trade with China and Russia. Furthermore, Trump’s aggressive economic policies—including broad tariffs on regional countries, such as a 17% tariff on Israeli goods—have created economic volatility and eroded allies’ trust. A 2025 Brookings Institution analysis notes that Chinese investments in regional infrastructure have grown significantly since 2018, signaling a decline in U.S. influence in favor of rivals like China and Russia.

The continuation of power-based policies risks further escalation. Statements by U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce—that “Iran’s threat to expel IAEA inspectors contradicts its claim of a peaceful nuclear program”—and the response by Iran’s atomic agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi—that “no limitations exist on enrichment under the safeguards framework”—highlight the current stalemate. These disagreements underscore the need for diplomatic dialogue, not threats and pressure.

The doctrine of “peace through strength,” by ignoring the complexities of the Middle East, has repeatedly failed. Experiences such as maximum pressure on Iran, the Abraham Accords, and unrealistic proposals like relocating Gaza’s population reveal that military and economic might without inclusive diplomacy leads to instability. The Middle East needs frameworks that consider all sides and focus on building trust. Successful cases like Camp David and the JCPOA show that while multilateral diplomacy is difficult, it can yield lasting results. For the United States, shifting from imposing power to facilitating dialogue would not only reduce tensions but also restore its role as a credible mediator.

The talks in the Qatari capital have begun without any conditions for Israel to allow aid into Gaza or a ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas have confirmed a new round of Gaza truce talks is under way in Qatar as the Israeli military expanded its ground offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire.

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Saturday that the Hamas delegation in Doha returned to negotiations “on a hostage deal”.

Israel had entered the talks without any conditions, according to Katz.

Taher al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas leadership, confirmed to the Reuters news agency that a new round of indirect talks had begun without any conditions.

“The Hamas delegation outlined the position of the group and the necessity to end the war, swap prisoners, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and allowing humanitarian aid and all the needs of the people of Gaza back into the Strip,” he added.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 54 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Saturday, as Israel launched a new offensive in Gaza.

Israel’s army said on social media that it was intensifying attacks and exerting “tremendous pressure” on Hamas across Gaza, and wouldn’t stop until the captives are returned and the armed group is dismantled. Katz said that Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with “great force.”

The ground offensive comes after Israel escalated its air attacks on Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the past three days. Many of the victims were killed in northern Gaza, including in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, which have received forced displacement orders by the Israeli army in recent days.

As leaders of the Arab League held a Gaza-focused summit in Iraq’s Baghdad and called for international funding to rebuild Gaza, Hamas asked the international community to impose sanctions on Israel.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the armed group described the situation in Gaza as a “full-blown genocide committed before the eyes of a world that stands helpless, while more than two and a half million people are being slaughtered in the besieged Strip”.

The group also reported continued fighting with invading Israeli forces, claiming on Saturday that its fighters killed and wounded two Israeli soldiers using machineguns in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was “alarmed” by Israel’s moves to expand its ground operations in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said a joint plan by the United States and Israel to replace international aid mechanisms in Gaza was a “waste of time” as more than 160,000 pallets of aid are “ready to move” at the border, but blocked by Israel.

Nevertheless, Washington has remained adamant in its full support for Israel, with Trump saying on Friday that Gaza must become a “freedom zone”.

Last week, Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander, who, along with families of remaining captives in Gaza, called for the release of all still held in the Palestinian territory.

Arab leaders have urged the international community to fund their plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip after United States President Donald Trump reiterated a proposal to take over the Palestinian territory.

An Arab League summit held on Saturday in Baghdad said in its final statement that it urged “countries and international and regional financial institutions to provide prompt financial support” to back its Gaza reconstruction plan.

“This genocide [in Gaza] has reached a level of ugliness unparalleled in all conflicts in history,” Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in his opening speech at the 34th Arab Summit, which was dominated by Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

He said Iraq backed the creation of an “Arab fund to support reconstruction efforts”, adding that Iraq will contribute $20m towards the fund and another $20m for Lebanon, which has also been in conflict with Israel.

The Iraqi prime minister said Baghdad rejects “the forced displacement of Palestinians”, calling for an end to “the massacres in Gaza, the attacks on the West Bank and the occupied territories”.

“We have called, and continue to call, for serious and responsible Arab action to save Gaza and reactivate the UNRWA,” he said, referring to the UN body for Palestinian aid.

Saturday’s talks in the Iraqi capital came only a day after Trump completed his Middle East tour, triggering hopes of a ceasefire and the renewal of aid delivery to Gaza.

‘Carnage unfolding in Gaza’

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – who have sharply criticised Israel’s genocide in Gaza – were guests at the summit.

“We need a permanent ceasefire now, the unconditional release of the hostages now, and the free flow of humanitarian aid ending the blockade now,” Guterres said.

Spain’s Sanchez said the humanitarian crisis in Gaza must end “immediately and without delay”.

“Palestine and Spain are working on a new draft to be presented to the United Nations, where we are demanding Israel to end the unjust humanitarian siege laid to Gaza and to allow for the unconditional delivery of relief aid into Gaza”, he said.

He also said there must be “more pressure on Israel to end the carnage unfolding in Gaza by all the conceivable means, namely the tools available under the international law.”

“And here, I would like to announce that Spain will present a proposal to the General Assembly for the International Criminal Court to examine Israel’s compliance with the delivery of relief aid into Gaza,” the Spanish prime minister added.

In March, Israel ended a ceasefire reached with Hamas in January, renewing deadly attacks across Gaza and forcing a blockade of food and other essential items. In recent days, Israel has intensified its offensive, as tens of thousands of Palestinians are forced to starve.

At a preparatory meeting of the Arab League summit, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said they will try to endorse decisions that were made at their meeting in Cairo in March to support Gaza’s reconstruction as an alternative to Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take over the enclave.

During his visit to Qatar, Trump on Thursday reiterated that he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”. Earlier this year, he caused an uproar by declaring that the US would turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, prompting Arab leaders to come up with a plan to rebuild the territory, at a summit in Cairo.

The Arab plan for Gaza proposes rebuilding the Palestinian enclave without displacing its 2.4 million residents.

Besides Gaza, Arab officials also discussed Syria, which only six months ago entered a new chapter in its history after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier this week, Trump in Riyadh met Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group spearheaded the offensive that toppled al-Assad last December. Prior to their meeting, he also announced that US sanctions on Syria will be lifted in a huge boost to the government in Damascus.

Al-Sharaa, who was imprisoned for years in Iraq on charges of belonging to al-Qaeda following the 2003 US-led invasion, however, missed Baghdad’s summit after several powerful Iraqi politicians voiced opposition to his visit. The Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani represented Damascus instead.

Saturday’s summit also came amid Iran’s ongoing nuclear talks with the US. Trump has pursued diplomacy with Iran as he seeks to stave off a threatened military strike by Israel on Iran, a desire shared by many of the region’s leaders.

On Thursday, Trump said a deal was “getting close”, but by Friday, he was warning that “something bad is going to happen” if the Iranians do not move fast.

Iraq has only recently regained a semblance of normalcy after decades of devastating conflict and turmoil, and its leaders view the summit as an opportunity to project an image of stability.

Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the summit was “very crucial” for Iraq.

“This is the first time the summit has been held in Iraq since 2012 and Iraq takes it as a credit to regain its rule as a player to bridge the gap between member states of the Arab League,” he said.

A group of seven European nations has called for an end to Israel’s military assault and blockade of Gaza, as the United Nations aid chief says time should not be wasted on an alternative United States-backed proposal to deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.

In a joint statement late on Friday, the leaders of Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Spain and Norway said they “will not be silent in front of the man-made humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our eyes in Gaza” as Israel’s blockade has prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid for two and a half months.

“We call upon the government of Israel to immediately reverse its current policy, refrain from further military operations and fully lift the blockade, ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid to be distributed throughout the Gaza strip by international humanitarian actors,” the statement read.

“More than 50,000 men, women, and children have lost their lives. Many more could starve to death in the coming days and weeks unless immediate action is taken,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe, a body that works to safeguard human rights and democracy, also noted that Gaza was suffering from a “deliberate starvation” and warned that Israel was sowing “the seeds for the next Hamas” in the territory, referring to the Palestinian armed group.

“The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come – and it is long overdue,” said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The European calls came hours after UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said 160,000 pallets of relief and 9,000 trucks were ready to enter Gaza.

“To those proposing an alternative modality for aid distribution, let’s not waste time. We already have a plan,” he said in a statement.

“We have the people. We have the distribution networks. We have the trust of the communities on the ground. And we have the aid itself – 160,000 pallets of it – ready to move. Now,” he said.

“We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded aid delivery for civilians in need. Let us work.”

Israel has halted the entry of food, medication and all other essentials into Gaza since March 2. UN agencies and other humanitarian groups have warned of shrinking food, fuel and medicine supplies to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians facing acute starvation.

Earlier, the US and Israel said they were preparing a plan that would allow the resumption of aid by an NGO, while keeping supplies out of Hamas’s hands.

Under the heavily criticised alternative aid plan, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May.

It intends to work with private US security and logistics firms to transport aid into Gaza to so-called secure hubs where it will then be distributed by aid groups, a source familiar with the plan told the Reuters news agency. It is unclear how the foundation will be funded.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has also asked Israel to allow humanitarian deliveries by the UN and aid groups to resume now until its infrastructure is fully operational, saying this is essential to “alleviate the ongoing humanitarian pressure”.

The UN, however, said it would not work with the foundation because the distribution plan is not impartial, neutral or independent. Israel says the blockade, alongside “military pressure”, is intended to force Hamas to free the remaining captives.

On Thursday, senior Hamas official Basem Naim reiterated the group’s position that the entry of aid into Gaza is a prerequisite for any truce talks with Israel.

“Access to food, water and medicine is a fundamental human right – not a subject for negotiation,” he said.

In August 2005, the Israeli government officially withdrew from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian coastal enclave it had occupied continuously since 1967. Apart from pulling back its armed forces, it had to undertake the dismantlement of 21 illegal settlements housing 8,000 Jewish settlers.

Israeli troops were deployed to begin the process, which pulled at the heartstrings of international media outlets like The New York Times. The paper reported on the sobbing settlers affected by Israel’s “historic pullout from the Gaza Strip”, some of whom had to be carried “screaming from their homes in scenes that moved a number of the soldiers to tears”.

To be sure, there is nothing quite so tragic as illegal colonisers being uprooted from one section of land that does not belong to them and transferred to another section of land that does not belong to them. It bears mentioning that a majority of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip are themselves refugees from Israel’s blood-drenched conquest of Palestine in 1948, which killed 15,000 Palestinians, expelled three-quarters of a million more, and destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages.

Since 2005, the myth of a unilateral Israeli “withdrawal” from Gaza has stubbornly persisted – and has been repeatedly invoked as alleged evidence of Israel’s noble willingness to occasionally play by the rules.

And yet objectively speaking, what happened in August of that year was not much of a “withdrawal” at all, given that the Israeli military continued to control Gaza’s borders while subjecting the territory to a punishing blockade and periodic wanton bombardment.

Israeli officials themselves made no effort to hide what they were really up to. In 2004, while the plan was still being discussed in the Knesset, Dov Weisglass, a senior adviser to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, stated point-blank: “The disengagement is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians.”

By “freezing” the political process, Weisglass went on to explain, “you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem”. Thanks to “disengagement”, then, the whole issue of Palestinian statehood had been “removed indefinitely from our agenda” – and all with the “blessing” of the president of the United States of America “and the ratification of both houses of Congress”.

Since the so-called “withdrawal” from Gaza did not entail ceasing to make life hell for the Palestinian inhabitants of the territory, Israel remained ever-engaged on that front. On September 28, 2005 – the month following the drama of the sobbing settlers and soldiers – the late Dr Eyad El-Sarraj, founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, wrote on the Electronic Intifada website: “During the last few days, Gaza was awakened from its dreams of liberation with horrible explosions which have shattered our skies, shaken our buildings, broken our windows, and threw the place into panic.”

These were the effects of Israeli aircraft executing sonic booms in the skies over Gaza, a method El-Sarraj noted “was never used before the disengagement, so as not to alarm or hurt the Israeli settlers and their children”. And that was just the start of the “disengaging”.

In 2006, Israel launched Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, which scholars Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe would subsequently characterise as being thus far the “most brutal attack on Gaza since 1967”. This, of course, was before Gaza was awakened from its dreams of liberation with an all-out Israeli genocide, which has now killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

But there was plenty of brutality in between, from Israel’s Operation Cast Lead – which kicked off in December 2008 and killed 1,400 Palestinians in a matter of 22 days – to Operation Protective Edge, which slaughtered 2,251 people over 50 days in 2014.

Along with periodic bouts of mass killing, the fluctuating Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip posed additional existential challenges. In 2010, for example, the BBC listed some of the household items that had at different times been blocked from entering Gaza, including “light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pasta, tea, coffee, chocolate, nuts, shampoo and conditioner”.

In 2006, Israeli government adviser Weisglass – the same character who revealed the “formaldehyde” approach to disengagement – also took it upon himself to charmingly clarify the logic behind Israel’s restrictions on food imports into the Gaza Strip: “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”

Now that Israel is literally starving Palestinians to death in Gaza with the full complicity of the United States, it seems the “idea” has undergone some revisions. Meanwhile, recent news reports citing unnamed Israeli officials indicate that Israel is also currently plotting the “conquest” and full military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

Two decades on from Israel’s withdrawal-that-wasn’t from Gaza, it’s safe to surmise that “disengagement” paved the way for conquest. And this time around, there’s no disengagement plan.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Thousands of Palestinians have been ordered by the Israeli forces to flee parts of northern Gaza as indiscriminate air strikes have killed at least 115 people in the territory.

Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya area fled their homes with essential belongings on Friday, after intense Israeli air strikes hit the area.

More than 19,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza since Thursday afternoon, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “Many with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” the organisation said in a post on X. “Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at some point during the genocide, with several forced to flee many times over. Israel has increasingly issued forced displacement orders as it escalates its attacks in the enclave.

In a statement in Arabic on Saturday, the Israeli military said it has launched the “initial stages” of what it calls Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a new offensive for “the expansion of the battle in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of achieving all the war’s objectives, including the release of the abducted and the defeat of Hamas”.

A separate statement in English said the army was “mobilising troops to achieve operational control in areas of the Gaza Strip”.

Israel has killed at least 115 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn on Friday as it intensifies bombardment of the enclave amid widespread forced starvation. More than 100 other Palestinians were killed on Thursday in similar attacks.

Since October 2024, Israel has killed at least 53,119 Palestinians and wounded 120,214 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The enclave’s Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.

An aide worker in Gaza who has witnessed Israel’s increased bombardment of the enclave calls it “shocking,” as Palestinians struggle with a lack of food and medical supplies. Afeef Nessouli with Gila International tells Al Jazeera Israel is also keeping medical workers from coming in or out.

More than 19 months into its war on Gaza, Israel shows few signs that it is relenting. The last week has shown the opposite, an intensification of violence across the besieged Palestinian territory, leaving hundreds dead, and hundreds of thousands terrified of what comes next.

This was a week where United States President Donald Trump toured the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. There had been hope that some kind of ceasefire deal would be announced, or that the US would put more pressure on Israel to seriously come to the negotiating table. That was particularly the case after Hamas released a US-Israeli captive on Monday without demanding anything in exchange.

Ultimately, none of that happened, with Trump returning to his idea of US involvement in the future administration of whatever is left of Gaza, while acknowledging that Palestinians there were starving.

Israel also intercepted a number of missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, before attacking Yemen itself on Friday.

Lets take a closer look at a week that has devastated Gaza, and left Palestinians there feeling even more abandoned.

How many Palestinians were killed in Gaza this week?

According to figures compiled by Al Jazeera, at least 370 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since Sunday. The violence has been particularly deadly in the second half of the week, with medical sources reporting the killing of at least 100 Palestinians on Friday, and 143 on Thursday. Many of those killed have been women and children.

These are some of the worst single-day death tolls since the beginning of the war in October 2023.

The killings put the total death toll reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health more than 53,000, although the territory’s Government Media Office’s death toll now sits at more than 61,700, as it includes thousands of Palestinians still under the rubble who are presumed dead.

Israeli attacks have targeted the whole Gaza Strip, with a particular focus on the north. Hospitals have also repeatedly been bombed by Israel.

What is being done to alleviate the hunger crisis in Gaza?

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been caused by Israel’s complete blockade of the entry of all food and medication to the Strip since March 2, a decision it made when the ceasefire was still ongoing, and one that goes against international law.

A report released on Monday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative said that the Gaza Strip was “still confronted with a critical risk of famine”, with half a million people facing starvation and 93 percent of its more than 2 million population at severe risk.

People are already starving to death – Gaza authorities last week said that 57 people had died as a result of starvation.

Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people are starving” in Gaza and said that the US was “going to get that taken care of”, but provided few details. The US has backed a new body called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that it says will start work in Gaza by the end of the month.

But the plan has been rejected by the United Nations and other humanitarian groups, who say that the plan would lead to more displacement for Palestinians in Gaza, as it would only disperse aid in some areas of Gaza, and set a dangerous precedent for the delivery of aid in warzones.

The UN has reiterated that it has the capacity to deliver aid across Gaza, but is being prevented from doing so by Israel. It says it has enough aid ready to deliver to feed all of the Palestinians in Gaza for four months, if Israel allows its trucks in.

What are Palestinians calling for?

Palestinians in Gaza have been recounting the horrors of the past week, desperately calling for the world to act and stop Israel’s bombing.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, one of the worst hit areas, one civilian had a simple message – “either kill us or let us live.”

“All of [the strikes] were targeting civilians. All the houses are being bombed – everything is gone,” Ahmed Mansour told Al Jazeera. “What is a person supposed to do? They’re all making a joke out of us. I’m heading to the coast now. We’ve been displaced more than 50 times – either kill us or let us live.”

Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, also called on Friday for the US to put more pressure on Israel to open the crossings into Gaza and “allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid – food, medicine and fuel – to the hospitals in the Gaza Strip”.

What does Israel want?

The Israeli government has made it clear that it is unwilling to agree to a deal that would end the war in return for the release of all the Israeli captives still held in Gaza, despite widespread domestic support for such a deal.

Instead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks of total victory against Hamas, although it is difficult to see what that would entail.

Instead, the war drags on, and Netanyahu said on Monday that preparations were continuing for “an intensification of the fighting”. Last week, he said that Israel was planning for the “total conquest” of Gaza.

Trump left the Middle East this week with no ceasefire deal agreed, only saying, “We’re going to find out pretty soon” when asked whether a deal was in place for the return of Israel’s captives.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that Israel’s position was “rigid” and that the US had “lost interest”. A source told the newspaper that US envoy Steve Witkoff was “no longer involved”.

“He’s waiting to hear what we want, and since we don’t want anything, he has nothing left to do,” the source said.

ICC says Karim Khan will take a leave of absence pending the conclusion of UN-led investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has taken a leave of absence pending the conclusion of UN-led investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Khan’s office said on Friday that he had informed colleagues he would step aside until the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) wraps up its probe. The OIOS has been conducting the external investigation since December, following complaints raised with the ICC’s oversight body.

Khan has denied the allegations, which were first reported in October last year. The court said that he would remain on leave until the inquiry concludes, though a timeline for its completion remains unclear. During his absence, the court’s two deputy prosecutors will assume his responsibilities.

Khan’s decision to step aside temporarily follows months of growing pressure from human rights groups and some court officials, who had urged him to withdraw while the investigation was ongoing.

“Stepping aside helps protect the court’s credibility and the trust of victims, staff, and the public. For the alleged victim and whistleblowers, this is also a moment of recognition and dignity,” said Danya Chaikel of human rights watchdog FIDH.

The court has not confirmed when the OIOS investigation will conclude, but the case comes at a time of rising global scrutiny of the ICC’s role and credibility.

High-profile investigations

The decision comes as the court is pursuing high-profile investigations, including into Russia’s assault on Ukraine and Israel’s war on Gaza.

Khan requested arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The United States, a vocal critic of the court’s recent moves, imposed sanctions on Khan over his pursuit of Israeli officials. ICC leadership has since warned that such political attacks could endanger the institution’s survival.