Israeli forces have killed more than a dozen Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip in the last 48 hours, while thousands more face the threat of imminent starvation amid a drastically deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
On Sunday, four-year-old Mohammed Yassine joined dozens of other children who have starved to death in recent days as the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that more than 70,000 children in Gaza face acute levels of malnutrition.
As well as causing starvation deaths, Israel has intensified its bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, killing some 600 people in nearly a week.
A strike on a tent housing displaced people in central Gaza killed a mother and her children in the central city of Deir el-Balah, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital, while a child was killed when his family’s tent was struck with a drone in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Eleven-year-old Yaqeen Hammad, a popular social media influencer, and nine of Dr Alaa Amir al-Najjar’s 10 children were also killed in separate Israeli air raids. Al-Najjar’s remaining child, 11-year-old Adam, is in critical condition in an intensive care unit.
The attacks come amid an Israeli blockade for almost three months that has choked off access to essential food, fuel, and medical supplies. Aid agencies warn that thousands of children are now at risk of death from starvation.
Children account for 31 percent of Palestinians confirmed killed during Israel’s 19 months of war on Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. This figure excludes deaths that have been reported but for which the victims remain unidentified, suggesting the real toll is higher.
A report commissioned by the United Nations also highlighted Israel’s disproportionate violence against children through targeting densely populated areas, with repeated air raids on residential buildings contributing to the rising child death toll.
At least 22 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
Below are some of the children killed in Israeli attacks:
Yaqeen Hammad
Known for her smile and volunteer work in Gaza, Yaqeen Hammad was killed after Israel shelled al-Baraka in Deir el-Balah, northern Gaza, on Friday night.
The 11-year-old influencer and her older brother, Mohamed Hammad, delivered food, toys and clothing to displaced families, the Palestine Chronicle reports. She also played an active role in the Ouena collective – a Gaza-based nonprofit group dedicated to aid and humanitarian relief.
Messages of grief and tributes from activists, Yaqeen’s followers and journalists poured in after news of her death spread online.
“Her body may be gone, but her impact remains a beacon of humanity,” wrote Mahmoud Bassam, a photojournalist in Gaza.
“Instead of being at school and enjoying her childhood, she was active on Instagram and participating in campaigns to help others in Gaza. No words. Absolutely no words,” another tribute read on X.
Mohammed Yassine
Activists and Palestinian platforms shared on social media painful scenes of Mohammed Yassine on a hospital bed.
Appearing in a video, holding Yassine’s body, Mahmoud Basal of Gaza’s Civil Defence said: “Mohammed Yassine died from hunger, a direct result of the occupation’s prevention of food and medical aid from entering Gaza.”
“Mohammed was not the first child, and the fear has become a certainty that he won’t be the last,” Basal added.
Dr Alaa al-Najjar’s nine children
An Israeli attack on the home of al-Najjar on Friday killed nine of her children and critically injured 11-year-old Adam.
Sidar, Luqman, Sadin, Reval, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Rakan and Yahya – aged between seven months and 12 years – all died in the attack, Gaza’s Government Media Office said.
Al-Najjar is a paediatrician at the southern city’s Nasser Hospital, where her husband is receiving care after being critically injured in the attack.
“It is unbelievable,” said Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital’s paediatrics department, of the attack’s impact.
“You can’t imagine the shock that [al-Najjar] had when she heard about that [attack]. But up until now, she is trying to be near her son and her husband to survive.”
The international community should look to impose sanctions on Israel to stop its war in Gaza, Spain’s foreign minister has said, ahead of a Madrid meeting of European and Arab nations, urging a halt to Israel’s punishing offensive in which Palestinian deaths and the spread of starvation are increasing each day.
The high-level talks on Sunday are the fifth official meeting of what is known as “The Madrid Group”.
Countries in the European Union that Israel had long counted on as close allies have been adding their voices to growing global pressure after it expanded military operations in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip.
A nearly three-month aid blockade has worsened shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine in the Palestinian enclave, which has been devastated and ravaged due to Israel’s relentless war that followed the Hamas-led October 7 attack in 2023.
Barely any aid has crossed into Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a week ago that Israel would allow limited aid in to assuage concerns from allies.
The United Nations has said the amount of aid allowed in so far is a “drop in the ocean”, while some aid groups have described Netanyahu’s announcement as a “smokescreen”.
Aid organisations say the trickle of supplies Israel that allowed to enter in recent days falls far short of needs, which is between 500-600 trucks a day. Israel has allowed some 100 trucks carrying aid into Gaza since Wednesday, officials say.
Madrid, Spain is hosting 20 countries as well as international organisations on Sunday with the aim of “stopping this war, which no longer has any goal”, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.
“In this terrible moment, in this humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, we aim to … stop this war … [and to] break the blockade of humanitarian assistance that must go in unimpeded,” Albares told Al Jazeera ahead of the meeting.
‘We must consider sanctions’
The Madrid meeting will serve as preparation for a high-level UN conference on the two-state solution, which France and Saudi Arabia will host in New York on June 17.
“We want to create momentum” ahead of the UN conference, Albares said, so that “everyone” can recognise Palestine as an independent state.
“That conference in New York must be a big moment to push towards recognition of the state of Palestine,” he added.
A previous such gathering in Madrid last year brought together countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye as well as European nations such as Norway and the Republic of Ireland that have recognised a Palestinian state.
Sunday’s meeting, which also includes representatives from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, will promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After the EU decided this week to review its cooperation deal with Israel, Albares said, “We must consider sanctions, we must do everything, consider everything to stop this war.”
Germany’s Deputy Foreign Minister Florian Hahn on Sunday also warned about the impact of Gaza’s deteriorating, “unbearable” humanitarian crisis, calling for an immediate ceasefire and diplomatic solution.
Hahn stressed that ending the war in Gaza and creating a path for diplomatic efforts toward a political solution is currently one of German foreign policy’s main priorities.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Madrid, said Sunday’s meeting is going to be “crucial”.
Members are going to be “seeking the potential of further political talks that could be conducive to the Israelis coming along with the Palestinians, discussing the need to end the war and achieve a Palestinian state”, Ahelbarra said.
Israel’s deadly assault has killed almost 54,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, mostly women and children.
An Israeli air strike on the home of pediatrician Dr Alaa al-Najjar killed nine of her 10 children in Khan Younis, while she was at work in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Her husband and only surviving child are in critical condition.
On April 27, my brother-in-law, Samer, was killed in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza when his vegetable stall was bombed. He wasn’t armed. He wasn’t a political figure. He was a peaceful man trying to earn a living to feed his children in a place where food has become more expensive than gold.
Samer wasn’t a vendor by profession. He was a lawyer who defended the rights of the oppressed. But the war forced him to change his path.
During the ceasefire, he was able to buy vegetables from local wholesalers. After the war resumed and the crossings into Gaza were closed in March, supplies dwindled dramatically, but he maintained a small stock of vegetables. He continued selling day and night, even as buyers became scarce due to the high prices. He often tried to give us vegetables for free out of generosity, but I always refused.
When I heard about Samer’s killing, I froze. I tried to hide the news from my husband, but my tears spoke the truth. He looked like he wanted to scream, but the scream remained trapped inside his throat. Something held him back – perhaps his burdened soul could no longer bear even the expression of grief.
Samer left behind three little children and a heartbroken family. No one expected his death. It came as a shock. He was a good and pure-hearted young man, always cheerful, loving life and laughter, even in the toughest times.
I still remember him standing in front of his vegetable stall, lovingly calling out to customers.
Samer is among countless food sellers who have been killed in this genocidal war. Anyone employed in providing or selling food has been targeted. Fruit and vegetable vendors, grocers, bakers, shop owners and community kitchen workers have been bombed, as if they were dealing with weapons, not food. Bakeries, shops, farms and warehouses have been destroyed, as if the food they were providing was a threat.
Ten days after Samer was killed, a restaurant and a market on al-Wahda Street, one of the busiest in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, were bombed. At least 33 people were killed.
Two weeks before Samer’s martyrdom, the vicinity of a bakery in Jabaliya was bombed. Days before that, a food distribution centre in Khan Younis was targeted. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, more than 39 food and distribution centres and 29 community kitchens have been targeted since the beginning of the war.
It is clear by now that in its campaign of deliberate starvation, Israel is not only blocking food from entering Gaza. It is also destroying every link in the food supply chain.
As a result of the repeated targeting of vendors and markets, all that is available now to buy – for those who can afford to buy food – are scraps. Death has become easier than life in Gaza.
The starvation is affecting babies and little children the worst. On May 21, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported at least 26 Palestinians, including nine children, died within a 24-hour period due to starvation and lack of medical care in Gaza.
On May 5, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said it had registered the deaths of at least 57 children caused by malnutrition since the aid blockade began in early March.
As a mother, I often go days without eating just to feed my children whatever little food we have left. My husband spends the entire day searching for anything to ease our hunger but usually comes back with mere scraps. If we’re lucky, we eat a piece of bread – often stale – with a tomato or cucumber that I divide equally among our children.
The hardship Samer’s wife faces is even more unbearable. She tries to hide her tears from her children, who keep asking when their father will return from the market. The loss forced her to become a father overnight, pushing her to stand in long queues in front of community kitchens just to get a bit of food.
She often returns empty-handed, trying to comfort her children with hollow words: “When Dad comes back, he’ll bring us food.” Her children fall asleep hungry, dreaming of a bite to fill their stomachs – one their late father will never bring.
Israel has claimed that it is blocking aid to Gaza because Hamas takes it. The Western media, fully complicit in distorting the truth, has parroted the claim.
Yet it is clear that Israel is not just targeting Hamas but the entire population of Gaza. It is deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war against civilians, obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid – a war crime, according to international law.
Recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the true aim of his government more than apparent by demanding all Palestinians be expelled from Gaza as a condition for ending the war.
His decision to allow food through the crossings is nothing but a PR stunt. Enough flour was let in to have images of bread distributed at a bakery circulating in the media and to reassure the world that we are not starving.
But these images do not reflect the reality for us on the ground. My family has not received any bread and neither have the majority of families. Flour – where available – continues to cost $450 per bag.
While Israel claims that 388 aid trucks have entered since Monday, aid organisations are saying 119 have. An unknown number of these have been looted because the Israeli army continues to target anyone trying to secure aid distribution.
This tiny trickle of aid Israel is allowing is nothing compared with the needs of the starving population. At least 500 trucks are required every single day to cover the bare minimum.
Meanwhile, some Western governments have threatened sanctions and made some symbolic gestures to supposedly pressure Israel to stop starving us. Why did they need to wait to see our children dying of hunger before doing this? And why are they only threatening and not taking real action?
Today, our greatest wish is to find a loaf of bread. Our sole concern is how to keep surviving amid this catastrophic famine that has broken our bones and melted our insides. No one among us is healthy any more. We’ve become skeletons. Our bodies are dead, but they still pulse with hope – yearning for that miraculous day when this nightmare ends.
But who will act to support us? Who still has a shred of compassion for us in their heart?
And the most important question of all – when will the world finally stop turning a blind eye to our slow, brutal death by hunger?
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
The young victims, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old.
An Israeli strike has killed nearly the entire family of a Khan Younis doctor while she was at work, Gaza health officials said.
The attack hit the home of Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatrician at the southern city’s Nasser Hospital, on Friday, setting it ablaze and killing nine of her 10 children, according to the head of the hospital’s paediatrics department, Ahmad al-Farra.
Al-Najjar’s husband is severely wounded, and the couple’s only surviving child, 11-year-old Adam, is in critical condition, Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement.
The dead children, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old, the media office added.
The attack “encapsulates the ongoing genocide faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said the office. “It is a full-fledged war crime under all international laws and conventions.”
‘New phase of genocide’
The UN’s special rapporteur for the Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, slammed the attack as part of a “sadistic pattern” of a “new phase of genocide” facing Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
Two doctors go to work to assist others.Nine of their kids are killed by an Israeli missile targeting their home. Only surviving child, in critical conditions.
Targeting families in the still-standing buildings: distinguishable sadistic pattern of the new phase of the genocide. https://t.co/6tlylARKK5
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 24, 2025
Hamas said it followed a routine of Israel “deliberately targeting … medical personnel, civilians and their families in an attempt to break their will”.
The Israeli military said it had struck suspected fighters operating from a structure next to its forces in an area where civilians had been evacuated. “The claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review,” the military added.
On Monday, Israel issued forced evacuation orders for Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, warning of an “unprecedented attack”. There has been heavy, deadly bombardment in the area daily.
The al-Najjar children were among dozens killed in Israel’s attacks on Friday and Saturday.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the bodies of 79 people killed in Israeli attacks were brought to hospitals between Friday and midday Saturday. That count does not include facilities in the north of the enclave that are inaccessible, it said.
The ministry puts the overall death toll in Gaza since October 2023 at 53,901, with 122,593 injured.
In Gaza, the sound of drones can be heard everywhere.
An analysis by Al Jazeera’s digital investigations team, Sanad, has revealed that Israel is repurposing commercial drones to use as weapons of war in the Strip.
And as drones become ever more accessible, the line between their civilian use and their military use is becoming increasingly blurred.
Sebastia, occupied West Bank – Israel calls it an archaeological project to highlight Jewish heritage and create a new Israeli national park. Palestinians see it as further evidence of Israel’s plans to annex an ancient town and erase Palestinian history in an area that tells the 5,000-year-old shared story of the peoples who have lived in this land.
Far-right, pro-settler Israeli government ministers were in Sebastia on May 12 as part of a delegation to mark the looming seizure of the town’s archaeological park, one of the largest and most important of 6,000 sites in the West Bank.
Ultranationalist Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu, himself a resident of an illegal West Bank settlement, hailed the beginning of Israeli excavation at the site and the coming creation of “Samaria National Park”, which will focus on the area’s Jewish history.
Palestinians say that will come along with an attempt to paint over their ties to the land. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities called the excavations “preparation for Sebastia’s annexation and isolation from its surroundings”.
Israeli politicians refer to Sebastia as Samaria, or Shomron in Hebrew, and say it was the capital of the Biblical Kingdom of Israel nearly three millennia ago.
But the archaeological site includes the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, a Roman forum and amphitheatre, and the Crusader-era Church of St John, which was rebuilt into a mosque – and is believed to be the site of the tomb of John the Baptist, known in the Quran as Prophet Yahya.
Sebastia’s archaeological park, once a tourism hotspot and still a pilgrimage site for Christians, is being considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s world heritage list, subject to an application being finalised by Palestinian officials.
Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu hailed the decision to start work on an Israeli national park in Sebastia [Courtesy of the Office of Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu]
‘River of blood’
Sebastia mayor Mohammed Azim and town residents have long been warning of Israel’s intention to “Judaise” Sebastia and turn it into an Israeli-only tourism site.
Alarm intensified after the municipality received a land seizure order to construct an installation for “military purposes” at the summit of an ancient hilltop in the area last July.
Speaking to Al Jazeera in his office overlooking the increasingly deserted old town, Azim said a “river of blood will flow into the village” if construction of the barracks begins.
“The military is aiming to make life unbearable for the residents here, so they eventually surrender to reality and leave – just like those who have been displaced in Jenin and Tulkarem,” Azim said, referring to the more than 40,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank this year.
“Now, soldiers enter the village daily – and with the clear intention of killing,” Azim added. “We will resist construction – peacefully, of course. The landowners will not give up their land.”
The mayor called for condemnation of intensifying military violence in the village and the targeting of children, notably the army’s fatal shooting of 14-year-old Ahmad Jazar in January.
For its part, the Israeli state argues that the village of Sebastia will not be affected by the archaeological work, as it lies outside the boundaries of the proposed national park.
But Sebastia Archaeological Museum curator and lifelong resident, Walaa Ghazzal, says the plans are an escalation in Israel’s plans to eventually expel residents and business owners and prevent Palestinians from accessing the town, its ruins, and the sprawling hills and olive fields around it.
Ghazzal told Al Jazeera that “residents are afraid of the future”, especially those near the ruins.
“The situation is very dangerous,” she said. “Soon, they will prevent us from going to the archaeological site.
“In my opinion, we have only months before we are told to leave our homes,” Ghazzal added. “We are seeing the future in Gaza and in the camps [in the West Bank]. They are trying to erase us.”
Stars of David graffitied on the ancient Hellenic wall in Sebastia [Al Jazeera]
‘Biblical heritage’
Israeli ministers and settler politicians are using rhetoric about protecting Jewish Biblical heritage to disguise their long-held desire to annex Sebastia, Azim said.
Eliyahu was joined in Sebastia by Minister of Environmental Protection Idit Silman and Yossi Dagan, chairman of the Shomron Regional Council, which controls 35 illegal West Bank settlements.
Silman has hailed the scheme and told Israeli media, “historical justice is being done”, accusing Palestinians of attempting to “erase” Jewish heritage.
The Israeli government has long been clear that Sebastia, which most historians agree was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel for less than 200 years, will be taken over and transformed into the centrepiece of Israeli tourism in the West Bank.
In May 2023, the Israeli government approved a 30 million shekel (more than $8m) scheme to restore the park and establish a tourism centre, new access roads, and an expanded military presence. The four million shekel ($1.2m) regeneration of a disused Hijaz railway station about two miles from Sebastia, last operational in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, has also been announced.
“The archeological excavations are designed to expose the antiquities of the site and make the ancient city accessible throughout all its periods: from the beginning of the settlement in the 8th century BCE during the ancient Kingdom of Israel, through the Hellenistic city, the magnificent Roman city built by King Herod [called “Sebastos” after Emperor Augustus], to the Byzantine period when a church was built at the site,” said the office of Israeli Minister of Heritage Eliyahu.
Erasing Palestinian identity
Ghazzal said Sebastia’s ruins exhibit a “distinct local culture” in a geographic region which has “always been known as Palestine”. She said the remains emphasise the religious and cultural importance of the town to conquering empires, and its multifaith inhabitants’ peaceful coexistence for centuries.
In the Palestinian submission to UNESCO, it is noted that the present town of Sebastia still preserves “the ancient name [and] is located on the eastern part of the Roman city, indicating a strong element of cultural continuity”.
But for those focused on the planned Israeli national park, it’s only Jewish history that matters.
Responding to a query from Al Jazeera, Eliyahu’s office said that Sebastia was “first and foremost a Jewish heritage site, where archaeological remains from the Kingdom of Israel period were found”.
“It is important to emphasise that even if we were to dig at the site to the depth of the Earth’s core, not even a grain of historical evidence of ancient Palestinian settlement would be found at the site,” Eliyahu’s office added.
Yossi Dagan, who lives in neighbouring Shavei Shomron, has long advocated for the takeover of Sebastia and emphasises its prominence in Biblical history. He told Israeli media at the archaeological site: “When you dig here, you touch the Bible with your own hands.”
But Ghazzal said that the Israeli government’s treatment of the Biblical stories in the Old Testament as historical reality is designed to relegate the claims of Palestinians to have lived on the land for thousands of years, and ignores the Palestinian people’s ancient ties to their land.
“You can’t base your claim to the land on religion – civilisations are about the people who develop their identity, their works and monuments – even their language,” Ghazzal said.
“Israel wants to kill the stories from our past and replace them with poison; it is a crime against our history,” Ghazzal added. “When they demolish our monuments, remove families who keep the history alive, who will speak after that – and carry our story for the next generation?”
Palestinians visit the museum in Sebastia. It is already hard for them to visit the archaeological park because of settler attacks and the Israeli military presence [File: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters]
Ghost town
Ahmad Kayed, a 59-year-old Sebastia villager and leading activist, told Al Jazeera the ruins will not be “taken without a fight”, and demonstrations are being instigated.
He said Israel is “planning something big” in Sebastia and referenced new iron blockades being erected on roads encircling the town.
It is already extremely unsafe for Sebastia residents to visit the archaeological park because of settler attacks and near-daily military invasions, he said. But once a military barracks is established, it will be permanently off limits.
“They are working step by step to get their hands on Sebastia and keep us suffering all the time so people will leave,” Kayed said, referring to the at least 40 families that have left the town since October 7, 2023.
“We are in the second Nakba and Sebastia is under siege,” he added. “But Sebastia is strong, we know how to face them because we have done it before.”
He pointed out that residents rose up to thwart Israel’s plans to take Sebastia in the late 1970s, and they did so again to halt settlers pumping sewage onto agricultural land in 2013. Two years later, residents’ protests and sit-ins blocked the construction of a new access road for settlers, which Eliyahu’s office justified as necessary for the “hundreds of thousands of Israelis who will want to come, learn, and experience the Jewish heritage” of Sebastia.
But Kayed admits times have changed, and violence from the military today is unlike anything he has experienced in his decades of activism.
“When we decide what to do, we will be smart, and we will demonstrate in new ways, and everyone in Sebastia will follow us,” he added.
He was also gravely concerned that if excavations took place, Israelis would desecrate archaeological findings that contradicted their claim to the land, with so much still to be uncovered if Palestinian-led digs were not blocked.
The municipality still hopes UNESCO will provide the village protection and add the ruins to its World Heritage list. The mayor also hopes the archaeological park will join 56 other locations on UNESCO’s register of significant sites considered to be “in danger”.
Businesses near the archaeological site say they have lost more than three-quarters of their custom since October 7.
Samer Sha’er, owner of a coffee shop directly next to the park and Sebastia’s imposing Roman columns, said a military outpost would be devastating for businesses.
“There will be daily confrontations, constant military presence, and no sense of security,” he said. “No one will want to come and sit here while the army is stationed nearby – neither shop owners nor visitors will be able to stay.”
Once holy land coveted by prophets and conquering emperors, Sebastia has been reduced to a ghost town – haunted by the glory of its history, which has also made it a target for annexation by the ultranationalist Israeli government.
Kayed looked visibly moved as he described his youth playing on the hills of the archaeological park, and a lifetime spent trying to save his home.
He was evidently aggrieved that the town had not acted more quickly to unify against the creeping threat of the military barracks or eventual annexation. But it seems all those concerned, including the town’s mayor, are not sure what is coming next – or when.
“This land means everything to me,” Kayed added. “I have spent all my childhood, all my life going to the park.
“They will confiscate my land [to build the barracks]. I planted olive trees there with my mother, it is very painful to lose them, Kayed said. “The village will never give up on the ruins – this is our history, our life. We will fight until the end.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres says Gazans are enduring “the cruelest phase” of the war. He denounced Israel’s blockade, calling the 400 trucks cleared to enter Gaza so far “a teaspoon of aid” when “a flood of assistance is required.”
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Aid agencies have continued to criticise Israel after it announced it had sent a small convoy of trucks carrying vital supplies into Gaza.
COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, confirmed on Friday that 107 trucks had entered the enclave the previous day, loaded with flour, medicine and equipment.
However, aid agencies and others have condemned Israel’s policy to allow only minimal volumes of aid into Gaza, which the Israeli military has been blockading for close to three months.
They insist that the supplies are nowhere near enough for the millions trapped in the territory, and add that even the small amounts making it in are not making it to people due to Israeli attacks and looting.
The shipments follow Israel’s announcement on Sunday that it would permit “minimal” humanitarian aid into the territory for the first time since implementing a total blockade in early March.
Amid warnings of mounting famine and humanitarian disaster, Israel said that the decision to allow aid into Gaza was driven by diplomatic concerns.
Global outrage has been rising as the 11-week siege has progressed, leaving Gaza’s 2.1 million people on the brink of starvation, with medicine and fuel supplies exhausted.
The United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has branded the aid deliveries “a drop in the ocean” and warned that far greater access is required to address the escalating crisis.
The UN estimates that at least 500 trucks of aid are needed daily. Since Monday’s announcement, only 300 trucks have made it in, including Thursday’s convoy, according to COGAT.
Attacks and looting
Aid agencies also state that even the aid that is being allowed into Gaza is not reaching people.
“Significant challenges in loading and dispatching goods remain due to insecurity, the risk of looting, delays in coordination approvals and inappropriate routes being provided by Israeli forces that are not viable for the movement of cargo,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
Hamas officials said on Friday that Israeli air strikes had killed at least six Palestinians guarding aid trucks against looters.
An umbrella network of Palestinian aid groups said that just 119 aid trucks have entered Gaza since Israel eased its blockade on Monday, and that distribution has been hampered by looting, including by armed groups of men.
“They stole food meant for children and families suffering from severe hunger,” the network said in a statement.
The UN’s World Food Programme said on Friday that 15 of its trucks were looted in southern Gaza while en route to WFP-supported bakeries.
‘Most people living off food scraps’
Inside Gaza, the situation continues to deteriorate.
Dr Ahmed al-Farrah of Nasser Hospital told Al Jazeera that the health system is overwhelmed.
“Most people now live off food scraps of what they had in stock,” he said. “I predict there will be many victims because of food insecurity.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson said aid is being distributed via UN mechanisms, but stressed the amount reaching Gaza “is not enough”.
The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned Israel on Monday their countries would take action, including possible sanctions, if Israel did not lift aid restrictions.
“The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law,” a joint statement released by the British government said.
“We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions,” it added.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused the trio of being “on the wrong side of history” and “supporting “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Doctors at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza are overwhelmed by a surge in the number of malnourished babies and children in urgent need of life-saving treatment. Israel’s months-long blockade has left medicine, food, and baby formula critically scarce.
A Palestinian student at US college UCLA has gained attention for going on a hunger strike to pressure the university to divest from Israel, as other supporters of Palestinian rights join the FastForGaza movement to call attention to Israel’s restrictions on food.
More than a dozen governments have condemned Israel after its forces fired in the direction of a diplomatic delegation near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said its soldiers fired “warning shots” after the foreign diplomats, who included representatives of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, deviated from a previously agreed-on route.
“[Israeli] soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots to distance them away,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
No one was injured in the incident.
Here are some of the reactions from political leaders to the incident:
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
The Israeli ambassador has been summoned to Global Affairs to see the minister and explain. We expect a full investigation and we expect an immediate explanation of what happened. It’s totally unacceptable, it’s some of many things that are totally unacceptable that’s going on in the region.
UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Hamish Falconer
Today’s events in Jenin are unacceptable. I have spoken to our diplomats who were affected. Civilians must always be protected, and diplomats allowed to do their jobs. There must be a full investigation, and those responsible should be held accountable.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin
I am deeply shocked and horrified that the [Israeli forces] today opened fire on a group of diplomats visiting the town of Jenin. Thankfully, nobody was killed or injured.
I unreservedly condemn this aggressive, intimidatory and violent act. This is not and must never be a normal way to behave.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
We ask the government of Israel to immediately clarify what happened. The threats against diplomats are unacceptable.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp
Diplomats should be able to do their work, and threatening them is unacceptable. I have called the Dutch representative in the Palestinian territories and our ambassador to Israel and am relieved that the delegation is unharmed. We condemn the shooting, have requested clarification from the Israeli authorities and are considering further steps.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot
A visit to Jenin, in which one of our diplomats was participating, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. This is unacceptable. The Israeli ambassador will be summoned to explain. Full support to our agents on site and their remarkable work in trying conditions.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen
This is a very serious and condemnable incident. I have spoken with the Finnish diplomat who was present at the situation. We demand an explanation from Israel about the situation.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen
It is unacceptable that Israel has fired shots near foreign diplomats. It has no place anywhere and is completely unacceptable.
The Danish head of mission in Ramallah was among the diplomats and is fortunately safe. In light of the seriousness of the situation, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Israeli ambassador so that we can get an official explanation.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot
I was shocked to learn that the Israeli army opened fire on 20 diplomats today, including a Belgian colleague. Fortunately, he is fine. These diplomats were on an official visit to Jenin, coordinated with the Israeli army, in a convoy of 20 clearly recognisable vehicles. Belgium is asking Israel for a convincing explanation.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide
I condemn the attacks by [the Israeli military] against a group of diplomats in Jenin today. Diplomatic and consular staff enjoy a special status under international law and must be protected. These actions constitute a clear violation of international law and are deeply unacceptable.
Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Portugal condemns the attack by the Israeli army on the diplomatic delegation in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs … expressed its solidarity with the Portuguese ambassador who was part of the delegation and will take the appropriate diplomatic measures.
Germany’s Federal Foreign Office
The Federal Foreign Office strongly condemns this unprovoked fire. We can count ourselves lucky that nothing more serious occurred.
The group was travelling in the West Bank in the course of its diplomatic work and in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. The role of diplomats as independent observers on the ground is indispensable and in no way represents a threat to Israeli security interests.
The Israeli government must immediately investigate the circumstances and respect the inviolability of diplomats.
Slovenia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
Slovenia joins EU partners in condemning the gunfire that threatened foreign diplomats at Jenin camp.
Such intimidation violates the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and is utterly unacceptable. We expect a prompt, transparent Israeli investigation, full accountability and guarantees of safe, unhindered access for all diplomatic missions.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
This is a clear violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a crime that contravenes all diplomatic norms.
The Ministry’s official spokesperson, Ambassador Dr Sufyan Qudah, affirmed the kingdom’s absolute rejection and strong condemnation of this targeting, which constitutes a violation of diplomatic agreements and norms, particularly the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which defines the procedures and controls governing diplomatic work and grants immunities to diplomatic missions.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The state of Qatar strongly condemns the Israeli occupation forces for opening fire on an international diplomatic delegation during its visit to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, and considered as a violation of international laws, conventions, and diplomatic norms.
Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
We condemn in the strongest terms the opening of fire by Israeli soldiers on a group of diplomats, including an official from the Turkish Consulate General in Jerusalem, during their visit to the city of Jenin.
This attack, which endangered the lives of diplomats, is yet another demonstration of Israel’s systematic disregard for international law and human rights. The targeting of diplomats constitutes a grave threat not only to individual safety but also to the mutual respect and trust that form the foundation of inter-state relations.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Arab Republic of Egypt emphasises its absolute rejection of this incident, which violates all diplomatic norms, and calls upon the Israeli side to provide the necessary clarifications regarding the circumstances of this incident.
Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Israeli ambassador in Montevideo to clarify the incident.
Uruguay urges the Israeli government to investigate this incident and take the necessary measures to ensure the protection and allow the operations of diplomatic personnel accredited to the State of Palestine.
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Israeli military justified the action by stating that the diplomatic delegation had invaded an ‘unauthorised area’. However, there is no record of this occurring or of any officer approaching the delegation to verbally warn them in a timely manner.
What happened violates the provisions of Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which establishes the inviolability of diplomatic agents. All States Parties to the aforementioned Convention, including Israel, are obliged to respect it.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will request the Israeli embassy in Mexico to provide the clarifications warranted by the case.
British police say Mo Chara displayed a flag of Lebanon’s Hezbollah at a concert.
A member of the Irish rap band Kneecap has been charged with a “terrorism” offence in the United Kingdom for waving a flag of the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah at a concert in November 2024 in London.
Liam O’Hanna, whose stage name is Mo Chara, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on June 18, charged under the Terrorism Act, British police said on Wednesday.
Kneecap has been vocal in its support for the Palestinian cause since the October 7, 2023-led Hamas attacks and Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, equating the struggles of the Irish under British colonial rule to that of Palestinians under that of Israel.
Pro-Palestinian chants are a regular fixture in their gigs. The band says they have been targets of a smear campaign for calling out Israel’s genocidal war.
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people — we have faced a coordinated smear campaign.
For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes.… pic.twitter.com/mBojb5QBOP
The Belfast trio is also well known for its political and satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish Republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the UK, with the Republic of Ireland.
More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” involving the Irish Republican Army (IRA), pro-British Loyalist militias and the UK security forces.
Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment, which involved being shot in the kneecaps, that was meted out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.
The band has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between Protestant British Unionists and Catholic Irish Nationalist communities.
It has also been criticised for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references.
Kneecap came under intense scrutiny and criticism last month during their performance at the music festival Coachella in California when they projected the words “F*** Israel. Free Palestine.” on stage.
“The Irish not so long ago were persecuted by the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f****** skies with nowhere to go! The Palestinians have nowhere to go – it’s their f****** home and they’re bombing them from the sky. If you’re not calling it a genocide what the f*** are you calling it?” read the words projected by Mo Chara.
Kneecap came under renewed scrutiny at the start of this month when UK intelligence said they would investigate comments made by the rap group about UK and Middle East politics.
They were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” – the UK considers both to be “terrorist” organisations.
In response, Kneecap said it had “never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” and accused “establishment figures” of taking comments out of context to “manufacture moral hysteria” because of the band’s criticism of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.
Several Kneecap gigs have been cancelled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organisers of June’s Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group.
The UK pauses trade talks as the EU threatens to review ties with Israel.
Israel is facing condemnation from some of its strongest allies over its increasing aggression in Gaza.
The UK is cancelling new trade talks and the EU is reviewing old agreements, while both are imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
The two powers say they cannot stand by while Israel expands military operations, increases air strikes and starves Palestinians in Gaza with its total blockade.
But critics are asking why they did not step in before.
Will the new measures be imposed?
And most importantly: Will any of this change the reality on the ground for the Palestinians?
Presenter:
Folly Bah Thibault
Guests:
James Moran – Former EU ambassador to Egypt and Jordan
Yossi Mekelberg – Senior consulting fellow at Chatham House
Zaid Belbagi – Managing partner of Hardcastle Advisory and political commentator
