New humanitarian crisis fears as Israel expels thousands in northern Gaza, closes Al-Awda hospital

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Saudi Arabia's defence minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian officials in Tehran last month: take President Donald Trump's offer to negotiate a nuclear agreement seriously because it presents a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel.

Present at the closed-door meeting in Tehran, which took place on 17 April in the presidential compound, were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, armed forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the sources said.

Prince Khalid, who was Saudi ambassador to Washington during Trump's first term, warned Iranian officials that the US leader has little patience for drawn-out negotiations, according to the four sources.

(Reuters)

The situation in Gaza is the worst since the war on Gaza began 19 months ago, the United Nations said on Friday, despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave where famine looms.

"Any aid that gets into the hands of people who need it is good," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. But, he added, the aid deliveries so far overall have had "very, very little impact."

"The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began," he said.

(Reuters) 

At least five civilians have been killed after Israeli strikes targeted the cities of Gaza and Khan Younis on Friday, Wafa reports.

The strikes targeted a house near Az-Zahraa School in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza, killing four, while a strike in a home in the al-Amal neighbourhood, west of Khan Younis, killed one.

Israel will prevent the entry of Arab foreign ministers planning to hold a meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, Israeli media reported on Friday.

Channel 12 reported the delegation included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel and the mentioned countries did not immediately comment on the reports.

(Reuters)

Israeli strikes targeted Syria's coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, killing one person, the Syrian state news agency reported on Friday, despite recent talks between Israel and Syria's interim government.

The Israeli military confirmed shortly after it struck what it described as weapon storage facilities containing missiles that "posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation" in Latakia.

One civilian was killed in the strike on Latakia, the Syrian state news agency reported.

(Reuters)

Israel accused French President Emmanuel Macron of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state" on Friday after he called for European countries to harden their stance on Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.

"There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie," Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement, defending its efforts to allow in aid.

"But instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state. No doubt its national day will be October 7," it added, alluding to the date of Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Israel's defence minister warned Hamas on Friday to accept a ceasefire proposal submitted by US envoy Steve Witkoff "or be annihilated", after the group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands.

In a statement, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military was acting in Gaza "with full force", adding: "The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the 'Witkoff Deal' for the release of the [captives], or be annihilated."

An Israeli strike targeted Syria's Jableh town in Latakia, the pro-government Syria TV reported on Friday.

(Reuters)

The United Nations said Friday a group of "armed individuals" raided a warehouse in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and looted large amounts of medical supplies.

"Today, a group of armed individuals stormed the warehouses at a field hospital in Deir el-Balah, looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

President Donald Trump said on Friday he believes an agreement is close on a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and that it could be announced soon.

US officials have been waiting on a formal response from Hamas about what a source said is a proposed 60-day Gaza ceasfire deal.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, also said he believes the United States is close to a deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

(Reuters)

Hamas said on Friday it was still reviewing a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

A Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of captives, as it did in March.

In a terse statement issued on Friday, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions regarding the proposal it received from US envoy Steve Witkoff.

While changes may have been made to the proposal, the version confirmed earlier called for Israeli forces to pull back to the positions they held before it ended the last ceasefire.

Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

An Israeli court on Friday ordered the remand of Palestinian citizen of Israel activist Sanaa Salameh, whose husband, the writer Walid Daqqa, died in prison last year, her lawyer said.

Salameh was remanded in custody until June 3 on charges of "incitement and identifying with terrorist organisations", following her arrest on Thursday, her lawyer Fadi Bransi said.

Salameh is the widow of Walid Daqqa, a renowned writer and activist who spent nearly 38 years in Israeli prison on charges of kidnapping and killing an Israeli soldier before he died in April last year.

Israeli authorities have since held on to his remains.

Salameh was arrested after Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir submitted a formal request to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to deport her based on a law stipulating the expulsion of family members of "terrorists".

In the request, submitted on May 19, Ben Gvir said the attorney general had agreed to investigate Salameh based on social media posts in which she was accused of "incitement and identifying with terrorist organisations".

Barcelona's city council voted Friday to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians.

The motion, supported by the governing Socialist party along with far-left and leftist pro-independence groups, calls for an end to all official relations with Israel "until respect for international law" and the "basic rights of the Palestinian people" are restored.

Germany will decide whether or not to approve new weapons shipments to Israel based on an assessment of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Friday.

Wadephul questioned whether what is happening in Gaza is in line with international law

"We are examining this and, if necessary, we will authorise further arms deliveries based on this examination," he said.

Germany has been one of Israel's top backers in its war on Gaza, supplying arms and cracking down on pro-Palestinian activism domestically.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister will visit the occupied West Bank as part of an Arab ministerial delegation, CNN reported on Friday citing a Palestinian official.

The visit comes amid efforts by Riyadh to push states to back a two-state settlement.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that abandoning war-torn Gaza to its fate and giving Israel a "free pass" would kill the West's credibility with the world.

"If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we will kill our credibility," Macron told a top defence forum in Singapore, adding: "And this is why we do reject double standard."

The French leader also said Europe and the United States were unable to solve crises around the world, including in Gaza and Ukraine.

"I think the credibility of both the US and the Europeans to pretend to fix the crises in these regions (are) very low," Macron told the Shangri-la Dialogue at the end of his Southeast Asian tour.

Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory.

He said the move was a "clear message" to French President Emmanuel Macron, whom Israel's foreign ministry accused of carrying out a "crusade against the Jewish state."

Israeli settlements in the West Bank, seen as a major obstacle to lasting peace, are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and Thursday's announcement drew sharp foreign criticism.

"This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land," Katz said in a video published by his office.

"It is also a clear message to Macron and his associates: they will recognise a Palestinian state on paper -- but we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground," he added.

"The paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper."

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Friday, while Hamas was reviewing a new Israeli-approved ceasefire which it said would not bring about an end to Israel's onslaught.

President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week about brokering an agreement that could halt Israel's war on Gaza, allow more aid into the enclave, and return more of the 58 captives still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive.

Gaza is "the hungriest place on Earth", the United Nations said Friday, warning that the Palestinian territory's entire population was now at risk of famine.

Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March, ending a six-week truce.

"Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth," said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

"It's the only defined area -- a country or defined territory within a country -- where you have the entire population at risk of famine. 100 percent of the population at risk of famine," he said, rejecting claims to the contrary by Israeli authorities.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says it has delivered more than two million meals over the past four days as part of its aid operations in war-ravaged Gaza.

In its daily update, the organisation reported that "approximately 2,170,822 [meals] via roughly 23,040 boxes."

Each box is designed to supply three meals a day for a family of about five people over a four-day period.

According to the statement, six truckloads of food were distributed today at the Tel Sultan site near the Egypt-Gaza border, amounting to 5,760 boxes- equivalent to around 332,640 meals.

GHF confirmed there were no security incidents in the past 24 hours.

Previous updates from the foundation have minimised or overlooked reports of unrest and gunfire involving private security contractors.

"No civilians or individuals involved with the distribution of aid were injured, no lives were lost and all available food was distributed without interference this week," the update added.

Spain has sharply criticised Israel’s recent authorisation of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, stating that the decision contravenes international law.

"The settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, undermine the viability of the two-state solution, and are a threat to peace," Spain’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Spanish government also raised alarm over Israel’s heightened military activity in the West Bank.

It further condemned the destruction of Palestinian homes, a rise in settler violence, and the mass displacement of Palestinians- describing these developments as "clear violations of international humanitarian law."

"Peace in the region requires the realisation of a sovereign Palestinian state, comprising Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital," the ministry added.

Israel is blocking all but a trickle of humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, with almost no ready-to-eat food entering what its spokesperson described as "the hungriest place on earth".

Spokesperson Jens Laerke said only 600 of 900 aid trucks had been authorised to get to Israel's border with Gaza, and from there a mixture of bureaucratic and security obstacles made it all but impossible to safely carry aid into the region.

"What we have been able to bring in is flour," he told a regular news conference on Friday. "That's not ready to eat, right? It needs to be cooked... 100% of the population of Gaza is at risk of famine."

Tommaso della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, added that half of its medical facilities in the region were out of action for lack of fuel or medical equipment. 

This morning, activists and Israeli media shared footage on social media showing Israeli settlers blocking aid trucks near the Karem Abu Salem (known to Israelis as Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel.

According to Israeli outlets, the blockade was carried out by members of the Tzav 9 movement and relatives of Israeli captives, who aimed to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The footage shows several trucks brought to a standstill on the road.

בשעה זו פעילי תנועת צו 9 ובני משפחות חטופים חוסמים את משאיות הסיוע לחמאס סמוך למעבר כרם שלום.

"משאיות הסיוע נחסמות ע"י אזרחים אוהבי העם שבאו לכאן מכל חלקי הארץ ביום ה602 למלחמה בזמן ש58 חטופים נאנקים ולא מקבלים סיוע, זה הולך להגיע לחמאס" pic.twitter.com/FV5uZs2Qfm

— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) May 30, 2025

Hamas has received Israel's response to a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal and is thoroughly reviewing it, even though the response fails to meet any of the Palestinian "just and legitimate demands", group's official Basem Naim told news agency Reuters on Friday.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is set to launch a new mission to Gaza, with the vessel Madleen scheduled to depart from Catania, Sicily, on Sunday in an effort to challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Strip.

Named in 2014 after Gaza’s only known fisherwoman at the time, the Madleen will continue its journey despite repeated threats.

The coalition stated it was pressing ahead "because the world has waited too long to take bold action".

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham are expected to take part in the next leg of the mission.

In a statement, the group urged governments to guarantee safe passage for its ships and uphold international humanitarian law.

"And we call on all people of conscience: do not look away," it added.

Meet some of the panelists, volunteers and supporters joining the launch of ‘Madleen’ in Catania, Sicily about to sail to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza. ⛵️#AllEyesOnDeck #BreakTheSiege https://t.co/ZoCnr45S3I @RimaHas pic.twitter.com/IqAhOSHBv9

— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 29, 2025

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday discussed the ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza in a phone call with officials from Palestinian group Hamas' political bureau, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

The source added that Fidan also spoke by phone with Qatar's prime minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss developments in Gaza and Syria, without providing further details. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the 75-year-old premier "successfully underwent a routine colonoscopy" at a hospital in Jerusalem on Friday.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent a routine colonoscopy this morning at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem," a statement from his office said.

It comes after the United States said Thursday Israel had approved a new Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas, but the Palestinian group said it failed to satisfy its demands.

A 19-year-old civilian contractor for the Israeli Defence Ministry was killed by an explosive device on Thursday during military operations in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military.

David Libi was reportedly operating heavy engineering equipment in the Jabalia area when he was struck by a bomb, which Israeli forces claim had been planted by Hamas fighters.

According to Al Jazeera English, medical sources on the ground have confirmed this death toll to their reporting team.

Among the casualties are at least 10 people who were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia.

Al Jazeera English had earlier reported six deaths from this particular attack.

France could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, reiterating that Paris was committed to a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground," Macron said at a joint press conference in Singapore with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

"And so, if there is no response that meets the humanitarian situation in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will have to toughen our collective position," Macron said, adding that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.

"But I still hope that the government of Israel will change its stance and that we will finally have a humanitarian response".

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Friday it was time to use "full force" in Gaza, after Hamas said a new US-backed truce proposal failed to meet its demands.

"Mr Prime Minister, after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again -- there are no more excuses," Ben Gvir said on his Telegram channel.

"The confusion, the shuffling and the weakness must end. We have already missed too many opportunities. It is time to go in with full force, without blinking, to destroy, and kill Hamas to the last one."