Israeli cabinet approves plan to 'conquer' Gaza as dozens of Palestinians die in fresh strikes

We're closing this live blog now.

Here's a recap of today's key developments:

• Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand its offensive in Gaza and take control of aid delivery. Sources say the government wants to take full control of the Palestinian territory and occupy it indefinitely. The plans were condemned by the UN and aid agencies.
• At least 51 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far today by Israeli forces. The number of Palestinians killed in the 19-month war has now surpassed 52,500.
• The International Court of Justice threw out Sudan's genocide case against the UAE, saying that it didn't have jurisdiction over the matter.

You can continue to follow our live coverage of developments in Gaza and the rest of region from 0900am GMT tomorrow.

Six civilians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle in central Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Israeli forces reportedly struck a civilian vehicle west of the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

At least 51 Palestinians have been killed so far today, according to medical sources.

At least 51 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since dawn on Monday, according to the latest figures reported by Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israel will "allow a window" for a prisoner release deal during a visit by US President Donald Trump to the Middle East before a planned expansion of its Gaza offensive, a senior security official said Monday.

"The deployment of forces prior to the start of the manoeuver will allow a window of opportunity until the end of the US president's visit to the region to carry out a hostage deal," the Israeli official said.

Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from 13-15 May.

(AFP)

At least 41 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Monday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, citing medical sources.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to drag the United States into "disaster" in the Middle East, warning against any attempt to attack Iran.

"Netanyahu is directly MEDDLING within the US Government to DRAG it into another DISASTER in our region," Araghchi said on X, warning against "ANY mistake against Iran".

(AFP)

LETHAL support for Netanyahu's Genocide in Gaza and waging WAR on behalf of Netanyahu in Yemen have achieved NOTHING for the American people.

Netanyahu is attempting to brazenly DICTATE what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran. The world has also learned… pic.twitter.com/E35C611O9q

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 5, 2025

The top United Nations court on Monday threw out Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates over alleged complicity in genocide during the brutal Sudanese civil war.

Sudan had taken the UAE to the International Court of Justice, saying its alleged support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was contributing to a genocide - accusations denied by the Emiratis.

But the ICJ said it "manifestly lacked" jurisdiction to rule on the case and threw out the case.

(AFP)

A senior Israeli defence official said on Monday there was a "window of opportunity" for a hostage deal in Gaza during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the region next week but that otherwise Israel would begin its new operation in the enclave.

"If there is no hostage deal, Operation 'Gideon Chariots' will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all its goals are achieved," he said, following a decision by the security cabinet to approve an expanded operation.

An Israeli plan to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid to Gaza at hubs controlled by the military is "fundamentally against humanitarian principles", the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told AFP on Monday.

"We cannot and will not do something which is fundamentally against humanitarian principles," Jan Egeland told AFP, noting that "the United Nations agencies, all other international humanitarian groups and NGOs have said no to be part of this idea coming from the Israeli cabinet and from the Israeli military."

Israel will not withdraw from Gaza even if Hamas agrees to release the remaining prisoners, Israel's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told an Israeli journalist today.

"We are going to finally occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word 'occupation,'" Smotrich is quoted as saying by Israeli media.

"From the moment ground manoeuvres begin, there will be no withdrawal from the territories we’ve captured, not even in exchange for hostages," he said.

The UN and international agencies have ruled out participating in the Israeli government's plan to control aid distribution in Gaza, calling it a "pressure tactic" that "contravenes humanitarian principles".

In a statement on Sunday, the Humanitarian Country Team said that the proposal will mean that "large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable people, will continue to go without supplies".

The plan, approved by the Israeli cabinet on Sunday, would see small amounts of aid enter Gaza under the supervision of the Israeli military, which would have control over who receives it and where it is distributed.

"[The plan] contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy," the organisation said in the statement.

"It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement."

The Humanitarian Country Team is an organisation that coordinates relief responses among different agencies, and includes representatives from the UN, international NGOs, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn on Monday has risen to 28, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting, citing medical sources on the ground.

Israel has killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours and injured 199 others, the local health ministry said this morning.

Hospitals have received 32 bodies over the past 24 hours, nine of which were recovered from the rubble, it said.

The death toll from the 19-month war has climbed to 52,567, according to the ministry's latest tally.

Hamas on Monday accused Israel of using aid for "political blackmail" after ministers approved a controversial plan that would grant the Israeli military control over aid delivery in Gaza.

The plan, approved by the cabinet on Sunday night, would see a small number of trucks enter the strip every day and grant the Israeli military oversight over who receives aid and where it is distributed.

"We reject the use of aid as a tool of political blackmail and support the UN's stance against any arrangements that violate humanitarian principles," Hamas said in a statement, adding Israel's "continued obstruction of aid entry" since March 2 made it "fully responsible" for the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.

The UN and relief agencies have condemned the proposal, which they would enable Israel to use aid to achieve military objectives and facilitate the further displacement of Palestinian civilians.

Israel has imposed a suffocating blockade on the Gaza Strip for more than nine weeks, sparking outcry among aid organisations and the UN who say it is using starvation as a weapon of war.

Sixteen people were wounded in a new round of US airstrikes in Yemen, Houthi media reported on Monday, a day after the rebel group struck Israel's main airport.

Saba news agency said "American aggression" was responsible for several strikes that took place in the capital, Sanaa.

This came after the Houthis claimed responsibility for Sunday's missile strike on Ben Gurion International Airport, which disrupted international flights and wounded six people.

Read more here.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened Iran and Yemen's Houthis after the rebels targeted Ben Gurion Airport, forcing airlines to suspend flights and injuring six people.

Israel will respond to Iran at "a time and place of our choosing" and "will act in the future" against the Yemeni rebel group, he said on social media.

Iran has denied involvement in the attack, saying that it was an "independent decision taken in solidarity" with the Palestinians.

Read more here.

The top United Nations court will on Monday rule in Sudan's case against the United Arab Emirates, which Khartoum accuses of complicity in genocide due to alleged support for rebel forces.

Sudan has dragged the UAE before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, arguing it is supplying weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling the Sudanese army since 2023.

The UAE denies supporting the rebels and has dismissed Sudan's case as "political theatre" distracting from efforts to end a war that has killed tens of thousands.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

(AFP)

The Netanyahu government is "sacrificing" the remaining Israeli prisoners in Gaza by expanding its military attack on the Palestinian territory, an Israeli campaign group representing the captives' families said on Monday.

"The plan approved by the cabinet deserves to be called the 'Smotrich-Netanyahu Plan' for sacrificing the hostages," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said after Israeli ministers approved plans to deepen its offensive on Gaza.

The statement was in reference to the country's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both in recent days admitted that rescuing the captives is secondary to taking over the Gaza Strip

At least 20 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn, Palestinian news agency WAFA reports, citing medical sources.

Airstrikes northwest of Gaza City killed 19 and wounded 15 others, while another was killed in a drone strike in Jabalia refugee camp.

The Israeli cabinet has also approved a controversial plan to allow small amounts of aid into Gaza "if necessary" amid a suffocating nine-week blockade.

The plan would see a small number of trucks enter the strip every day and grant the Israeli military oversight over who receives aid and where it is distributed.

The UN and humanitarian agencies have condemned the proposal, saying that it would enable Israel to weaponise aid delivery for military objectives and facilitate the further displacement of Palestinian civilians.

The plan received pushback by the most extreme members of the cabinet, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who called for the military to intensify the starvation of Gaza and destroy what remains of its food stockpiles.

Israeli ministers approved plans to expand its devastating war on Gaza at a meeting on Sunday night.

One official being quoted in Israeli media said that the plan involves the "conquering of Gaza and holding the territories".

The military last week called up tens of thousands of reservists as it prepares to invade new parts of the territory.

More than two-thirds of Gaza is already either under displacement orders or has been incorporated into Israel's so-called 'security zones'.