Israeli strikes kill dozens as UNRWA warns Gaza crisis at its worst since October 2023

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The United Nations chief appointed a British human rights activist on Tuesday to carry out a strategic review of the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees to assess its impact under the "present political, financial, security and other constraints".

Israel has banned the agency, known as UNRWA, from operating on its territory, but its Palestinian staff have still been key to delivering aid and running medical clinics in Gaza, even though Israel has cut off all humanitarian deliveries since March 2.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who announced the review, said Ian Martin, a former head of Amnesty International, would also be looking at the "consequences and risks for Palestinian refugees" of UNRWA’s operations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran nuclear talks with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.

"This topic was touched on... in the context of mediation efforts by Oman," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, during a briefing at the Kremlin.

Russia has welcomed the surprise talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear programme, which is being mediated by Oman.

"Russia is ready to do everything that depends on it to contribute to a fruitful and active conclusion of these talks," Peskov said, repeating Russia's oft-stated position.

US President Donald Trump will visit the Middle East next month on a three-country tour, his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

"He will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 until May 16," Leavitt told a White House press briefing.

Expert level Iran-US talks that were supposed to take place on Wednesday will be moved to Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized two Tanzanian-flagged vessels allegedly carrying "smuggled fuel" in the Gulf, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

The vessels were reportedly carrying 1.5 million litres of smuggled diesel fuel.

(Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday about trade issues and Iran.

"The call went very well—We are on the same side of every issue," Trump wrote in a social media post. 

(Reuters)

Israel's security cabinet will convene to discuss ongoing ceasefire and captive negotiations, as well as the possibility of expanding the current war on Gaza, according to Israeli sources speaking with Channel 13, The Times of Israel reports.

The Times of Israel also reported that the ongoing Israeli campaign, designed to pressure Hamas into accepting a deal, is believed by the government to be going well, with an Israeli official telling the publication that "I believe the combined pressure - military, political, and logistical - is showing its effects." 

The United States issued new sanctions on Tuesday targeting Iranian liquefied petroleum gas magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network, the Treasury Department said, amid ongoing talks with Tehran on its nuclear program.

Emamjomeh's network is responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets, Treasury said in a statement.

Both products are a major source of revenue for Iran, helping to fund its nuclear and advanced conventional weapons programs, it said, as well as regional proxy groups including Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and the Palestinian Hamas group.

"Emamjomeh and his network sought to export thousands of shipments of LPG - including from the United States - to evade US sanctions and generate revenue for Iran," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.

(Reuters)

Hamas have warned that Israel's blockade of Gaza, which is in its 50th day, saying that the enclave is being pushed towards famine as a result.

The group called on the international community to pressure Israel to allow aid into the territory, and for countries in the region to "break the siege" of Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has announced that 26 Palestinians have been killed and 60 have been wounded in renewed Israeli strikes across the enclave over the past 24 hours, with the ministry adding that at least 51,266 people have been killed and 116,991 wounded since October 2023.

Palestinian group Islamic Jihad's armed wing said Tuesday that Syria's new authorities had detained two of the group's officials and called for their release.

A statement from the Al-Quds Brigades said Islamic Jihad's Syria official Khaled Khaled and organising committee member Yasser al-Zafri had been detained in Syria for five days "without explanation".

The statement from the Iran-backed group expressed hope "that our brothers in the Syrian government" would release the pair, noting their detention comes as the group is "fighting the Zionist enemy" in the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli drone strike south of the Lebanese capital killed a top commander from Jama'a Islamiya on Tuesday, the group said, in an attack later confirmed by Israel.

The Israeli military announced that it had killed Hussein Atawi, a "key figure in the Jama'a Islamiya with ties to Hamas," the Israeli army said on Tuesday.

According to the army, Atawi was involved in planning and advancing "terrorist" activities from Lebanon into Israeli territory, targeting army soldiers on the northern border.

(Reuters)

Netanyahu is set to convene a security cabinet meeting at 8pm local time with Iran's nuclear programme and US-Iran talks set to be discussed, according to Israeli sources speaking to The Times of Israel.

Lebanon's health ministry said a new Israeli strike on Tuesday killed one person, hours after a deadly raid elsewhere in the country despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The strike launched by the Israeli enemy" in south Lebanon's Tyre district "killed one person", the ministry statement said.

An Israeli drone strike south of the Lebanese capital killed a top commander from militant group Jama'a Islamiya, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The strike on Tuesday morning killed Hussein Atawi, a leading commander in the armed branch of the Sunni Islamist Jama'a Islamiya known as the Fajr Forces, as he was driving from his home to his office in Beirut, the statement said.

The chief of the UN's agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini has said that "Gaza has become a land of desperation" amid Israel's renewed bombardment and offensive on the enclave.

"It's been 50 days of siege on Gaza imposed by the Israeli authorities" he said, adding "Hunger is spreading [and] deepening, deliberate [and] manmade."

"The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must continue."

How much longer until hollow words of condemnation will translate into action to lift the siege, resume a ceasefire & save whatever is left of humanity?

It’s been 5️⃣0️⃣ days of siege on #Gaza imposed by the Israeli authorities.

Hunger is spreading & deepening, deliberate &…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) April 22, 2025

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday that a delegation from the Palestinian militant group had departed for Cairo to discuss "new ideas" for achieving a ceasefire with Israel.

"The delegation will meet with Egyptian officials to discuss new ideas aimed at reaching a ceasefire," the official said, following Hamas's rejection of Israel's most recent offer last week.

A military leader of Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese Islamist group allied with Palestinian Hamas, was killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike south of Beirut, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

According to the Lebanese Civil Defense, "an Israeli drone targeted a car" near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man's body from the vehicle.

Palestinian Christians in Gaza said they were "heartbroken" on Monday as they mourned the death of Pope Francis, recalling his nightly phone calls to their besieged community during Israel's brutal ongoing war, and describing him as a "saint" whose prayers offered hope and comfort amid suffering.

Since Israel launched its military campaign on Gaza in October 2023, Pope Francis kept close contact with the enclave's small Christian population, calling every night and speaking to priests and parishioners alike.

"We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong," George Antone, 44, told Reuters. Antone leads the emergency committee at Holy Family Church in Gaza City. "He used to tell each one: I am with you, don't be afraid."

Antone said Francis first called the church just hours after the war began and made it a routine to reach out every evening.

"We are heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis," he said, "but we know he is leaving behind a Church that cares for us and knows us by name - every single one of us."

An Israeli delegation visited Cairo for talks with an Egyptian General Intelligence mediation team on a recent Hamas proposal for a comprehensive deal to end the Gaza war.

The New Arab's Arabic language edition, Al-Araby al-Jadeed, quoted a well-informed Egyptian source as saying that the Israeli delegation had been more concerned with the names of Israeli captives to be released.

The source noted that "the delegation's visit to Cairo might have come under pressures from Washington regarding the hostages who hold the US citizenship or their relatives."

The source expected a detente over the coming days, as "the US pressures to free the captives coincide with pressures in the field for the Israeli army following attempts to enter residential areas" in Gaza.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have reported receiving text messages inviting them to "explore the possibility of leaving the Gaza Strip" through Ramon airport in southern Israel, according to Haaretz.

One recipient was reportedly offered an appointment "between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM on the Netzarim highway” and instructed to contact someone identified as “Captain Jalal".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed support for former US President Donald Trump's plan to depopulate and rebuild Gaza, while Israel's defence minister has ordered the creation of a new body to facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians.

Houthi Foreign Minister Jamal Amer has sharply condemned ongoing US air raids on Yemen, claiming nearly 1,000 strikes have been carried out, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including women and children, and the destruction of dozens of civilian sites.

Amer called on the United Nations, regional bodies, and international officials to denounce what he described as "blatant US aggression" and to launch an independent international investigation into the attacks.

According to Al-Masirah, US forces conducted an overnight airstrike in Marib province, following a wave of earlier raids on Marib, Hudaydah, and Sanaa provinces.

Amer further accused the US of deliberately targeting medical personnel, adding that the strikes had also hit ports, airports, farms, healthcare centres, water reservoirs, and cultural heritage sites.