Palestinian minister reports 29 starvation-related deaths among Gazan children, elderly

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The Israeli army told residents of the south Lebanon town of Toul to evacuate the area around a building that it said was used by Hezbollah.

"You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist (group) Hezbollah," said a military statement in Arabic, which was accompanied by a map showing a building and the 500-metre (0.3-mile) radius around it marked in red, and called on people "to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them".

The UN food agency said on Thursday that a handful of bakeries it supports in south and central Gaza have resumed bread production after trucks were finally able to collect cargo from the Kerem Shalom crossing point.

"We are in a race against time to prevent widespread starvation," said WFP Country Director Antoine Renard in a statement to journalists.

(Reuters)

The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies, and that its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of its capacity due to fuel shortages.

Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said.

Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: "It's a matter of time. It could be days.

"We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one third," he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations.

(Reuters)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday condemned a shooting in Washington that killed two Israeli embassy staff, saying he was "appalled" by the "violent act of antisemitism."

"I am devastated and appalled by the murder of two young Israeli embassy staff in Washington, D.C. This was a targeted attack against the Jewish community -- a violent act of antisemitism," Carney said on X.

"This hate is intolerable, and I condemn it in the strongest terms."

I am devastated and appalled by the murder of two young Israeli embassy staff in Washington, D.C.

This was a targeted attack against the Jewish community — a violent act of antisemitism. This hate is intolerable, and I condemn it in the strongest terms.

My prayers are with…

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 22, 2025

The United Arab Emirates, one of a handful of Arab countries with diplomatic ties to Israel, condemned on Thursday a shooting in Washington that killed two Israeli embassy staff, the foreign ministry said.

"The UAE strongly condemned the shooting incident that killed two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, expressing its utter denunciation of these criminal acts," said a ministry statement published by official news agency WAM.

It also expressed "solidarity with the families of the victims and with the Israeli people over this heinous attack".

France on Thursday dismissed claims by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that European governments were inciting hatred against his country.

"These are completely outrageous and completely unjustified remarks," foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said. "France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of anti-Semitism."

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that Gazans have yet to receive aid deliveries that have crossed over the border this week and said that sending so few trucks was an "invitation for killing" because of the risk of mobbing.

"I can prove that nobody has received (aid). No civilian has received anything yet. In fact, say most of these trucks are still in Karem Shalom at the border, inspected, but not into Gaza," Younis Al-Khatib, President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters.

"It's very hard to hide the rush or the looting that will happen," he added.

(Reuters)

Iran's top diplomat warned Thursday that his country would take "special measures in defence of our nuclear facilities" if Israel continues to threaten Tehran's atomic sites, raising the stakes further ahead of a new round of talks with the United States.

The comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered no specifics on what Tehran would do, but already, international inspectors have seen their access limited to Iran's program. That's even as Tehran enriches uranium to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

"I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defence of our nuclear facilities and materials," Araghchi wrote on the social platform X after apparently sending letters to United Nations officials.

"The nature, content, and extent of our actions will correspond and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international bodies in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations."

Threats from the rogue Israeli regime are nothing new. But the recent leak citing US officials as divulging Israeli plans for an unlawful attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities is alarming and warrants immediate and serious condemnation from the UN Security Council and the…

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 22, 2025

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes had killed at least 52 people since dawn Thursday across the territory, where Israel has ramped up its military offensive in recent days.

Agency official Mohammed Al-Mughayyir told AFP there had been "52 martyrs and dozens injured as a result of air strikes carried out by the occupation in various areas of the Gaza Strip since dawn today".

Irish-language rap band Kneecap said on Thursday that a charge of a terrorism offence against one of its members for displaying a flag of banned militant group Hezbollah represented an attempt to prosecute artists who speak out.

London's Metropolitan Police charged Liam O'Hanna, one of the three members of the Belfast-based band, on Wednesday, saying he displayed a flag in support of the Iran-backed group during a show in November.

In a statement on X, the band said the charge represented "political policing" and sought "to prosecute artists who dare speak out". The trio said O'Hanna displayed a flag that had been thrown on stage. They did not mention Hezbollah.

O'Hanna, 27, is due to appear in court on June 18.

Kneecap, who rap about Irish identity and support the republican cause of uniting Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, with the Republic of Ireland, faced backlash over pro-Palestinian messages projected during their set last month at the annual music festival Coachella in California.

"Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah," they said on X last month about two groups banned in Britain. "We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history."

The United States will bear legal responsibility in the event of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday, amidst reports that Israel may be preparing strikes on Iran.

The Palestinian health ministry said that more than 90 percent of medical stocks in the war-hit Gaza Strip are at zero, amid Israel's intensified bombing of the enclave. 

The Palestinian health minister said on Thursday that 29 children had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more were at risk.

"In the last couple of days we lost 29 children," Palestinian health minister, Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters, describing them as "starvation-related deaths".

Asked to react to earlier comments by the UN aid chief to the BBC that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: "The number 14,000 is very realistic may be even underestimating (the scale)."

(Reuters) 

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighbourhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.

The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was "operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organisations continue their activities and operations" there.

A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.

It said that one "projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted" by the air force.

It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.

Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, where AFP journalists reported loud booms overhead, as the Israeli military announced it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen Thursday for the second time in less than 12 hours.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army said in a statement just before noon (0900 GMT).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he had ordered stepped-up security measures at Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide after a gunman who shouted "free Palestine" shot dead two embassy staff outside a Jewish museum in Washington.

Netanyahu said he had issued instructions "to enhance security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and to increase protection for state representatives".

"We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel," he added.

International Criminal Court prosecutors have urged judges to reject a request by Israel to scrap arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister while the court reconsiders its jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank.

In a 10-page written submission posted on the ICC website late Wednesday, prosecutors argue there is "no basis to withdraw or vacate" the pending warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

The warrants were issued in November, when judges found there was "reason to believe" Netanyahu and Gallant used "starvation as a method of warfare" by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Israeli officials strongly deny the accusations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused European governments of incitement against his country on Thursday after the fatal shooting of two embassy staffers in Washington.

"There is a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder," Saar told a press conference. "This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organisations, especially from Europe."

The shooting that killed two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington was a direct result of "toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world" since the 7 October attacks, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday.

Beijing on Thursday said it "firmly opposes any acts endangering the safety" of diplomats, after Israeli troops fired what they called "warning shots" as foreign envoys visited the occupied West Bank.

"We demand the launch of a full investigation so that similar incidents do not happen again," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead late Wednesday outside a Jewish museum in Washington by an armed suspect who reportedly shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with US and Israeli leaders expressing outrage over the killings.

President Donald Trump condemned the attack in the heart of the US capital, saying, "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!"

"Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA," he added on social media.

Shots rang out on the sidewalk outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as the venue held a social event for young professionals and diplomatic staff.

The victims were a young couple who planned to get married, the Israeli ambassador said.

The UN on Wednesday had "dispatched" around 90 trucks carrying aid into Gaza, as international pressure intensified over Israel's renewed offensive and blockade of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

The first aid distribution in Gaza since early March came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a "temporary ceasefire", but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.

Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza", said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres.