At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza so far on Friday, the territory’s civil defence agency has said, as Israel intensifies its military offensive despite aid agencies warning that the Palestinian population is plunging deeper into malnutrition and famine.

Mohammed al-Mughayyir, an official with the Hamas-run Gaza civil defence agency, told Agence France-Presse that the attacks, which wounded dozens of people, mainly targeted the centre and south of the territory, bringing the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to nearly 70 in less than 48 hours, after 52 people were killed on Thursday.

The Israeli army said that over the past day its forces had attacked “military compounds, weapons storage facilities and sniper posts” in Gaza. “In addition, the [air force] struck over 75 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” it said.

UN agencies and the Palestinian Red Crescent are warning of famine after more than three months of an Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid.

“In the last couple of days we lost 29 children,” the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority health minister, Majed Abu Ramadan, told reporters, describing them as “starvation-related deaths”. He later clarified that the total included elderly people as well as children.

The Palestinian Authority has partial control over the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Food aid is expected to start reaching Palestinians in Gaza this week after Israel began allowing limited goods through after nearly 11 weeks in the face of global pressure to lift the blockade.

A total of 107 aid trucks belonging to the UN and other aid groups carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals were transferred on Thursday into the strip, the Israeli military said on Friday.

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza is far short of what is required to ease the crisis. Photos and videos of emaciated Palestinian children have caused outrage around the world, with Israel accused of violating humanitarian law by starving civilians.

Earlier this month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that nearly 71,000 children under the age of five were expected to be “acutely malnourished”, with 14,100 cases expected to be severe, over the next 11 months.

Israel imposed the blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters – a charge the group denies. This montha global hunger monitor said that half a million people in the Gaza Strip faced starvation.

The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year.

“We are witnessing, in real time, the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives in Gaza,” said the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). ‘‘The obstruction of humanitarian aid is a direct violation of UN security council resolution 2720, which calls for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians.’’

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed that the entire Gaza Strip would be under Israeli security control by the end of the war, said his plans for private US companies to deliver aid would prevent a humanitarian crisis, despite aid agencies and many governments saying such a crisis already exists.

Meanwhile, in Israel, Netanyahu’s decision to tap the Israel Defense Forces’ Maj Gen David Zini to lead the domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet – after months of legal and political wrangling over his attempt to sack Ronen Bar from the role – has drawn threats of a legal challenge.

Netanyahu said on Friday his pick for the next domestic intelligence chief should be appointed “as soon as possible”.

Bar, who was sacked by Netanyahu in March because of an “ongoing lack of trust”, had been investigating the prime minister’s close aides for alleged breaches of national security, including claims of leaking classified documents to foreign media and allegedly taking money from Qatar, which is known to have given significant financial aid to Hamas.

On Wednesday Israel’s supreme court ruled as unlawful the government’s decision in March to fire Bar, a move that had triggered mass protests in the country.

Netanyahu believes “it is imperative to name a permanent head of the Shin Bet as soon as possible”, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. “It is a security requirement of the highest order, and any delay infringes on the security of the state as well as that of our soldiers.”

The statement also noted the investigation into alleged Qatari influence involving advisers to the prime minister, which the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, has suggested created a conflict of interest in Netanyahu’s attempt to fire Bar. Netanyahu’s office said that “to avoid any suspicion linked to the inquiries concerning Qatar, the prime minister clarifies that the appointed head of the Shin Bet will not be involved at all in these investigations”.

Bar has suggested that his ouster was linked to investigations into Hamas’s deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel “and other serious matters”.

UN says 90 lorry loads of aid now in Gaza after three-day delay at crossing

16 hours ago Share Save David Gritten BBC News Share Save

The BBC’s Wyre Davies sees urgently needed Gaza aid going through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing

More than 90 lorry loads of humanitarian aid have been collected by UN teams inside the Gaza Strip, three days after Israel eased an 11-week-long blockade. The aid, which included flour, baby food and medical equipment, was picked up from the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday night and taken to warehouses for distribution. Several bakeries began producing bread with the flour on Thursday. The UN said the delays were due to a lack of security along the single access route approved by Israel’s military. Israeli authorities said they allowed an additional 100 lorry loads through Kerem Shalom on Wednesday. However, the UN said it was “nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza”.

About 500 lorries entered the territory on average every day before the war, the UN has said. Humanitarian organisations have warned of acute levels of hunger among the 2.1 million population, amid significant shortages of basic foods and skyrocketing prices. Palestinian Authority Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan, who is based in the occupied West Bank, told reporters on Thursday that 29 children and elderly people had died from “starvation-related” causes in the last couple of days, according to Reuters news agency. Half a million people face starvation in the coming months, an assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has said. A UN World Food Programme (WFP) official said the UN and its partners had over 140,000 tonnes of food – about 6,000 lorry loads and enough to feed the entire population for two months – in position at aid corridors and ready to be brought into Gaza at scale. Israel stopped all deliveries of aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel has insisted that there has been no shortage of aid and has accused Hamas of stealing supplies to give to its fighters or sell to raise money – an allegation the group denied. The UN also denied that aid had been diverted. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the claim on Thursday, saying in a statement: “I say to President Macron, Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Starmer: When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you’re on the wrong side of justice.” Netanyahu said the leaders of France, Canada and the UK had “bought into Hamas’s propaganda that says Israel is starving Palestinian children”. He reiterated that Israel and the US would set up their own aid delivery to be done through American companies in Gaza, bypassing the UN and other aid suppliers. Netanyahu had previously said he was allowing in a limited amount of food so that the Israeli military could continue its newly expanded ground offensive and take full control of the Palestinian territory. He said on Thursday that construction of the first distribution zones in the scheme would be completed “in the coming days”. The UN and other agencies have said they will not co-operate with US-Israeli plan, saying it contradicts fundamental humanitarian principles and appears to “weaponise aid”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had brought in one lorry load of medical supplies for the Red Cross field hospital in the southern city of Rafah, but that more was needed. “A trickle of trucks is woefully inadequate. Only the rapid, unimpeded, and sustained flow of aid can begin to address the full scope of needs on the ground,” it said. Mandy Blackman, the nurse in charge of running the charity UK-Med’s field hospital in the southern al-Mawasi area, described the situation in Gaza as “heart-breaking”, with food in perilously short supply. She told the BBC that patients arriving at the hospital were “visibly thinner” than during her previous two stints there, and that staff were only able to offer them one meal a day, consisting of rice with some pulses. “People are having to relocate constantly and are not able to feed their children. No-one knows what’s going to happen the next day. There’s constant suffering and constant anxiety,” she said.

Reuters Palestinian workers were pictured unloading sacks of flour at a bakery in the southern city of Khan Younis overnight

Before the aid entered Gaza, senior WFP official Antoine Renard had told the BBC that the problems with collecting it arose because the Israeli military wanted lorries to move along a route which aid agencies considered to be dangerous. The route, he said, could leave them at risk of attack by desperately hungry civilians and armed criminal gangs. “At market prices in Gaza right now, each truck full of flour is worth around $400,000 (£298,000),” Mr Renard explained. He added that the solution would be “hundreds of trucks daily” travelling along a safe route to warehouses, noting “the less we provide, the greater the risk and more anxiety created” among the population. Mr Renard said aid agencies on the Gaza side did not employ armed guards to accompany their cargoes because it was considered too dangerous, so a lengthy ceasefire and an extension of the current five-day window for the transfer of food was urgently needed. According to Mr Renard, bringing in at least 100 aid lorries daily would only meet the “very minimum” of the population’s food needs.

Reuters The UN said the aid was “nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza”

Twenty-nine children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza in the last two days, the Palestinian Authority health minister has said , as Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people since dawn amid a renewed military offensive across the territory.

The warning came as food aid is expected to start reaching Palestinians in Gaza this week after Israel began allowing limited goods through after nearly three months after global pressure to lift the blockade and halt a newly expanded offensive.

Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, said on Thursday about 90 trucks, out of almost 200, carrying medicine, wheat flour and nutrition supplies, had entered Gaza. Laerke said aid groups were facing significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting and coordination issues with Israeli authorities.

However, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that Palestinians in Gaza had yet to receive aid deliveries that had crossed over the border and that sending so few trucks was an “invitation for killing” because of the risk of mobbing.

View image in fullscreen Trucks with humanitarian aid for Gaza wait at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing on 22 May. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA

“I can prove that nobody has received [aid]. No civilian has received anything yet. In fact, say most of these trucks are still in Kerem Shalom at the border, inspected, but not into Gaza,” Younis al-Khatib, the 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.

Malnutrition is spreading in Gaza, medics and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory have warned for months, with aid distribution being hindered by displacement, bakeries operated by the UN World Food Programme shut due to a lack of cooking gas, and soaring prices for the limited amount of food available in shops and markets.

“In the last couple of days we lost 29 children,” the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority health minister, Majed Abu Ramadan, told reporters, describing them as “starvation-related deaths”. He later clarified that the total included elderly people as well as children.

1:24 Aid trucks trickle into Gaza while airstrikes continue – video report

The Palestinian Authority has partial control over the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Earlier this month, the IPC estimated that nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be “acutely malnourished”, with 14,100 cases expected to be severe over the next 11 months.

Israel imposed the blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters – a charge the group denies. Earlier this month, a global hunger monitor said that half a million people in the Gaza Strip face starvation.

Abu Ramadan, who was mayor of Gaza City from 2005 to 2008, said that only seven or eight hospitals out of Gaza’s 36 were partially functioning, and that more than 90% of medical stocks were now at zero due to the blockade.

“My information is that very few shipments went inside Gaza – 90 to 100 truckloads and in the south and mid zones.” Asked if there were any medical supplies among them, he said: “As far as I know … it’s only flour for bakeries.”

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis.

Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, described the situation as “unbearable”.

Hossam Abu Aida, 38, said: “I am tormented for my children.” He told AFP: “For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment.”

AFP footage showed bags of recently delivered flour at a bakery in the central city of Deir el-Balah, where workers and a host of machines began kneading, shaping, baking and packaging stack after stack of pita bread.

The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year.

Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel does not stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade, but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving.

New data shared with the Guardian by the US-based Project Hope, which focuses on healthcare, one of the few humanitarian organisations still operating health clinics in Gaza, ‘‘found that malnutrition among children, pregnant and lactating women has surged amid the almost three-month aid blockade, with some clinics reporting up to 42% of pregnant women and 34% of lactating mothers being diagnosed as malnourished”.

“Children are also increasingly affected,” according to a statement from Hope. “Our teams on the ground report that more and more families are relying on our clinics for nutritional supplements and that children visiting Project Hope clinics have gone for weeks only consuming high-energy biscuits and ready-to-use therapeutic food – items given to malnourished patients for short-term survival needs, rather than sustained nourishment.”

Ghadeer, a nurse with Project Hope in Gaza, said: “The number of malnutrition cases has skyrocketed. Two months ago, malnutrition cases did not exceed 50 cases per day. Now, we’re seeing about 200 cases per day. Many of the children we see haven’t eaten real food in weeks – only the nutritional biscuits we distribute. They’re losing weight, becoming withdrawn, and getting sick more easily. We are doing everything we can, but we’re seeing the consequences of extreme hunger in an entire generation. Without more food and aid coming in, I fear for their future.”

Meanwhile, plumes of smoke rose Thursday over the northern Gaza Strip where Israel’s military urged civilians to evacuate, as rescuers said Israeli strikes across the territory killed more than 50 people.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said there had been “52 martyrs and dozens injured as a result of airstrikes carried out by the occupation” across the territory.

The intensified Israeli offensive has drawn criticism, with EU foreign ministers agreeing on Tuesday to review the bloc’s cooperation accord with Israel.

From 19h ago 18.55 BST Starmer, Macron and Carney ‘on the wrong side of humanity,’ says Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a blistering attack on Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, saying the leaders of the UK, France and Canada are on the wrong side of justice. You’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history.” He posted the statement on a video you can see here on X addressing the murder of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC. It follows developments earlier this week when Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues. More to follow… Share

18h ago 20.26 BST Summary of the day so far It’s nearly 10.30pm in Tel Aviv and Gaza. Here’s a recap of the latest developments: Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack on the leaders of the UK, France and Canada for being “on the wrong side of humanity”. The statement by the Israeli leader came after two Israeli embassy staff members were killed at the Jewish museum in Washington DC, and days after Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues.

Donald Trump is “saddened and outraged” by the fatal shooting of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC on Wednesday night, the White House said. The two victims have been identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim . US federal agents descended early on Thursday on a Chicago apartment believed to be the home of the alleged gunman, identified as Elias Rodriguez. Flags at Israeli diplomatic missions around the world were lowered to half mast.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place. France’s foreign ministry rejected the comments, calling them “unjustified” and “outrageous”.

In the last two days, 29 children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority health minister, as Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people since dawn amid a renewed military offensive across the territory. In addition, Unicef said more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year.

Flour and other aid starting reaching Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday after Israel began allowing limited goods through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week blockade. The UN food agency said 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. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Palestinians in Gaza had yet to receive aid deliveries that had crossed over the border and that sending so few trucks was an “invitation for killing” because of the risk of mobbing.

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 Israeli army said in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organisations continue their activities and operations in the mentioned regions”.

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

Ireland’s tánaiste Simon Harris accused the Israeli government of “genocidal activity” in Gaza. Harris said it was “clear” that Israel wants to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as part of what he said was “a consistent pattern of war crimes”, adding that the world had “not done enough” to put pressure on Israel to change course.

Netanyahu announced the appointment Maj Gen David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, despite Israel’s attorney general saying on Wednesday that Netanyahu was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief, following a supreme court ruling that the government’s decision to fire former head Ronen Bar was “unlawful”.

A Palestinian Red Crescent rescue worker who survived the killing of 15 paramedics in southern Gaza in March was spared because he spoke to Israeli soldiers in Hebrew , the head of the organisation said. Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic who was freed from Israeli detention on 29 April, pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel, he said.

Iran said that it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites in remarks that set a fraught backdrop for the fifth and probably most important round of talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Share

18h ago 20.02 BST Netanyahu says Maj Gen David Zini has been named next head of Shin Bet Benjamin Netanyahu announced he has appointed Maj Gen David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency. The announcement comes a day after Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav Miara, said Netanyahu was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief, following a supreme court ruling that the government’s decision to fire former head Ronen Bar was “unlawful”. Zini currently serves as the head of the Israel Defense Forces training command and general staff corps, according to the Times of Israel. Share Updated at 20.08 BST

18h ago 19.39 BST A Palestinian Red Crescent rescue worker who survived the killing of 15 paramedics in southern Gaza in March was spared because he spoke to Israeli soldiers in Hebrew, the head of the organisation said. Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic, went missing during the 23 March shootings that drew international condemnation. The bodies of 15 emergency aid workers were uncovered in a mass grave by Red Crescent and UN officials who accused Israeli forces of killing them. Al-Nassasrah was freed from Israeli detention on 29 April; one other paramedic survived. Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters on Thursday that Al-Nassasrah was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel. What does Assad say in Hebrew? ‘Don’t shoot. I am Israeli.’ And the soldier got a bit confused. That confusion … made him survive. “Assad will be a witness that can put all the Israeli stories in shambles,” he added. Al-Khatib said the organisation was working with lawyers and considering formal submissions to international courts and to the UN security council. He said: We think the international community is responsible to provide justice to those killed. We don’t train our people to go and die. Share

19h ago 19.21 BST Here’s more on Benjamin Netanyahu’s video statement, in which he accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of being “on the wrong side of history”. Last night in Washington, something horrific happened. A brutal terrorist shot in cold blood a young, beautiful couple, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. The Israeli prime minister said the “terrorist who cruelly gunned them down” did so because “he wanted to kill Jews”. Netanyahu called out French president Emmanuel Macron and the UK and Canadian prime ministers, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney, for demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and threatening Israel with sanctions. These three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power. They want Israel to stand down and accept that Hamas’s army of mass murderers will survive, rebuild. Addressing the three leaders directly, Netanyahu said: You’re on the wrong side of justice, you’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history. Share

19h ago 18.55 BST Starmer, Macron and Carney ‘on the wrong side of humanity,’ says Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a blistering attack on Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, saying the leaders of the UK, France and Canada are on the wrong side of justice. You’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history.” He posted the statement on a video you can see here on X addressing the murder of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC. It follows developments earlier this week when Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues. More to follow… Share

19h ago 18.44 BST Trump ‘saddened and outraged’ by shooting of Israeli embassy staffers The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has told the media that Donald Trump is “saddened and outraged” by the fatal shooting of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC last night. She adds: “The department of justice will be prosecuting the perpetrator of this to the full extent of the law.” Leavitt confirms that Trump spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today. She says Trump believes things are moving in the right direction, and the two leaders talked about a potential deal with Iran. Earlier Reuters reported that US special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Rome on Friday for a new round of talks with an Iranian delegation over Tehran’s nuclear program. It will be the fifth such round of talks. The source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Witkoff will be joined by a top state department official, Michael Anton. “Discussions are expected to be both direct and indirect, as in previous rounds,” the source said. Share

19h ago 18.41 BST Benjamin Netanyahu said construction of the first humanitarian aid distribution zones in Gaza would be complete in the coming days, Reuters reported. It comes after Israel allowed 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment into the enclave on Wednesday. “Ultimately, we intend to have large safe zones in the south of Gaza. The Palestinian population will move there for their own safety, while we conduct combat in other zones,” Netanyahu added in a video statement released by his office on Thursday. However, Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that people in Gaza have yet to receive aid deliveries that have crossed over the border and that sending so few trucks was an “invitation for killing” because of the risk of mobbing. Twenty-nine children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza in the last two days, the Palestinian Authority health minister has said. You can read our report here: Children and elderly are dying from starvation in Gaza, says health minister Read more Share

20h ago 18.19 BST Iran ‘to hold US responsible for any attacks by Israel on its nuclear sites’ Patrick Wintour Iran has said that it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites in remarks that set a fraught backdrop for the fifth and probably most important round of talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, issued the warning on Thursday after reports appeared in the America media claiming US intelligence understood Israel was planning an attack on Iranian nuclear sites – with or without American support – if the talks broke down. The report may be accurate or alternatively an attempt by the US to strengthen its negotiating hand before the indirect talks in Rome, which are being mediated by Oman. Israel has repeatedly said it will attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while Donald Trump has said the US will do so if the talks break down. Araghchi said in a letter to the United Nations: “Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime.” He said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material from any attacks or sabotage. Araghchi said the UN nuclear inspectorate, the IAEA, would only be subsequently informed of such steps. You can read the full piece here Iran would view US as ‘participant’ in any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites Read more Share

20h ago 18.13 BST Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Donald Trump on Thursday and they discussed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, a statement from the Israeli PM’s office said.

The two leaders also discussed the war in Gaza, and Trump expressed his support for Netanyahu’s goals which include the release of all hostages, according to the statement. Share

20h ago 18.02 BST The Israeli army has warned residents in the southern Lebanese town of Toul to evacuate the area around a building it said was used by Hezbollah militants. The “urgent warning” on Thursday was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-metre radius around it marked in red, Agence France-Presse reported. “You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist (group) Hezbollah,” the statement said in Arabic, urging people “to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them”. Israel has kept up its air strikes in neighbouring Lebanon despite a November truce aimed at halting more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included two months of full-blown war. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of it. Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic”. The Lebanese army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure. Share

21h ago 17.38 BST Ayman Odeh, a member of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, was forcefully removed from the podium in the Israeli parliament as he criticised Israel’s war on Gaza and the mounting death toll. 1:07 Israeli opposition MP forcefully removed from podium after condemning Gaza war – video Share

21h ago 17.25 BST 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. View image in fullscreen Palestinians reach out for bread being distributed through a bakery window in Nusseirat refugee camp after limited flour supplies entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Share

21h ago 17.00 BST Smoke rises to the sky after an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. View image in fullscreen Smoke rises to the sky after an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, 22 May 2025. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP Share

22h ago 16.29 BST The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of 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. Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza, Reuters reported. 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. The PRCS is part of the world’s largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Share

22h ago 15.51 BST France rejects Israeli comments accusing some European officials of antisemitic incitement, foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a weekly news conference, adding these comments were “unjustified” and outrageous”. “France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn always and without ambiguity all antisemitic acts,” he said. Share

23h ago 15.31 BST Faisal Ali Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he has no interest in running again to be the country’s president, dispelling fears he would seek a third term under the current presidential system which would see he tenure as the Turkey’s leader enter its third decade. Erdoğan was speaking about the need for a new constitution in Turkey and called on opposition parties to participate during a flight to Hungary, according to local media. The last time Turkey’s constitution was changed from a ceremonial to executive presidency in 2017 Erdoğan said it re-set the clock on his terms. He had served as president since 2014 and was prime minister before that from 2003. His current term ends in 2028. Erdoğan told reporters he had “no concern about being re-elected or running for office again” but wanted a new constitution “for our country”. He added: “Our concern is how we can increase the reputation of our country with the steps we will take.” The statement comes as his most popular challenger, Ekrem Imamoglu, the Istanbul mayor, remains behind bars in pre-trial detention on corruption charges. The move, which the opposition CHP party says was politically motivated, triggered protests across the country for the last month. Share Updated at 16.44 BST

From 1h ago 13.16 BST Aid coming into Gaza ‘too little, too late, too slow’ – German government spokesperson The German government spokesperson Sebastian Hille has spoken about the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into the Strip after easing its devastating aid blockade that brought many Palestinians in Gaza to the brink of famine. Hille said the aid Israel is now allowing into the Strip is “too little, too late and too slow” (the Israeli military said earlier today that 107 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday; 500 trucks were entering on average every day before the war). “Now it’s a matter of increasing it significantly … and ensuring that these aid supplies reach the people so that the suffering in the Gaza Strip comes to an end,” he was quoted by BBC News as having said. Share Updated at 13.17 BST

7m ago 14.18 BST Unicef has said more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and it is estimated that tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year. “We are witnessing, in real time, the creation of conditions for the eradication of Palestinian lives in Gaza,” said the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “The obstruction of humanitarian aid is a direct violation of UN security council resolution 2720, which calls for the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians.’’ Share

33m ago 13.51 BST In a post on X, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Israel’s assault on Gaza is pushing the health system there “to collapse”. It cited these figures: At least 94% of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed.

Only 19 of 36 hospitals remain functional, although only partly.

Four major hospitals have closed in the last week due to attacks, evacuation orders and increasing bombardments.

North Gaza has been stripped of nearly all healthcare. The few remaining hospitals in the south are overwhelmed and are at imminent risk of shutting down. Share Updated at 13.54 BST

1h ago 13.21 BST At least 23 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight, Agence France-Presse reports. Ten people were killed by the airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals, where the bodies were brought. Share Updated at 13.53 BST

1h ago 13.16 BST Aid coming into Gaza ‘too little, too late, too slow’ – German government spokesperson The German government spokesperson Sebastian Hille has spoken about the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into the Strip after easing its devastating aid blockade that brought many Palestinians in Gaza to the brink of famine. Hille said the aid Israel is now allowing into the Strip is “too little, too late and too slow” (the Israeli military said earlier today that 107 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday; 500 trucks were entering on average every day before the war). “Now it’s a matter of increasing it significantly … and ensuring that these aid supplies reach the people so that the suffering in the Gaza Strip comes to an end,” he was quoted by BBC News as having said. Share Updated at 13.17 BST

1h ago 13.09 BST Here are some of the latest images coming to us over the wires from Gaza. View image in fullscreen Palestinians run for cover as smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike west of Gaza City, in Gaza Strip on Friday. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA View image in fullscreen Tents belonging to internally displaced Palestinian people stand near a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike west of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA View image in fullscreen Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters Share Updated at 13.19 BST

3h ago 11.34 BST Patrick Wintour Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian Talks will start on Friday at an official level about the possibility of recognising the state of Palestine. The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said this week: “We cannot leave the children of Gaza a legacy of violence and hatred. So all this must stop and that’s why we are determined to recognise a Palestinian state.” The developments come ahead of a UN-sponsored conference in New York starting on 17 June, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France. Officials at the conference will have to discuss the context for such a recognition of the state of Palestine. One question is whether there would need to be parallel recognition of Israel by states such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, something that is regarded as impossible in the absence of a clear path to a two-state solution. Israel is adamantly opposed to a two-state solution. You can read the full story here: Talks to start on recognition of state of Palestine by western states Read more Share Updated at 11.35 BST

3h ago 11.16 BST According to the UN’s latest situation update (published on 21 May 2025), about 29% of Gaza’s population have been displaced again in the past month, including more than 161,000 people displaced in one week. About 81% of Gaza now falls within “Israeli-militarised zones or has been placed under displacement orders”, the UN said. There is nowhere safe for people to flee to when these orders are issued – and they are often broadcast with extremely short notice before airstrikes are launched. View image in fullscreen Palestinians make their way with belongings as they are forced to flee their homes after the Israeli military issued orders of evacuation from the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters Share Updated at 12.22 BST

4h ago 10.46 BST Over 50 Palestinians missing after deadly Israeli airstrike on residential building – civil defence More than 50 Palestinian civilians remain missing under rubble after an Israeli aerial attack on a residential building in northern Gaza, the territory’s civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, said on Friday. Civil defence crews described the scene as a “horrific massacre”. At least four people were reported to have been killed by the Israeli airstrike. Gaza’s civil defence crews are the main emergency service, alongside ambulance crews, in the Strip and regularly help pull the living and the dead from underneath rubble after Israeli bombardments. Basal wrote in a Telegram post on Friday: Four martyrs have been recovered, six others have been rescued, and more than 50 citizens are still missing under the rubble of a four-storey home belonging to the Dardouna family in Jabaliya camp, at the Al-Jurn junction. Search operations have ended due to the lack of heavy equipment needed to reach those still trapped under the rubble. Share Updated at 11.55 BST

4h ago 10.19 BST Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Gaza, where relentless Israeli attacks are continuing to kill civilians across the territory: View image in fullscreen The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a house in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters View image in fullscreen Palestinian people carry a body at the site of a deadly Israeli strike on a house in Jabaliya. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters View image in fullscreen Children weep as they attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters Share Updated at 11.57 BST

4h ago 10.12 BST Aid workers are wrestling with moves by Israel and the US to impose a controversial new aid system for Gaza, which would limit distribution to a few locations and put it under armed private contractors – to prevent theft by Hamas, Israel says. Humanitarian workers, however, say the new system won’t meet Gaza’s needs and violates humanitarian principles. The plan, which is yet to be put into effect, has also been described as unworkable, dangerous and potentially unlawful by aid agencies because it could lead to the forced mass transfer of populations. There has been examples of looting of warehouses by armed groups in Gaza but Israeli officials have not published data on how much aid is stolen and humanitarian organisations say their aid is not being diverted. Share Updated at 11.58 BST

4h ago 09.56 BST The outgoing head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, announced his resignation in April, saying he would step down on 15 June, six weeks after Benjamin Netanyahu tried to oust him. Netanyahu said he had lost trust in Bar’s capacity to lead Shin Bet and accused him of politicising the agency. As my colleague Jason Burke notes in this story, the relationship between Netanyahu and Bar deteriorated after the publication in March of a Shin Bet report on the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. The service admitted to mistakes but criticised policies of the Netanyahu government that it said had enabled Hamas to build up its strength in Gaza and catch Israel by surprise. View image in fullscreen Ronen Bar had alleged that Benjamin Netanyahu tried to fire him for refusing to pledge his loyalty to the prime minister over the courts. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA Share

5h ago 09.48 BST Benjamin Netanyahu announced his decision to appoint Maj Gen David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, on Thursday. On Wednesday, Israel’s high court issued a ruling that Netanyahu’s firing of the outgoing Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, was made “unlawfully” and that the Israeli leader had a conflict of interest due to the ongoing Shin Bet investigations into his close aides. Zini is a former army commando and has held a number of top positions in the Israeli military. “It is imperative to name a permanent head of the Shin Bet as soon as possible,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office on Friday. The statement added that Zini will not be involved in the investigation into possible links between the Israeli prime minister’s aides and Qatar (Netanyahu has not been named as a suspect in the probe). Share Updated at 11.59 BST

5h ago 09.05 BST Israeli military says 107 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday A total of 107 aid trucks belonging to the UN and other aid groups carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs were transferred on Thursday into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has said. The UN is yet to confirm this figure and it is unclear how much of this aid has reached Palestinian people yet. As a reminder, the UN says about 500 aid lorries entered Gaza on average every day before the war and that about 600 are required to begin tackling the territory’s widespread humanitarian needs. View image in fullscreen Trucks with humanitarian aid for Gaza wait at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, on 22 May 2025. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA Share Updated at 11.04 BST

5h ago 08.56 BST The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday accused Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of “emboldening Hamas” after the UK, French and Canadian leaders called for a halt to Israel’s expanded assault on Gaza and for an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid into the territory. The Israeli leader’s comments were made in a video posted online in which he addressed the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC on Wednesday. Last night in Washington something horrific happened.

A brutal terrorist shot in cold blood a young beautiful couple – Yaron Lischinsky and Sara Milgrim. Yaron had just bought an engagement ring for Sarah. He was planning to give it to her in Jerusalem next week. They were… pic.twitter.com/FFdMwlacJ9 — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 22, 2025 The British armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, has defended the UK’s condemnation of Israel’s conduct in Gaza in an interview with Sky News this morning. He said the embassy killings were a “terrible example of the antisemitic hate that, sadly, we are seeing rise in the world” but that the UK was also “making the strong case” for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for more aid to be delivered. He added: I don’t recognise what the prime minister, Netanyahu, has said about that awful event in the States. We condemn the killing of diplomats thoroughly. We want to see a proper investigation – as we would do in all things – to secure justice for those people who have been murdered in the States. But we also, at the same time, should not remove ourselves from the need to secure a lasting peace in Gaza … a lasting peace is good for Israel. Share Updated at 11.44 BST

6h ago 08.37 BST Children were among the 11 Palestinian people killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a residential home in the town of Abasan al-Jadida in southern Gaza on Friday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting. Other people were injured in the airstrike, several of whom are reported to be in critical condition. Share Updated at 12.19 BST

6h ago 08.22 BST Israeli tanks and drones attacked northern Gaza hospital, officials say Israeli tanks and drones fired on northern Gaza’s al-Awda hospital on Thursday, sparking fires and causing extensive damage to the facility, according to hospital officials. The hospital’s director, Mohamed Salha, told the Associated Press about the “horror” that ensued overnight as Israeli forces bombed the third floor and used quadcopters, tanks, and drones to shoot at the hospital’s fuel tanks and units storing medication. The hospital has said the lives of patients and medical staff are in danger. Gaza’s health ministry has accused Israel of intensifying its “systematic campaign” to target hospitals across the Strip, which are supposed to have special protection under the rules of war. At least 20 medical facilities across Gaza have reportedly been damaged, or forced partially or completely out of service, in the past week by the renewed Israeli assault on the territory, and the numerous evacuation orders issued across the Strip. Share Updated at 12.23 BST

6h ago 08.05 BST Cindy McCain, the executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme, has expressed a cautious sense of “hope” as she confirmed that a “handful” of bakeries are back in operation after the Israeli aid blockade on Gaza was eased to a bare minimum level. “We need more wheat flour, more fuel, more safe access—so more ovens can fire back up to feed families desperately in need,” McCain wrote in a post on X. This is what hope looks like in Gaza.

A handful of @WFP-supported bakeries are back in operation.

But we need more wheat flour, more fuel, more safe access—so more ovens can fire back up to feed families desperately in need. pic.twitter.com/FvfkBO6kb2 — Cindy McCain (@WFPChief) May 22, 2025 Share Updated at 08.28 BST

8.00am BST

We are continuing our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel’s war on Gaza.

UN teams have reportedly collected over 90 lorry loads of aid inside Gaza, containing flour, baby food and medical equipment. Some bakeries started making bread with the flour on Thursday.

Other aid has started reaching some of Gaza’s most vulnerable areas, but the level is totally inadequate for the needs of Gaza’s 2.1 million population.

Charities have warned that much of the population have been brought to the brink of famine due to the effects of the total Israeli blockade on aid, imposed in early March, which was only eased earlier this week amid mounting international pressure.

The blockade, which Israel says was to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages, is widely seen as the collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza and a breach of international law.

Palestinian Red Crescent President Younis Al-Khatib said yesterday that many trucks were still at the border at the Karem Shalom crossing.

About 500 lorries entered Gaza on average every day before the war, and there continues to be significant shortages of basic foods and inflated prices, with medics warning that malnutrition is spreading across the territory.

Palestinian Authority health minister Majed Abu Ramadan said yesterday that 29 children and elderly people had died from “starvation-related” causes in the last couple of days.

Asked to react to comments made by the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, on Tuesday that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: “The number 14,000 is very realistic may be even underestimating (the scale)“.

Gaza’s civil defence agency, meanwhile, said Israeli airstrikes have killed 16 people across the territory since midnight, as the Israeli military’s renewed assault continues despite western allies’ denouncements.