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Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire early Monday as people headed toward an aid distribution site a kilometer away, killing at least three and wounding dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots at “suspects” who approached its forces. The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Hungry Palestinians in Gaza block and offload dozens of UN food trucks The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on Monday toward “several suspects who advanced toward the troops and posed a threat to them,” around a kilometer (1,000 yards) away from the aid distribution site at a time when it was closed. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site. The United Nations and major aid groups have rejected the foundation's new system for aid distribution. They say it violates humanitarian principles and cannot meet mounting needs in the territory of roughly 2 million people, where experts have warned of famine because of an Israeli blockade that was only slightly eased last month. In a separate incident Monday, an Israeli strike on a residential building in northern Gaza killed 14 people, according to health officials. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals confirmed the toll from the strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, saying five women and seven children were among those killed. The military said it had struck “terror targets” across northern Gaza, without elaborating. Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group is entrenched in populated areas. Also Monday, the Palestinian Authority said a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in the Palestinian village of Sinjil. In a statement, the Israeli military said troops in the Sinjil area had opened fire and “neutralized” someone who threw two bottles containing a dangerous substance at them.   Shooting in southern Gaza A Red Cross field hospital received 50 wounded people, including two declared dead on arrival, after the shooting in southern Gaza, according to Hisham Mhanna, a Red Cross spokesperson. He said most had gunfire and shrapnel wounds. Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said it received a third body. Moataz al-Feirani, 21, who was being treated at Nasser Hospital, said he was shot in his leg as he walked with a crowd of thousands toward the aid distribution site. He said Israeli forces opened fire as they neared the Flag Roundabout at around 5:30 a.m. “We had nothing, and they (military) were watching us," he said, adding that drones were filming them. On Sunday, at least 31 people were killed and over 170 wounded at the Flag Roundabout as large crowds headed toward the aid site, according to local health officials, aid groups and several eyewitnesses. The witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowds at around 3 a.m. after ordering them to disperse and come back when the distribution site opens. Israel’s military on Sunday denied its forces fired at civilians near the aid site in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, a military zone off limits to independent media. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, said troops fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, said it had delivered aid on both days without incident. On Sunday night, the foundation issued a statement, saying aid recipients must stay on the designated route to reach the hub Monday, and that Israeli troops are positioned along the way to ensure their security. “Leaving the road is extremely dangerous,” the statement said. Gaza ceasefire talks gain momentum as Israel accepts a US proposal ‘Risking their lives for food’ U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza” on Sunday. “It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.” He called for an independent investigation into what happened. Israel and the United States say they helped establish the new aid system to circumvent Hamas, which they accuse of siphoning off assistance. U.N. agencies deny there is any systemic diversion of aid and say the new system violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who receives aid and by forcing Palestinians to travel long distances to receive it. Palestinians must pass close to Israeli forces and cross military lines to reach the GHF hubs, in contrast to the U.N. aid network, which delivers aid to where Palestinians are located. No end in sight to Israel-Hamas war The Israel-Hamas war began when Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 58 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive. Israel’s military campaign has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned, and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. It has said it will maintain control of Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what it refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population. Palestinians and most of the international community have rejected the resettlement plans, viewing them as forcible expulsion.  

The Iranian foreign minister spoke by phone with the director of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency early Sunday morning after a report from the agency said Iran is further increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Writing on Telegram, Abbas Araghchi said he stressed Iran’s “continuous cooperation” in his conversation with Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA did not immediately return a request for comment about the phone call, reports AP. The confidential IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material” — something the agency said was of “serious concern.” Araghchi emphasised to Grossi that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are within the framework of agreements and being monitored by the IAEA. The IAEA said in a separate report that Iran’s cooperation with the agency has been “less than satisfactory” when it comes to uranium traces discovered by IAEA inspectors at several locations in Iran that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites. Araghchi also asked Grossi to ensure “that certain parties do not exploit the agency for political agendas against the Iranian people.” European nations could take further steps against Iran based on the comprehensive report, leading to a potential escalation in tensions between Iran and the West. Iran vows to continue US nuclear talks despite trump threats Iran's deputy foreign minister on Sunday published a detailed response, rejecting many of the report's findings. Kazem Gharibabadi noted that out of the IAEA's 682 inspections of 32 states, 493 were carried out in Iran alone. “So long as a country’s nuclear activities are under the IAEA’s monitoring, there is no cause for concern,” he said. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.” The IAEA report said that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent. That’s an increase of almost 50 per cent since the IAEA’s last report in February. The 60 per cent enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip blocked and offloaded dozens of food trucks, the U.N. World Food Program said Saturday, as desperation mounts following Israel's months long blockade and airstrikes while talks of a ceasefire inch forward. The WFP said that 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the trucks were able to reach their destination. A nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population to the brink of famine. While the pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, organizations say there still isn’t nearly enough food getting in. Hamas on Friday said it was reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump said that negotiators were nearing a deal. A ceasefire would pause the fighting for 60 days, release some of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and much needed food aid and other assistance, according to Hamas and Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Gaza ceasefire talks gain momentum as Israel accepts a US proposal The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the food aid that's entering now. “We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,” said agency said in a statement. A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press the U.N. convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by desperate civilians in their thousands. Most people carried bags of flour on their backs or heads. He said at one point a forklift was used to offload pallets from the stranded trucks. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal. The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by the Israeli military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active and trucks were stopped. Israel’s military didn’t immediately respond to comment. Attacks, gangs, lack of protection hamper UN distribution An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including the convoy on Saturday. The U.N. says it’s been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting. On Friday, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it only picked up five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the other 60 trucks had to return due to intense hostilities in the area. An Israeli official said his country has offered the U.N. logistical and operational support but “the U.N. is not doing their job.” Instead, a new U.S- and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout. Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will replace the massive aid operation that the U.N. and others have carried out throughout the war. It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The U.N. denies that significant diversion takes place. The GHF works with armed contractors, which is says is needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarizing aid. Israeli strikes kill at least 60 Meanwhile Israel is continuing its military campaign across Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours. It said three people were shot by Israeli gunfire early Saturday morning in the southern city of Rafah. Three other people were killed, parents and a child, when their car was struck in Gaza City. Gaza's main hospital overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages. Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza, but Israel believes 35 are dead and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are “doubts” about the fate of several others. Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.  

The White House said Thursday that the U.S. has submitted a new Gaza ceasefire proposal that has Israeli support. Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy had expressed optimism this week about brokering an agreement that could halt the Israel-Hamas war, allow more aid into Gaza, and return more of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, around a third of whom are alive. Experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade of Gaza — slightly eased in recent days — has pushed the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians to the brink of famine. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which left around 1,200 dead. Here's the latest: Witnesses in Gaza describe more chaos at US-backed food distribution sites Turmoil erupted again Thursday as tens of thousands of desperate Palestinians tried to collect food from distribution sites in the Gaza Strip run by a new U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation. More than a dozen Palestinians described chaos at all three aid hubs on Thursday, with multiple witnesses reporting a free-for-all of people grabbing aid, and they said Israeli troops opened fire to control crowds. At the hub in central Gaza, Aisha Na’na said she only managed to grab sticks for firewood. “We had come to get food for our children, but it was all in vain — we returned with nothing,” she said. The distribution points are guarded by armed private contractors, and Israeli forces are positioned in the vicinity. Over the past three days, there have been reports of gunfire at GHF centers, and Gaza health officials have said at least one person has been killed and dozens wounded. Aid-seekers are shot at the new distribution hubs, says a surgeon and witnesses Dr. Khaled Elserr, a surgeon at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told the AP he treated two people wounded at distribution centers on Thursday — a 17-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. Both had gunshot wounds in the chest and stomach, he said, adding that other casualties had come in from the centers but that he did not have an exact number. A 41-year-old man, who spoke on condition he be identified only by his first name Shehada for fear of reprisals, said the crowd descended on the food boxes, and pushing and shoving got out of control. Shehada said the contractors pulled back and Israeli troops shot at people’s feet. His cousin was wounded in the left foot, he said. “The gunfire was very intense,” he said. “The sand was jumping all around us.” In a statement Thursday, GHF said no shots had been fired at any of its distribution centers the past three days and there have been no casualties, saying reports of deaths “originated from Hamas.” Hamas says it's studying the new Gaza ceasefire proposal The Palestinian militant group has yet to formally respond to the latest proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel has accepted. UN, Aid Agencies condemn US-Israel-Backed Gaza aid effort after fatal incident “The Zionist response, in essence, means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine,” Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told The Associated Press. He said it “does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine.” Nonetheless, he said the group would study the proposal “with all national responsibility.” UN says Israel denied its attempts to pick up aid at Gaza border for 3 days this week U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that no U.N. trucks were given permission to move into the Kerem Shalom holding area to pick up desperately needed food and other aid on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. He did not yet have information for Thursday, Since Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing 10 days ago – after blocking all aid deliveries since March 2 – nearly 900 trucks have been approved to enter Gaza and almost 600 have been offloaded on the Gaza side, he said. But almost all if the aid has not reached U.N. warehouses because of security constraints, Dujarric said, and none has yet been distributed. Israel says it intercepted a missile from Yemen Yemen’s Houthi rebels took responsibility for firing the long-range missile Thursday evening, which Israel’s military says was intercepted as air-raid sirens sounded in parts of the country. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Israel halted a national soccer championship match in Tel Aviv due to the Houthi missile attack, which came as the tempo of negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza has increased. The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians. The Houthi missiles have mostly been intercepted, although some have penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing casualties and damage. Palestinian militants were once firing volleys of rockets each day out of Gaza, but that dwindled to nearly zero over the course of the 19-month war. White House says Israel accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza “I can confirm that special envoy (Steve) Witkoff and the president submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported,” White House press Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Israeli forces raid West Bank foreign exchange shops; one killed, dozens injured But Leavitt said talks were ongoing and Hamas had not yet accepted terms of the proposal. Witkoff on Wednesday said the U.S. administration was close to presenting a new proposal. The new proposal was intended to return surviving as well as dead hostages still being held in Gaza in exchange for an an extended truce in fighting. Israeli strike on a house in central Gaza kills 22 people, including nine women and children The airstrike hit a family home in Bureij, an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah. An AP journalist viewed the hospital records of the dead from the strike. Strikes in northern Gaza late Wednesday and early Thursday hit a house, killing eight people, including two women and three children, and a car in Gaza City, killing four, local hospitals said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in populated areas. Israeli military orders evacuation of a hospital in northern Gaza, staff says Dr. Rami al-Ashrafi said Thursday that the Israeli army wants to evacuate everyone in Al-Awda Hospital in the heavily devastated Jabaliya area. One of the last functioning medical centers in northern Gaza, the hospital has been encircled by Israeli troops and has come under fire in recent days. Speaking by phone to The Associated Press, al-Ashrafi said there are 82 staffers, including doctors, and seven patients left at the hospital. A total of 30 patients and 57 staff were already evacuated Tuesday, he said Israeli authorities issued evacuation orders last week for large parts of northern Gaza ahead of offensives against Hamas, although the army did not order the hospital itself to evacuate. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, said last week that Israeli military operations and evacuation orders in Gaza “are stretching the health system beyond the breaking point.” Israeli military says a civilian engineer was killed in northern Gaza The Israeli military didn’t offer details on how the unnamed civilian contractor was killed Thursday or what kind of engineering work they were doing for the army. The brief statement offered condolences to employee’s family. UK slams new Israeli settlements as an obstacle to Palestinian statehood. “The U.K. condemns these actions,” Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer said on the X social media platform. “Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two-state solution, and do not protect Israel.” The British government last week imposed new sanctions on three people, two illegal settler outposts and two organizations that they said were supporting violence against the Palestinian community in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at the time that the illegal settlements were spreading across the West Bank with support of the Israeli government. Israel authorizes 22 more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank This would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization. Defense Minister Israel Katz called Thursday's settlement decision “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.” The Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announcement was the most extensive move of its kind since the 1993 Oslo accords that launched the now-defunct peace process. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal and an obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict. Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with apartment blocks, shopping malls, factories and parks. The West Bank is home to 3 million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule. Israeli strike kills a municipal worker in southern Lebanon An Israeli drone strike killed a municipal worker in southern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said. Israel's latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including children The man was on his way to work on a well supplying water to homes when he was killed in the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the agency said. Lebanon’s Health Ministry also reported one person killed in the strike. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had killed a “Hezbollah terrorist” who was “rehabilitating a site used by” the group “to manage its fire and defense array." A U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement brought the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to an end in late November, but Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes on Lebanon since then. Lebanon has complained that Israel is violating the ceasefire while Israel says it is striking Hezbollah facilities and officials to prevent the group from rearming. Palestinians describe more chaos at Israeli and US-backed aid hub Palestinians described more scenes of chaos on Thursday at an aid distribution hub in the Gaza Strip established by a new Israeli and U.S.-backed foundation. They said large crowds pushed their way through metal turnstiles as security contractors struggled to control the crowd. People scattered as gunfire rang out, though it was not clear who fired or if there were any casualties. One woman said she had waited for hours before leaving with only a small bag of lentils. “We have no bread to feed our children. I couldn’t get a single bag of flour,” she said in tears, declining to give her name. “I want to eat. I’m hungry.” The hubs set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are guarded by private security contractors, with Israeli forces stationed nearby. Gaza’s Health Ministry and the United Nations said dozens of people were wounded by gunfire as they sought aid on Tuesday. GHF denied its forces fired on anyone, and the Israeli military said it only fired warning shots. The U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new aid system, saying it will not be able to feed Gaza’s 2.3 million people and that it lets Israel use food to control the population. GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israeli military says it demolished a long attack tunnel in southern Gaza The Israeli military says troops recently located and destroyed an attack tunnel stretching several hundred meters (yards) in the southern Gaza Strip. It said the tunnel was found in a self-declared security zone, apparently referring to the now mostly evacuated southern city of Rafah, which Israeli forces have severed from the rest of the territory. The army said the tunnel had several exits, some rigged with explosives. It said militants emerged from one of the shafts during the operation and were killed. Hamas built hundreds of miles (kilometers) of tunnels beneath Gaza in the years leading up to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Its fighters use them to shelter from Israeli airstrikes and move around undetected. Hamas has also held hostages in the tunnels. Israeli newborn dies after mother was killed in West Bank attack An Israeli baby who was delivered after his mother was fatally shot in an attack in the West Bank has died. A Palestinian militant opened fire on Tzeela Gez’ car as her husband drove her through the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 14. The couple was heading to the hospital to give birth. She later died from her wounds, but doctors delivered the baby by emergency cesarean section. Hamas praised the attack but did not claim it. The military announced days later that its forces had killed the suspected attacker. “It is with great sadness and pain that we learned this morning of the death of baby Ravid Chaim, son of Tzeela and Hananel Gez,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “There are no words that can offer consolation for the murder of a newborn baby along with his mother.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Mohammed Sinwar, believed to be the head of Hamas' armed wing, has been killed, apparently confirming his death in a recent strike in the Gaza Strip. There was no confirmation from Hamas. Sinwar is the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who helped mastermind the October 7, 2023, attack that started the Israel-Hamas war, and who was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024, according to news agency AP. Israeli strikes have decimated Hamas’ leadership during the 19-month war, and Mohammed Sinwar was one of the last widely known leaders still alive in Gaza. But the militant group has maintained its rule over the parts of Gaza not seized by Israel. It still holds dozens of hostages and carries out sporadic attacks on Israeli forces. As the head of Hamas’ armed wing, Sinwar would have had the final word on any agreement to release the hostages, and his death could further complicate U.S. and Arab efforts to broker a ceasefire. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. Netanyahu mentioned the killing of Sinwar in a speech before parliament in which he listed the names of other top Hamas leaders killed during the war. “We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,” he said. Netanyahu did not elaborate. Israeli media had reported that the younger Sinwar was the target of a May 13 strike on what the military said was a Hamas command center beneath the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the Sinwars' hometown. The military declined to comment on whether Sinwar had been targeted or killed. Israeli forces raid West Bank foreign exchange shops; one killed, dozens injured At least six people were killed in the strike and 40 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said at the time. A Hamas veteran Mohammed Sinwar was born in 1975 in the urban Khan Younis refugee camp. His family was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. The refugees and their descendants today make up the majority of Gaza's population. Like his older brother, Yahya, the younger Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in the late 1980s as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. He became a member of the group’s military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades. He rose through the ranks to become a member of its so-called joint chiefs of staff, bringing him close to its longtime commander, Deif, who was killed in a strike last year. Mohammed Sinwar was one of the planners of a 2006 cross-border attack on an Israeli army post. In that attack, militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who was held for five years and later exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar. In an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV aired three years ago, Mohammed Sinwar said that when Hamas threatens Israel, “we know how to specify the location that hurts the occupation and how to press them.” Hamas has said that Mohammed Sinwar was targeted by Israel on several occasions and was briefly believed to have been killed in 2014. He is said to have been one of a handful of top commanders who knew about the October 7 attack in advance. In December 2023, the Israeli military released a video it said showed a bearded Mohammed Sinwar sitting next to a driver in a car as it moved inside a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. Hamas never confirmed what would be one of the few public images of him.

Israeli forces raided multiple foreign exchange businesses across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing one Palestinian and injuring dozens in a widespread military operation that drew strong condemnation from Palestinian groups. The raids targeted exchange shops in several cities, including Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Arrabeh, el-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Tubas, reports Al Jazeera. Residents reported that Israeli forces stormed the areas using live ammunition, tear gas, and smoke bombs. In Nablus, troops raided the Al-Khaleej Exchange Company and a nearby gold shop, while in Jenin, Israeli soldiers fired smoke bombs in the city center. Streets were also sealed off in Tubas and Bethlehem. According to the Ministry of Health based in Ramallah, one man was killed and eight others were injured by live fire during the raid in Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated 20 people for tear gas inhalation and three more for rubber bullet injuries. The operations coincided with Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, where over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, and tens of thousands continue to face starvation under siege conditions. Israeli Army Radio reported that the raids were conducted on suspicions that the exchange shops were linked to “terrorism,” claiming that large sums of money designated for “terrorism infrastructure” in the West Bank were confiscated. Syria's government and Kurds reach agreement on returning families from notorious camp At the Ramallah branch of Al-Khaleej Exchange, Israeli soldiers left a leaflet stating, “Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organisations.” Meanwhile, Hamas denounced the Israeli raids, saying they “constitute a new chapter in the occupation’s open war against the Palestinian people, their lives, their economy, and all the foundations of their steadfastness and perseverance on their land”. “These assaults on economic institutions, accompanied by the looting of large sums of money and the confiscation of property, are an extension of the piracy policies adopted by the [Israeli] occupation government,” the Palestinian group said in a statement, adding that the targeted companies were “operating within the law”. Hamas urged the Palestinian Authority to take measures against the Israeli attacks. Separately, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said the raids are “part of the open war against our people, targeting their very existence and cause”. The group also urged the Palestinian Authority to “defend” Palestinians from such attacks and “halt its policy of security coordination” with Israel.

US President Donald Trump has suggested there may soon be encouraging developments regarding the situation in Gaza, alongside progress in nuclear negotiations with Iran. “I think we could have some good news on the Iran front, likewise with Hamas on Gaza,” he told reporters before he boarded Air Force One in New Jersey. Israel's latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including children “We want to see if we can stop that, and Israel. We’ve been talking to them and we want to see if we can stop that whole situation,” he added. Source: Al Jazeera

Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including children, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north. Further details emerged of the Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday. Gaza's Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel also blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies. Israel is pursuing a new U.S.-backed plan to control all aid to Gaza, but the American heading the effort unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that his organization would not be allowed to operate independently. The United Nations has rejected the plan. U.N. World Food Program executive director Cindy McCain told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israel’s claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks. “These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in and they run for it,” she said. COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 107 trucks of aid entered Sunday. The U.N. has called the rate far from enough. About 600 trucks a day entered during the ceasefire. Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resignation Jake Wood was the executive director of what had been a troubled effort to get more aid into Gaza in a way that would be acceptable to Israel, which has sought to tightly control all aid deliveries. He said in a statement Sunday that it had become clear “it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.” 9 of a doctor's 10 children killed in Israel's latest strikes in Gaza He urged Israel to expand aid supplies "through all mechanisms” and for others to continue to explore “innovative new methods” for delivering aid. Neither the foundation nor the U.S. had given many details of who was funding the new group, whose creation was announced in recent weeks, or how it would operate. The U.N. and international aid organizations feared it was an attempt to supplant them. More on the killing of a doctor's 9 children In Friday's strike, only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children survived at their home near the southern city of Khan Younis. The 11-year-old and al-Najjar’s husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt. The children's charred remains were put in a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan. The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother, Ismail al-Najjar, was first to arrive at the scene. “They were innocent children," the brother said, the youngest 7 months old. "And my brother has no business with (Palestinian) factions.” Israel has said “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes. One killed a mother and two children in the central city of Deir al-Balah, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Another in northern Gaza's Jabaliya area killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Also on Friday in Khan Younis, two International Committee of the Red Cross staffers were killed when shelling struck their home, the ICRC said. “This is not an endless war," Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said during a visit to Khan Younis. Recent ceasefire talks in Qatar gained no ground. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive. Israel's 19-month offensive has killed over 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed. New from Hezbollah's leader Speaking on the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated the Lebanese militant group’s stance that it will not discuss giving up its remaining weapons until Israel withdraws from the five border points it occupies in southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes. Over 60 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as aid remains scarce The speech came nearly six months after the latest Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Under the deal, Israel and Hezbollah were supposed to withdraw forces from southern Lebanon. Israeli officials have said they plan to remain at the five points indefinitely to secure their border. Israel has also continued to carry out near-daily airstrikes in southern Lebanon and sometimes in Beirut’s suburbs. “We adhered completely” to the agreement, Kassem said, adding: “Don’t ask us for anything else from now on. Let Israel withdraw, stop its aggression, release the prisoners and fulfill all obligations under the agreement. After that, we will discuss each new development.” A missile from the Houthis Separately, Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict. Gaza's main hospital overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel.

The bodies of 79 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, Gaza 's Health Ministry said Saturday, a toll that doesn't include hospitals in the battered north that it said are now inaccessible. Nine of a doctor's 10 children were among those killed in Israel’s renewed military offensive, colleagues and the Health Ministry said. Alaa Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family's house on fire, Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital's pediatric department, told The Associated Press. Najjar's husband was severely wounded and their only surviving child, an 11-year-old son, was in critical condition after Friday's strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, Farra said. The dead children ranged in age from 7 months to 12 years old. Khalil Al-Dokran, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told the AP that two of the children remained under the rubble. Israel's military in a statement said it struck suspects operating from a structure next to its forces, and described the area of Khan Younis as a “dangerous war zone.” It said it had evacuated civilians from the area, and “the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.” Earlier on Saturday, a statement said Israel's air force struck over 100 targets throughout Gaza over the past day. The Health Ministry said the new deaths brought the war's toll to 53,901 since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the 19 months of fighting. The ministry said 3,747 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war on March 18 in an effort to pressure Hamas to accept different ceasefire terms. Its count doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel's pressure on Hamas has included a blockade of Gaza and its over 2 million people since early March. This week, the first aid trucks entered the territory and began reaching Palestinians since the blockade began. Gaza's main hospital overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 388 trucks had entered since Monday. About 600 trucks a day had entered during the ceasefire. Warnings of famine by food security experts, and images of desperate Palestinians jostling for bowls of food at the ever-shrinking number of charity kitchens, led Israel's allies to press the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow some aid to return. Netanyahu's government has sought a new aid delivery and distribution system by a newly established U.S.-backed group, but the United Nations and partners have rejected it, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon and violates humanitarian principles. Israel may now be changing its approach to let aid groups remain in charge of non-food assistance, according to a letter obtained by the AP. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid but the U.N. and aid groups deny there is significant diversion. Hospitals in Gaza are again reporting attacks and other Israeli pressure. The Health Ministry said 11 security personnel have been trapped at the European Hospital in southern Gaza following heavy gunfire and airstrikes since at least Tuesday. Dr. Saleh Hams, director of the nursing department, said patients were evacuated after an Israeli strike on May 13. Hams said the security staff stayed behind to protect from looting, and that it was the only hospital in Gaza offering neurosurgery, cardiac care and cancer treatment. Israel said it will continue to strike Gaza until Hamas releases all of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages and disarms. Fewer than half of the hostages are believed to be alive since the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others. Israel becoming ‘pariah state’, kills children ‘as hobby’: opposition leader Golan Hamas has said it will only return the remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Netanyahu has rejected those terms and has vowed to maintain control over Gaza and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its Palestinian population. “The Israeli government and its leader have a clear choice: deal or war, saving lives or abandonment,” Liran Berman, brother of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, told a weekly rally in Tel Aviv as families and supporters again demanded an agreement that would bring everyone home.

Syria welcomed Saturday the move by the Trump administration to ease sanctions imposed on the war-torn country, calling it a “positive step” to ease humanitarian and economic suffering. A statement by the foreign ministry said Syria “extends its hand” to anyone that wants to cooperate with Damascus, on the condition that there is no intervention in the country’s internal affairs, reports AP. Saturday’s statement came a day after the Trump administration granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in a major first step toward fulfilling the president’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 14 years of civil war. A measure by the State Department waived for six months a tough set of sanctions imposed by Congress in 2019. A Treasury Department action suspended enforcement of sanctions against anyone doing business with a range of Syrian individuals and entities, including Syria’s central bank. Over 60 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza as aid remains scarce The congressional sanctions, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, had aimed to isolate Syria’s previous rulers by effectively expelling those doing business with them from the global financial system. They specifically block postwar reconstruction, so while they can be waived for 180 days by executive order, investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months. The Trump administration said Friday’s actions were “just one part of a broader US government effort to remove the full architecture of sanctions.” Those penalties had been imposed on the Assad family for their support of Iranian-backed militias, their chemical weapons program and abuses of civilians. Trump said during a visit to the region earlier this month that the US would roll back the heavy financial penalties in a bid to give the interim government a better chance of survival. Syria’s foreign ministry said dialogue and diplomacy are the best way to build “balanced relations that achieve the interest of the people and strengthen security and stability in the region.” It added that the coming period in Syria will be reconstruction and restoring “Syria’s natural status” in the region and around the world.