[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Hunger in Gaza: 14,000 babies may die in 48 hours

At least 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within 48 hours if more aid does not reach the starving communities, the UN warned yesterday, as Israel stepped up its military offensive to take control of “all of the Strip”.

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Hunger in Gaza: 14,000 babies may die in 48 hours
Warns UN; 83 more killed as Israel eyes ‘all of strip’

Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes from Al-Ahli Arab Baptist hospital for their funeral in Gaza City yesterday. Photo: Reuters
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• UK pauses trade talks with Israel, summons envoy​
• WHO says two million in Gaza starving​
• UN says extended Israeli offensive may leave Gaza 'unlivable'​
• Netanyahu says 'images of mass starvation' can harm Israel's war​

At least 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within 48 hours if more aid does not reach the starving communities, the UN warned yesterday, as Israel stepped up its military offensive to take control of "all of the Strip".

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 83 people yesterday across the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. At least 91 people were killed on Monday.

However, in a sign that Israel's friends' patience on the more than 20-month-long military carnage in Gaza is beginning to wear thin, the UK government yesterday paused free trade negotiations with Israel and slapped new sanctions on West Bank settlers.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy also announced his ministry was summoning the Israeli ambassador over Israel's expansion of its military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said while speaking to the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.

He said five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday, a "drop in the ocean" after an 11-week blockade by Israel, and were yet to reach the communities in need.

The aid was allowed to enter Gaza following widespread condemnation of Israel's total blockade.

The World Health Organization said that Gaza's "two million people are starving".

The developments came after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday vowed to take control of "all areas of the Strip".

Netanyahu also said it was necessary for Israel to prevent a famine in Gaza for "diplomatic reasons", after his government announced it would allow limited food aid into the territory.

He said aid had resumed because "images of mass starvation" could harm the legitimacy of the war effort.

Before the announcement of the punitive measures, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament that he, along with the leaders of France and Canada, was "horrified" by Israel's military escalation.

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada warned on Monday that they could take "concrete actions" against Israel if it did not stop military operations in Gaza and lift restrictions on aid.

However, Israel remained defiant. It said that external pressure will not change its course.

"The world is judging. History will judge them [Israel]," the British foreign secretary said while unveiling the measures, urging Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire.

"Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners – this is indefensible, and it must stop," he said.

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis also condemned the intensified Israeli offensive, saying the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza is intolerably high.

Meanwhile, Sweden's top diplomat yesterday said that the country would work within the EU to push for sanctions against certain Israeli ministers over Israel's treatment of civilian Palestinians in Gaza.

"Since we do not see a clear improvement for the civilians in Gaza, we need to raise the tone further," Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement to AFP.

The Israeli army stepped up its offensive in Gaza on Saturday, saying it was aimed at defeating Hamas.

Israeli strikes have since killed scores of people in the besieged coastal territory, according to rescuers.

In its latest war update, the Israeli military yesterday said it carried out attacks on 100 targets in Gaza in the last 24 hours.

Gaza's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed at least 83 people and wounded 290 during the past 24 hours.

Israel called up tens of thousands of reservists before expanding its military offensive, and sent in ground troops on Sunday.

Israel's security cabinet approved earlier this month a plan to expand the military operation, which one official said would include the "conquest" of Gaza and the displacement of its population.

Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, yesterday warned that Israel's expanding operations could eventually create conditions where Palestinians are not able to live in Gaza.

"What I see for the time being is a continuation of the destruction, of the deaths and killing of the Palestinians in Gaza. And my fear is that we might reach a point where Gaza might not be a land any more for Palestinians to live in," he said in a media interview.

On Friday, President Donald Trump of the United States, Israel's strongest ally and main arms supplier, acknowledged that "a lot of people are starving" in Gaza.

"We're looking at Gaza. And we're going to get that taken care of," Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi, on a regional tour that excluded Israel.

Yesterday, a UN spokesman said it had received permission to send "around 100" trucks of aid into Gaza.

The UN has long said Gaza, with a population of about 2.3 million, needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods daily to tackle the crisis.

However, no aid truck entered into Gaza till evening, reports Al Jazeera.

On the ground, aid agencies said acute hunger is spreading across Gaza.

According to the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), more than 93 percent of children in Gaza -- about 930,000 -- are at risk of famine due to the ongoing war and blockade.

Since early March, at least 57 children have been reported to have died from malnutrition.

Families in Gaza are resorting to eating animal feed, expired flour and flour mixed with sand, while children suffer from hunger-induced illnesses such as diarrhoea and extreme fatigue.

Meanwhile, Qatar's prime minister said Israel's military offensive in Gaza had undermined peace efforts' momentum after the release of US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

Qatar has, alongside Egypt and the United States, mediated efforts to end the war.

"This irresponsible, aggressive behaviour undermines any potential chance for peace," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said at the Qatar Economic Forum.

Gaza's health ministry said at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,573.​

 

[Saif]

Yemen’s rebels threaten Israeli port blockade

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said on Monday evening that they would impose a “naval blockade” of the Israeli port of Haifa in response to Israel’s escalation of the Gaza war.

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Gaza offensive
Yemen’s rebels threaten Israeli port blockade

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday evening that they would impose a "naval blockade" of the Israeli port of Haifa in response to Israel's escalation of the Gaza war.

The Houthis would "begin working to enforce a naval blockade of the port of Haifa," said military spokesman Yehya Saree.

"All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the target bank," the Houthi spokesman added.

The move was "in response to the Israeli enemy's escalation of its brutal aggression against our people and in Gaza," he said, adding that attacks on Israel would "cease once the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier that his country will "take control" of all of Gaza as part of a heightened offensive against Hamas.

The Iran-backed Houthis have regularly fired missiles and drones at Israel since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, following a Hamas attack on Israel.

The Houthis paused their attacks during a two-month ceasefire in the war that collapsed in March.

They have threatened to resume attacks on international shipping over Israel's aid blockade on Gaza. In response, the US military began hammering the rebels with near-daily air strikes.​

 

[Saif]

Europe increases pressure on Israel over Gaza offensive

European countries ramped up pressure on Israel to abandon its intensified campaign in Gaza and let more aid into the war-ravaged territory, where rescuers said fresh attacks killed dozens of people on Tuesday. Israel said that 93 trucks had entered Gaza from Israel on Tuesday but the United...

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Europe increases pressure on Israel over Gaza offensive
AFP Gaza City, Palestinian Territories
Published: 21 May 2025, 09: 49

Children play around waste in front of the closed UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City, on 20 May 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. AFP

European countries ramped up pressure on Israel to abandon its intensified campaign in Gaza and let more aid into the war-ravaged territory, where rescuers said fresh attacks killed dozens of people on Tuesday.

Israel said that 93 trucks had entered Gaza from Israel on Tuesday but the United Nations said the aid had been held up.

The UN announced Monday that it had been cleared to send in aid for the first time since Israel imposed a total blockade on 2 March, sparking severe shortages of food and medicine.

The humanitarian crisis has prompted international anger, with the European Union saying it would review its trade cooperation deal with Israel over the blockade.

European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said “a strong majority” of foreign ministers from the 27 member states backed the move, adding “the countries see that the situation in Gaza is untenable... and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid.”

Sweden said it would press the EU to level sanctions against Israeli ministers.

Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel, summoned the Israeli ambassador and said it was imposing sanctions on settlers in the occupied West Bank in its toughest actions so far against Israel’s conduct of the war.

“Blocking aid, expanding the war, dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible and it must stop,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the UK parliament.

Palestinians attempt to collect water at a camp for displaced people in Gaza City, on 20 May 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas AFP

Israel rejected the moves. The EU action “reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said.

Responding to Britain, Marmorstein said “external pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security.”

Flour, baby food, medicine
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said “93 UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including flour for bakeries, food for babies, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical drugs were transferred” to Gaza.

The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres confirmed dozens of trucks were allowed in, but spoke of difficulties.

“Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to ... collect the nutrition supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse,” Stephane Dujarric said.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said that the nine trucks cleared to enter on Monday were “a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.”

Gaza’s health ministry said Tuesday at least 3,427 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,573.

He told the BBC Tuesday that 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if aid did not reach them in time.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting that the supplies were “not in sufficient amounts” but added: “We anticipate that those flows will increase over the next few days and weeks. It’s important that that be achieved.”

The Israeli army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose 7 October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the current war.

Strikes overnight and early Tuesday left “44 dead, mostly children and women, as well as dozens of wounded,” civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Bassal said 15 people were killed when a petrol station was hit near the Nuseirat refugee camp, and eight others died in a strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City.

An elderly Palestinian man pushes a bicycle past the rubble of destroyed buildings, in Gaza City, on 20 May 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas AFP

The Israeli military told AFP it had “struck a Hamas terrorist who was operating from within a command and control center” inside the school compound. There was no comment on the other incidents.

At the bombed petrol station, Mahmoud al-Louh carried a cloth bag of body parts to a vehicle.

“They are civilians, children who were sleeping. What was their fault?” he told AFP.

In a statement Tuesday, the military said it had carried out strikes on more than “100 terror targets” in Gaza over the past day.

‘Irresponsible’ behaviour

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Monday that Israel would “take control of all the territory of the Strip” with its new campaign.

Israel resumed operations across Gaza on 18 March, ending a two-month ceasefire amid deadlock over how to proceed.

Negotiators from Israel and Hamas began new indirect talks in Doha at the weekend, as the intensified campaign started.

Qatar, which has been involved in mediation efforts throughout the war, said Tuesday that Israel’s “irresponsible, aggressive behaviour” had undermined the chances of a ceasefire.

Hours later, Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of refusing to accept a deal, saying Israel was recalling its senior negotiators but leaving some of its team in Doha.

A source close to Hamas alleged that Israel’s delegation “has not held any real negotiations” since Sunday, blaming “Netanyahu’s systematic policy of obstruction.”

The Hamas attack in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry said Tuesday at least 3,427 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,573.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli warning fire at diplomats sparks outcry amid Gaza pressure

Israeli troops fired warning shots during foreign diplomats’ visit to the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the military said, drawing condemnation as pressure mounted on Israel to allow aid into war-battered Gaza...

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Israeli warning fire at diplomats sparks outcry amid Gaza pressure
Agence France-Presse . Jenin 22 May, 2025, 00:21

Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday. | AFP photo

Israeli troops fired warning shots during foreign diplomats’ visit to the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the military said, drawing condemnation as pressure mounted on Israel to allow aid into war-battered Gaza.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged Israel to hold accountable those responsible for the shooting near the city of Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and a frequent target of Israeli raids.

The Palestinian foreign ministry accused Israel of having ‘deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation’.

The Israeli military said ‘the delegation deviated from the approved route’, prompting troops to fire ‘warning shoots’ to keep them away from ‘an area where they were not authorised to be’.

In a statement, the military said it ‘regrets the inconvenience caused’ by the shooting, which resulted in no injuries.

The incident came as international pressure mounted on Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians waited desperately for vital supplies after the easing of a two-month total aid blockade.

Rescuers in the Palestinian territory, where Israel has recently intensified its devastating offensive, said overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people, including a week-old baby.

Israel said 93 trucks had entered Gaza on Tuesday but faced accusations the amount fell far short of what was required. The United Nations said the aid had been held up.

The world body on Monday said it had been cleared to send in aid for the first time since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2 in a move leading to critical shortages of food and medicine.

Umm Talal al-Masri, 53, a displaced Palestinian living in an area of Gaza City, described the situation as ‘unbearable’.

‘No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven’t received anything,’ she said.

‘We’re grinding lentils and pasta to make some loaves of bread, and we barely manage to prepare one meal a day.’

The Israeli army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Israel has faced massive pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its intensified offensive and allow aid into Gaza.

Kallas said on Tuesday that ‘a strong majority’ of foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc backed the move to review its trade cooperation with Israel.

‘The countries see that the situation in Gaza is untenable and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid,’ she said.

Sweden said it would press the EU to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.

Pope Leo XIV described the situation in Gaza as ‘worrying and painful’ and called for ‘the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid’.

Israel’s foreign ministry has said the EU action ‘reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing’.

Several European countries were quick to condemn the shooting incident in the West Bank, with Belgium demanding a ‘convincing explanation’ and Italy saying that ‘threats against diplomats are unacceptable’.

Ahmad al-Deek, political adviser for the Palestinian foreign ministry, said he had been leading the delegation.

‘We condemn this reckless act by the Israeli army, especially at a time when it had given the diplomatic delegation an impression of the life the Palestinian people are living’, he said.

A European diplomat present during the visit said he heard ‘repeated shots’ coming from inside Jenin refugee camp, which has been largely emptied of its inhabitants since a major Israeli operation began in January.

‘We were doing a visit with the governor of Jenin to the border of the camp to see the destruction,’ the diplomat said.

In Gaza, Israel resumed its operations across the territory on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry said Tuesday at least 3,509 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,655.​

 

[Saif]

Israel strikes kill 52 in Gaza

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

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Israel strikes kill 52 in Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 23 May, 2025, 00:04

File photo

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

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

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for 14 neighbourhoods of northern Gaza, as it pressed a renewed offensive that has drawn international condemnation.

The warning came hours after the United Nations said it had collected and begun distributing around 90 truckloads of aid in Gaza, the first such delivery since Israel imposed a total blockade on the territory on March 2.

Under global pressure for an end to the blockade and the violence, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a ‘temporary ceasefire’ in Gaza, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.

In an Arabic-language statement on Thursday, the military said it was ‘operating with intense force’ in 14 areas in the northern Gaza Strip, accusing ‘terrorist organisations’ of operating there.

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

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

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

In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet ‘urgent humanitarian needs’.

Netanyahu said it was necessary to ‘avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action’ in Gaza.

Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies, with Israel’s blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.

Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment, with Gaza’s civil defence agency reporting at least 19 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday.

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

‘No one is distributing anything to us. Everyone is waiting for aid, but we haven’t received anything,’ she said.

‘We barely manage to prepare one meal a day.’

UN agencies have said that the amount of aid entering Gaza falls far short of what is required to ease the crisis. ‘I am tormented for my children,’ Hossam Abu Aida, another resident of the Gaza Strip, said.

‘For them, I fear hunger and disease more than I do Israeli bombardment,’ the 38-year-old added.

The army stepped up its offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Israel has faced mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into Gaza.

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc’s cooperation accord with Israel.

Israel’s foreign ministry has said the EU action ‘reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing’.

Sweden said it would press the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.

Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Hamas also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry said Thursday at least 3,613 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,762, mostly civilians.​