Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 229th day, has killed at least 35,709 Palestinians — majority of them babies, children and women — and wounded over 79,990, while some 10,000+ Palestinians are estimated to be buried beneath the ruins of bombed homes.
1455 GMT –– Thousands of Palestinians have been barred from performing the Hajj pilgrimage due to Israel’s occupation of the Rafah crossing, Palestine’s Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs has said.
“Preventing thousands of Gazans from performing the Hajj is a clear violation of freedom of worship and international humanitarian law,” it added in a statement.
“This is a new war crime added to the series of crimes committed by the (Israeli) occupation against our people and places of worship,” the ministry said.
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1454 GMT –– Spanish politicians call on Madrid to withdraw envoy to Israel
In the parliamentary debate in which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spain would recognise Palestinian statehood next week, left-wing politicians demanded more concrete measures against the Israeli government, including the withdrawal of the ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Inigo Errejon, spokesperson for the government’s junior coalition partner Sumar, said it’s “great news” that Spain will recognise Palestine, adding that it cannot be celebrated too much because it comes amid a “genocide.”
“For us, this is a starting point,” said the speaker for Sumar, calling on Sanchez to support South Africa’s case in the International Court of Justice; the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s arrest warrants for war crimes surrounding Gaza; to open similar proceedings within Spain; a full weapons trade embargo; and to cut ties with the Israeli government.
1437 GMT –– Malta to recognise Palestine as state ‘when the time is right’
Malta has said it will recognise Palestine as a state “when the time is right,” media reports said.
“Malta has recently affirmed its readiness to recognise Palestine, when such recognition can make a positive contribution, and when the circumstances are right,” a government spokesperson told the Time of Malta.
“In this regard, the government is monitoring developments in the Middle East, to determine the optimal time frames for this important development as soon as possible.”
1417 GMT –– Israel to stop sending Palestinian tax revenue to occupied West Bank
Israel’s far-right finance minister has said he would stop transferring tax revenues earmarked for the Palestinian Authority, a move that threatens to handicap the government’s already-waning ability to pay salaries to its thousands of employees.
Bezalel Smotrich said he was taking the move in retaliation, hours after Norway said it would recognise Palestinian statehood.
Under interim peace accords in the 1990s, Israel collects tax revenues on behalf of the Palestinians and transfers them to the PA, which uses them in part to pay wages.
1344 GMT –– More than 100 MPs, lords urge UK to support ICC following arrest warrants request
More than 100 lawmakers and lords in the UK have urged the government to condemn any threats to undermine the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the prosecutor applied for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
“We urge you to condemn any threats and attempts to undermine the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court in its investigations into crimes in Gaza,” the MPs and lords from 11 parties said in a letter.
“We believe that there is mounting evidence that Israel has committed clear and obvious violations of international law in Gaza and strongly believe that those responsible must be held to account,” it said.
1251 GMT –– Palestine recognition ‘important step towards two-state solution’: Jordan
Jordan has hailed a coordinated move by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise the State of Palestine as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood”.
“We welcome the decisions taken by friendly European countries today to recognise a Palestinian state,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Amman.
“We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the June 1967 borders.”
1238 GMT –– Gaza death toll tops 35,700 as Israel continues its brutal war
The Health Ministry in Gaza has said that at least 35,709 people have been killed during more than seven months of Israel’s brutal war on the enclave.
The toll includes 62 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 79,990 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began on October 7.
1228 GMT –– Recognition of Palestinian state based on 1967 borders: Ireland
Ireland plans to recognise the Palestinian state based on its 1967 borders, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has said.
“When we recognise a state, we don’t recognise the government of the day, we recognise the state in terms of a permanent population of people in terms of defined borders, and in this case, it’s the 1967 borders,” Martin told RTE radio.
That is “a defined territory involving Gaza, the West Bank and … a capital of both an Israeli state and a Palestinian state in Jerusalem,” he said, adding that formal recognition would take place on May 28.
1226 GMT –– No two-state solution without dialogue: Germany
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson has stressed Berlin’s support for a two-state solution, responding to a reporter’s question on the decision by some European countries to recognise the state of Palestine.
“An independent Palestinian state remains a firm goal of German foreign policy,” the spokesperson told a regular news conference in Berlin, adding that a dialogue process was needed for that goal.
1159 GMT –– Ankara calls for united Turkic voice against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has urged all Turkic nations to raise their voices and take concrete steps against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, criticising Western silence and inadequate international responses to the humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
“I call on all our brothers in the Turkic world to raise their voices more against the atrocities in Gaza and to take more concrete steps to end this oppression,” said Hakan Fidan during his speech at the first Meeting of Chairpersons of the National Defence Commissions of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TÜRKPA), referring to Israel’s ongoing onslaught on the enclave since Oct. 7, which has killed more than 35,600 Palestinians.
1130 GMT –– Saudi, Qatar and OIC praise recognition of Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have praised the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise a Palestinian state and called on other countries to do the same.
The foreign ministry “expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s welcome of the positive decision taken by the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Ireland to recognise the sisterly State of Palestine,” according to a statement posted on X.
“The kingdom appreciates this decision issued by friendly countries, which affirms the international consensus on the inherent right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and calls on the rest of the countries to quickly make the same decision.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, however, welcomed the announcement as an “important step in support of a two-state solution”, expressing hope that other countries would follow suit.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in the Saudi city of Jeddah, similarly welcomed the move as an “important historic step”.
1016 GMT –– Israel’s Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir forced his way into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.
The intrusion was the first by the extremist minister since Israel launched its deadly offensive on Gaza that killed more than 35,600 people following a Hamas attack last October 7.
The Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem did not provide any details about Ben-Gvir’s intrusion into the site. Wednesday’s raid was the fourth by Ben-Gvir since he became a national security minister in 2022.
0924 GMT –– Israeli army expands incursion in Rafah
The Israeli army expanded its incursion in Rafah city, southern Gaza, amid heavy Israeli bombardment on the city’s residential areas.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that the Israeli army also expanded its incursion in the Philadelphi Corridor area between Gaza and Egypt, as the Israeli forces reached the western part of the Yibna refugee camp in central Rafah.
The Philadelphia Corridor is a 14-kilometre (8.69-mile) long corridor which is guaranteed by the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979.
Under the new army’s advancement in Rafah, the Israeli forces seize control of over half of the Philadelphi Corridor area adjacent to the Egyptian borders.
0919 GMT –– Rejecting Israeli reports, Egypt reiterates commitment to protecting Palestinian rights
Egypt rejected Israeli media reports claiming Cairo-Tel Aviv coordination in the military operation in Rafah, saying commitments to international treaties do not prevent it from safeguarding its national security and rights of the Palestinian people.
“There is no truth to what is being circulated by Israeli media about any kind of joint coordination with Israel regarding its military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah,” Egypt’s Al-Qahera news channel reported, quoting a high-level source.
“Egypt warned Israel of the consequences of escalation in Gaza and rejected any coordination with it regarding the Rafah crossing,” the source stressed, adding: “Israeli media deliberately disseminate false news to divert attention from the internal confusion it is experiencing.”
0825 GMT –– Two more Hezbollah fighters killed in border clashes with Israel
Two more Hezbollah fighters were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese group said.
The group identified the slain fighters as Mohamed Ali Butoam and Ali Hassan Soltan, without providing any details about the circumstances of their death.
The announcement came shortly after Lebanese media said that two people had been killed in an Israeli air strike in the town of Odaisseh early Wednesday.
On Monday, Hezbollah said that six fighters were killed in confrontations with the Israeli army, bringing its death toll to 310 since October 8, 2023, according to an Anadolu tally.
0700 GMT –– Norway, Ireland and Spain recognise Palestine as a state
Norway, Ireland and Spain have recognised a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland.
It was a lightning cascade of announcements. First was Norway, whose Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said “there cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
0348 GMT — Israeli forces raid Jenin, kill 8 Palestinians
The Israeli army raided the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank early Tuesday, triggering clashes with Palestinians that left eight dead.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that a large force stormed the city amid intense overflights of Israeli drones.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that eight Palestinians were killed and 21 others were injured, including two in serious condition.
At least 510 Palestinians have been killed and around 5,000 others injured by the Israeli army in the occupied territory since October 7, according to the Health Ministry.
0245 GMT — Students launch pro-Palestinian encampment at top French university
Students at ENS Paris set up an encampment in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Some 40 students launched the encampment by pitching tents to protest Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza and ENS’s ties with Israeli institutions.
The encampment area was symbolically renamed in honour of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed this year in Israel’s war on Gaza.
0119 GMT — Hamas accuses Israel of suppressing Gaza coverage by restricting Associated Press’s operations
Hamas accused Israel of attempting to hide the Israeli army’s crimes in Gaza from the international community by shutting down a live feed of the Associated Press (AP) news agency showing a view of the enclave.
Officials from the Israeli Communications Ministry seized a camera and broadcasting equipment from the AP office in Sderot in southern Israel. They accused the news agency of violating Israel’s foreign broadcaster law by providing images to the Doha-based Al Jazeera television network.
In a statement, Hamas characterised the Israeli authorities’ seizure of AP’s equipment as a “random and oppressive action against press freedom.”
It said this action is intended to “conceal Israel’s crimes and violations against the Palestinian people from the global public.”
2237 GMT — Ireland may recognise state of Palestine to chagrin of Israel
The Irish government is set to announce the recognition of a Palestinian state, a move strongly opposed by Israel, a source familiar with the matter has said.
European Union members Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta have indicated in recent weeks that they plan to make the recognition, possibly in a coordinated announcement, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region.
2204 GMT — Norway says it is ‘obligated’ to arrest Netanyahu if ICC warrant confirmed
Norway has become the first European country to announce that it would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant if warrants issued by a panel of judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are confirmed.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said if arrest warrants are issued against Netanyahu and Gallant on behalf of the Hague Tribunal, they will be obliged to arrest them if they arrive in Norway.
A Norwegian online newspaper said Eide confirmed that Netanyahu risks being extradited if he visits Norway.
Noting that a panel of judges at the ICC will consider whether the arrest warrants should be issued, Eide reiterated that a person who the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for will have to expect to be handed over to the court in accordance with Norway’s obligations.
“We expect that all state parties to the ICC will do the same,” he added.
2200 GMT — Trump foreign policy adviser urges sanctions on ICC officials
The United States should slap sanctions on International Criminal Court officials who seek an arrest warrant for hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a top foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said after meeting the Israeli leader.
Robert O’Brien, who served as Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser, made the comments in a West Jerusalem interview with Reuters news agency after meeting Netanyahu and other Israeli officials during a multi-day visit to the US ally.
“We can sanction the bank accounts, the travel. We can put visa restrictions on these corrupt prosecutors and judges. We can show some real mettle here,” O’Brien said.
