UNITED NATIONS, May 30 – The situation in Gaza is the worst since the war between Israel and Hamas militants began 19-months ago, the United Nations said on Friday, despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave where famine looms.

Under growing global pressure, Israel ended an 11-week long blockade on Gaza 12 days ago, allowing limited U.N.-led operations to resume. Then on Monday, a controversial new avenue for aid distribution was also launched – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the United States and Israel.

“Any aid that gets into the hands of people who need it is good,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. But, he added, the aid deliveries so far overall have had “very, very little impact.”

“The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began,” he said.

The U.N. and international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral and has a distribution model that forces the displacement of Palestinians.

Israel ultimately wants the U.N. to work through the GHF, which is using private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites.

However, Israel will allow aid deliveries “for the immediate future” via both the U.N. and the GHF operations, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said this week. GHF said on Friday that it has so far managed to distribute more than 2.1 million meals.

Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

LOOTING, ACCESS

The U.N. says that in the past 12 days it has only managed to transport some 200 truckloads of aid into Gaza, hindered by insecurity and Israeli access restrictions. It was not immediately clear how much of that aid reached those in need. It said some trucks and a World Food Programme warehouse have also been looted by desperate, hungry people.

U.N. officials have also criticized Israeli limitations on what kind of aid they can provide.

“Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn’t been, it wouldn’t amount to a complete diet for anyone,” said Eri Kaneko, U.N. humanitarian affairs spokesperson.

Some of recipients of GHF aid said the packages include some rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.

Under a complex process, Israel inspects and clears aid shipments, which are then transported to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. There the aid is offloaded and then reloaded on to other trucks for transport to warehouses in Gaza.

Several hundred more truckloads of aid currently await U.N. collection from the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom.

“More aid would actually get to the people if you would collect the aid waiting for you by the crossings,” COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said to the U.N. in a posting on X on Friday.

However, the U.N. said that on Tuesday the Israeli military denied all its requests to access Kerem Shalom to pick up the aid. And on Thursday, when 65 trucks of aid managed to leave the crossing, all but five turned back due to intense fighting.

Five trucks of medical aid managed to reach the warehouses of a field hospital, but “a group  ‎of armed individuals stormed the warehouses…  looting large quantities of ‎ medical equipment, supplies, medicines and nutritional supplements that was intended for  ‎malnourished children,” Dujarric said.

CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL

Israel says it has been facilitating all aid deliveries. COGAT said this week that since the war 1.8 million tonnes of aid, including 1.3 million tonnes of food, had reached Gaza.

A U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict – accepted by Israel and currently being considered by Hamas – would see humanitarian aid delivered by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels.

During a two-month ceasefire, which ended when Israel resumed its military operation in March, the U.N. said it got 600-700 trucks of aid a day into Gaza. It has stressed then when people know there is a steady flow of aid, the looting subsides.

“To prevent chaos, aid must flow in steadily,” Corinne Fleischer, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe director, posted on X on Thursday.

“When people know food is coming, desperation turns to calm.”

REUTERS

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM, May 30 – Israel carried out airstrikes late Friday on multiple military targets in Syria’s coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, including a former special forces headquarters and military positions near civilian areas, according to Syrian state media and a war monitor.

In Tartus, the airstrikes targeted a military facility formerly used by special forces, as well as sites in the al-Wuhaib industrial area and the al-Blata barracks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

State-run al-Ikhbariya TV reported that Israeli warplanes hit the village of Zama in the Jableh countryside, as well as military sites in the Mina al-Bayda port area and the 107th Brigade base in neighboring Latakia province.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it attacked weapon storage facilities in Latakia on Friday night.

It added that the facilities contained missiles that posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, and Syrian defense authorities had not issued an official statement.

The strikes come amid heightened regional tensions and follow a series of Israeli raids across Syria in recent months, some of which have resulted in casualties and the destruction of air defense systems or weapons depots.

XINHUA

KHARTOUM, May 30 – At least 26 civilians were killed in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on three towns in Sudan’s western Kordofan region, the Sudanese government announced on Friday.

“In recent hours, the RSF militia has committed a series of horrific crimes, deliberately targeting civilian areas and claiming the lives of innocent people,” Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Today (Friday), the militia targeted Al-Daman Hospital in El-Obeid city, killing 16 patients who were receiving treatment and injuring several others,” the ministry said, adding, “On Wednesday, the militia also attacked a public market in the town of Al-Khiwai with drones, killing eight civilians.”

The RSF also targeted a residential area in the town of Al-Dibaibat, South Kordofan, killing two civilians, the statement said.

The ministry described the RSF attacks as part of a deliberate and systematic campaign targeting civilians, humanitarian organizations, critical infrastructure, and essential services, with the intent of inflicting maximum civilian harm.

It accused the RSF of bombing World Food Programme warehouses in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, on Thursday and setting them ablaze, destroying large quantities of food supplies.

Armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF have intensified across the Kordofan region, which includes North, West, and South Kordofan states.

On Thursday, the RSF claimed control of the towns of Al-Dibaibat in South Kordofan and Al-Khiwai in West Kordofan. The Sudanese army has not yet responded to the claim.

Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, both within Sudan and across its borders.

XINHUA

GAZA, May 30, 2025 – The death toll arising from the ongoing Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip surged to 54,321 people, medical sources said on Friday.

WAFA

MADRID, May 30, 2025 – The Spanish government on Friday condemned Israel’s recent approval of plans to build 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the move a blatant violation of international law and a serious threat to regional peace.

In a statement issued by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, the government expressed its “deep concern” over the Israeli decision, warning that such actions severely undermine the prospects of a two-state solution and escalate tensions in the region.

Spain also voiced alarm over the intensifying Israeli military aggression in the West Bank, particularly in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nour Shams refugee camps. The statement denounced the ongoing demolitions, increasing settler violence, and the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians, describing these acts as violations of international humanitarian law.

The Spanish government reaffirmed its position that lasting peace in the Middle East requires the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

WAFA

GAZA, May 30, 2025 – Three Palestinian civilians were killed and several others injured on Friday in Israeli airstrikes targeting central areas of the Gaza Strip.

According to WAFA correspondent, one of the attacks struck a residential area in the city of Deir al-Balah, killing a man and his wife, who was nine months pregnant.

In a separate airstrike on Al-Bureij refugee camp, at least one more Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded, most of them critically. The target of the strike was reportedly a local barbershop.

WAFA

ABUJA, May 30 – The death toll from devastating floods triggered by heavy rainfall in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State has climbed to at least 88, local authorities said Friday.

Ibrahim Isah Hussaini, head of operations at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said at least 67 more bodies were recovered during ongoing rescue efforts in the Mokwa area, raising the death toll from 21 reported on Thursday.

“The number keeps rising. But at the last count, 88 bodies have been recovered,” Hussaini said during rescue operations, adding that more people remain missing.

XINHUA

ISLAMABAD, May 30 – Four soldiers and seven terrorists were killed in two separate operations in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military has said.

Security forces conducted intelligence-based operations in North Waziristan and Chitral districts on Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, said in a statement.

Six terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire after they attacked a security check post in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, the statement said, adding that four soldiers were also killed in the ensuing firefight.

One more terrorist was killed during a clearance operation in Chitral district, the ISPR said.

Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the terrorists, who were reportedly involved in various militant activities in the region, the statement said.

XINHUA