Israel’s barrage of air strikes resumes, toppling buildings

Palestinians unite with a general strike to protest Israel’s bombardment of besieged Gaza as air raids continue.

Dozens of air strikes pounded Gaza on Tuesday as US President Joe Biden expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A new front in the conflict opened as the Israeli military said it also shelled Lebanon in response to six failed rocket launches from southern areas in the neighbouring country.

Biden held his third phone conversation with Netanyahu since violence flared on May 10 and expressed support for a ceasefire. But the US president stopped short of demanding an end to the violence.

At least 212 Palestinians, including 61 children, have been killed in Gaza since the attacks began. About 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded. Ten Israelis have died, including two children, while at least 300 Israelis have been wounded.

Israel says re-shuts Gaza crossing after mortar fire

Israel said it had closed a crossing into Gaza shortly after opening it to allow in humanitarian goods, after mortars were fired at the area as aid trucks passed through.

Israel had opened the Karam Abu Salem crossing to allow in “trucks carrying civil aid donated by international aid organisations to the Gaza Strip,” said COGAT, the Israeli military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

“After a firing of mortar bombs towards the Kerem Shalom Crossing… it has been decided to stop the entry of the rest of the trucks,” the COGAT statement said.

AP news agency quoted Israeli medics saying that 10 people were wounded, 4 seriously, after a rocket attack from Gaza targeted southern Israel.

Israeli police fire tear gas to disperse Palestinian protesters

Israeli police in Bethlehem have fired tear gas, injuring at least seven Palestinian protesters, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett reported from the scene.

Injuries were also reported at a checkpoint in Ramallah, where Israeli police also used tear gas against protesters.

Palestinians also held rallies in other cities, including Nablus and Hebron, amid a general strike.

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli forces during a protest in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Mussa Qawasma/Reuters]

France, Egypt, Jordan to hold talks seeking ceasefire

France’s President Emmanuel Macron, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II will hold talks aimed at seeking a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict, the French presidency said.




“The trilateral meeting aims above all to work for a rapid ceasefire and prevent the conflict from extending,” the presidency said.

Why India’s Hindu nationalists are backing Israel?

Hashtags such as #ISupportIsrael, #IndiaWithIsrael, #IndiaStandsWithIsrael and #IsrealUnderFire have trended on Indian social media over the past week, with many calling Palestinians “terrorists” – a term used by Israel for Palestinian resistance groups.

As Israel faces criticism for its bombing of Gaza, it has received support from India’s Hindu nationalists, why is it so?

More than 58,000 Palestinians displaced in Gaza: UN

More than 58,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli air strikes that have destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN aid agency.

About 47,000 of the displaced people have sought shelter in 58 UN-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, spokesman of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters.

Laerke also said 132 buildings had been destroyed and 316 had been severely damaged, including six hospitals and nine primary healthcare centres.

Palestinian ministry of health calling for blood donors

Gaza-based journalist Youmna al-Sayed, reporting from Gaza City, said that the severity of the situation at Al-Shifa hospital is increasing.

“The ministry of health said that Gaza is struggling with an acute shortage of medical supplies and medicines, while it is calling for volunteers to donate blood,” she said, adding that the hospital is also dealing with electricity and water shortages.

The Gaza Power Company announced that some of the lines that were partly destroyed by Israeli air raids, have been restored.

Members of the Palestinian Abu Dayer family cry the Al-Shifa hospital after the death of family members in an Israeli air strike on the family’s home in Gaza City [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

‘Imperative’ to end Israel-Palestine violence: Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the international community should carry out “an active search of the solution” in the conflict between Israel and armed groups in Gaza.

Speaking at a meeting with world ambassadors to Russia, Putin said any solution should be “based on relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”.

“During the last days … we became witnesses of the escalation in the Middle East. The explosion of the escalation between Palestinians and Israelis have already led to the big number of casualties among civilian population, including children. We consider imperative the end of violent acts,” said Putin.

UN hails Israel decision to open crossing for aid into Gaza

The United Nations hailed an Israeli decision to open the Karam Abu Salem crossing to allow aid into Gaza, and urged the opening of a second location to let in humanitarian workers.

“We very much welcome the Israeli authorities’ opening of Karam Abu Salem crossing for essential humanitarian supplies,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva, saying the Erez crossing should also be opened.

EU set for emergency meeting

The European Union is set to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing fighting at an emergency video meeting of the block’s 27 foreign ministers from 1200 GMT.

“We have reached out to partners to see how we can defuse and contribute to stopping this very dangerous and worrying escalation of violence,” said EU spokesperson Peter Stano.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trade partner and a big aid donor to the Palestinians but has been reluctant to use such leverage or discuss possible economic sanctions on Israel’s government.

‘Does God really feel what we are feeling now?’

Khaled Abu-Shaaban, a humanitarian worker in the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that children living in the enclave were deeply traumatised as a result of Israeli air raids.

“My older girl, she is seven years old. She asked, ‘Does God really feel what we are feeling now?’” he said.

“I answered her, but I started thinking what is the mental state and the emotional state she is going through to be asking such an existential question,” he added.

‘Nothing on the table’ for a ceasefire: report

A senior Israeli official cast doubt on the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian armed groups.

Asked by Reuters news agency if any ceasefire was in the works, a senior Israeli official said: “There is no such thing right now. There is no negotiation. There is no proposal. There is nothing on the table.”

‘To rise as one’

Salem Barahmeh, executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, said the goal of the general strike currently under way in the occupied Palestinian territory was to unite everyone against Israel’s bombardment on Gaza and its oppression against Palestinians.

“It is important to rise as one and try to transcend the forced fragmentation imposed on Palestinians by Israel,” he told Al Jazeera.

He also said that Palestinians on the streets and social media are shaking “Israel’s dominant and unchallenged narrative,” exposing it as the “apartheid regime it is”.

General strike across Palestinian cities in full swing

Shops were shuttered across cities in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and in villages and towns in Israel as Palestinians observed a general strike to protest Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.




The strike, which is supported from both Hamas, the group running Gaza, and Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, led to the suspension of all economic activity and closure of educational institutions.

“It’s the first time in decades that we see Palestinians across the political divide to take part in such a general strike,” said Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah.

People walk past shuttered Palestinian stores in the occupied West Bank of Hebron [Hazem Bader/AFP]

Pro-Palestinian protests in Indonesia, South Korea

Demonstrators in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, gathered to protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and express their solidarity with Palestinians.

Members of Indonesian labour organizations carry placards during a protest against Israel outside the United Nations building in Jakarta, Indonesia [Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters]

A similar protest was also staged outside Israel’s embassy in South Korea’s capital, Seoul.

Palestinian people and South Korean activists stage a protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza, in front of Israeli Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon).

Gaza’s first 3D printer destroyed

Tashkeel3D, Gaza’s first 3D printer, which manufactured medical devices for years, has been destroyed by an Israeli air raid, according to Dr Tarek Loubani, a Palestinian Canadian physician and founder of the Glia Project, Tashkeel3D’s partner.

Tashkeel 3D was started with a 3D printer made by its founder from scratch, following open-source designs online, because the printers were not allowed in Gaza by Israel.

The company, who represented half of Gaza’s 3D printing capacity, was producing stethoscopes and tourniquets to support Gaza’s medical system.

Israeli military says it downed UAV near Jordan border

Israeli military said that its forces downed a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that approached Israel’s border with Jordan, without specifying where the aircraft might have originated.

Iran’s FM reacts to US blocking UNSC statement and selling more arms to Israel

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif slammed the US administration for approving the sale of $735m in weapons to Israel, while blocking a joint UN security council statement.

The arms sale, which Congress was notified of on May 5, a week before the current escalation began, includes Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are used to turn bombs into precision-guided missiles,
according the the Washington Post.

More blasts in Gaza as day breaks

Israel continued its air raids on Gaza as day broke on Tuesday.

Explosions were heard and balls of fire and plumes of smoke were seen rising from several buildings in Gaza City.

Smoke and flames are seen following an Israeli attack on a building in Gaza City on May 18, 2021 [Mohammed Salem/ Reuters]

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on a building in Gaza City on May 18, 2021 [Mohammed Salem/ Reuters]

Jordan’s king blames ‘provocative’ Israeli actions for escalation

Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday and said it was Israel’s “recurrent provocative” actions against Palestinians that have led to the ongoing escalation.

The king also told Guterres that the “international community must shoulder its responsibility, move actively to stop Israeli violations in Jerusalem, aggression on Gaza,” the royal court wrote on Twitter.

Argentinians protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The demonstrators held banners that read “No to the Palestine genocide” and “Everybody with Palestine”.

Protesters hold a banner that reads ‘No to the Palestine genocide’ during a demonstration against Israel and in support of Palestinians, in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Victor R Caivano/ AP]

One protester held a sign that said “Boycott Israel” while another carried a placard that called on the Argentinian government “to break relations with Israel”.

Riot police blocked the demonstrators from reaching the Israeli embassy.

Blasts in Gaza City as dawn approaches

Explosions lit up the night sky over Gaza City early on Tuesday as Israeli forces continued to shell the Palestinian enclave.

There were about 30 Israeli air attacks overnight, as well as bursts of Palestinian rocket fire.

A ball of fire explodes above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli forces shell the Palestinian enclave, early on May 18, 2021 [Mahmud Hams/ AFP]

Israeli jets kept up a barrage of attacks against Gaza following a week of violence that has killed more than 200 people [Mahmud Hams/ AFP]

UN: Situation in southern Lebanon is ‘now calm’

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said it is enhancing security controls in southern Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese army, after detecting rocket fire from the area.

UNIFIL added on Twitter it has intensified patrols “to prevent any further incidents that endanger the safety of the local population and the security of southern Lebanon”.

It added the “situation in the area is now calm”.

Amnesty condemns US approval of arms sales to Israel

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned US plans to sell weapons worth $735m to Israel in the midst of the latest conflict with Palestinian armed groups, saying the approval undermines the US commitment to upholding human rights around the world.

“By supplying weapons that could be used to commit war crimes, the US government is taking the risk of fuelling further attacks against civilians and seeing more people killed or injured by US weapons,” Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International USA’s advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement urging Biden to reconsider the decision.

Israel shells southern Lebanon after ‘failed rocket launches’

Six shells were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Monday but did not cross the border, the Israeli military said.

It said that in response, artillery was fired at “the sources of the launches” in Lebanon.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon said it had detected rocket fire around Rashaya al-Foukhar and urged all parties to “exercise maximum restraint”.

Gaza images suggest Israel committing ‘war crimes’, law professor says

Ardi Imseis, a law professor at Queen’s University in Canada, said Israel is responding with disproportionate force in the Gaza Strip and probably committing war crimes as a result.

“We have reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes are being committed, violations of international humanitarian law, primarily through lack of respect for the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution,” Imseis told Al Jazeera.

The violations appear to come “primarily from the Israeli side, but not exclusively”, Imseis said.

US ‘delay’ in ceasefire support ‘has caused slaughter of children’: Ilhan Omar

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said US President Joe Biden’s delay in expressing support for a ceasefire “has caused the slaughter of children and destruction of lives”.

The tweet came after Biden told Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that he backed a ceasefire.

At least 61 Palestinian children have died since Israel began its bombardment on May 10, following Israeli attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Two children in Israel have also died.

Biden backs ceasefire, repeats support for Israel

US President Joe Biden “expressed his support for a ceasefire” during a conversation with Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, according to a White House readout of the conversation.

Biden also “welcomed efforts to address intercommunal violence and to bring calm to Jerusalem” and “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians”.

Israel has come under criticism for the civilian death toll during its air raids.

Still, Biden “reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks”, the readout said.