8 hours ago
Good morning.
As Israel intensifies its assault on Gaza, bombarding the already besieged strip with relentless airstrikes and expanding its ground operations to “take control of all areas”, the international community has urged Israel to open the border for aid. Countries including France, the UK and Canada have threatened action against Israel if it does not stop its assault on Gaza, which were described as “disproportionate” and “intolerable”.
After 11 weeks of a total blockade on all goods, the territory is suffering from an acute shortage of essentials including food, medicine and fuel. So far, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition during this period.
Benjamin Netanyahu finally responded to mounting pressure on Monday, but only to permit a “minimal” amount of aid aimed at preventing famine “both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint”. The Israeli PM’s announcement came with a significant caveat: food deliveries will go on until Israel’s military and private companies have established militarised hubs to distribute aid under a US-backed plan that the UN has rejected.
For today’s newsletter, I spoke with Clémence Lagouardat, Oxfam’s response lead in Gaza, who returned last month from six weeks on the ground about the latest developments in Israel’s aid response. That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
Europe | Keir Starmer has vowed his EU reset deal will deliver cheaper food and energy for British people, heralding a “win-win” as he sealed the high-stakes agreement with concessions on youth visas and fishing.
Russia | Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have held a rare phone call, which the US leader described as “excellent”, but the Kremlin refused to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the war with Ukraine despite pressure from Washington and European allies.
UK news | The personal data of hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants in England and Wales dating back to 2010, including criminal records and financial details, has been accessed and downloaded in a “significant” cyber-attack.
Welfare | At least £357m in carer’s allowance benefit was paid out in error over the past six years because of official failures, resulting in debt and misery being inflicted on tens of thousands of people.
NHS | A senior doctor has been accused of wrongly failing to escalate the care of a 13-year-old girl whose death led to the adoption of Martha’s rule, which gives the right to a second medical opinion in hospitals.
In depth: ‘This is not the solution for what the people in Gaza are facing’
In the last two months, Israeli strikes and ground operations have reportedly killed more than 3,000 people and displaced 400,000 others. On Sunday, the Israeli military announced plans to intensify attacks with “extensive ground operations” across northern and southern Gaza, aiming to seize “operational control” of large areas of the territory.
That same day, at least 144 people were killed in airstrikes. The escalation came amid the second day of indirect ceasefire negotiations in Doha.
How has the situation deteriorated?
When Lagouardat arrived in Gaza, about two weeks into the blockade, there was still access to a stockpile of goods. However, stocks quickly became “depleted” and people were using up their “last remaining lifelines” of supplies. “Cooking gas was one of the first things to disappear from the market, meaning that people needed to buy wood. But when wood also became scarce, and with prices increasing, people had to resort to burning waste,” Lagouardat says. Everything follows the same trend, she explains: supplies dwindle, prices skyrocket, most cannot afford supplies while those who can afford it stockpile, increasing the speed at which key commodities and items disappear from the market, and eventually supplies vanish altogether.
“Every day, we see people bartering whatever they have,” Salma Altaweel, a support manager with the Norweigan Refugee Council, says via a translator. “You see people on social media offering one kilogram of rice for baby formula or nappies. People can’t afford to buy virtually anything. The market is almost empty and so people have to rely on what others might have at hand.”
According to the UN, as of 10 May there was a 60% drop in meal production compared with 25 April, from 1.08m meals being prepared and delivered to 412,000. By 12 May, the closure of additional kitchens resulted in a further drop of around 150,000 – a 75% reduction in daily meal production.
Altaweel is in Gaza City, where the living conditions “get worse by the day. People are sleeping rough. Patients are being evacuated with their beds. People are evacuating under heavy shelling, so they leave with nothing, no clothes, no food, no mattresses or tents.”
Will Israel’s announcement make a difference?
Lagouardat describes Israel’s announcement that it will allow a “basic amount of food” to enter Gaza after two and a half months of a blockade as a “tactical distraction”.
She believes “the number of trucks that they are mentioning at the moment is extremely low and will not solve the situation that we are facing on the ground – it is going to be partial. This is not the solution for what the people in Gaza are facing.
“We also know that when assistance is entering drop by drop, there is an increased risk for humanitarian workers,” Lagouardat says, “because you are bringing very few items to a very desperate situation and people.” These acute circumstances have led to an increase in looting, theft and violence: aid workers at one distribution site run by an NGO were held at knifepoint as it was looted, and Unrwa had to evacuate their staff after thousands of people breached its Gaza City field office and took medications.
Palestinians are left with little choice. Many are now having just one meal a day, made up of only rice and lentils, and parents are reducing their own food intake to ensure their children can eat more. Altaweel says: “You see parents weeping because they can’t feed their children. We are hardly able to hold our head up. Everyone is dizzy and lightheaded, including my children and myself. We have not eaten anything nutritious for months.”
Pushback from the Israeli state
Delivering aid has become more and more difficult, in part due to hostility from the Israeli state, which wants to replace the well-established and heavily audited networks of humanitarian organisations across Gaza with central distribution hubs that are secured by the Israeli military and operated by armed US contractors.
In early March, Israel said it would implement new visa and registration rules for international aid organisations operating in the Palestinian territories. The new protocols could lead to international NGOs registered in Israel facing deregistration, while new applicants risk rejection based on what the Norweigan Council of Refugees describes as “arbitrary, politicised” allegations.
At the same time, Israeli officials have backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private charity, and private security firms, to take over food distribution in Gaza. Its population would be forced to move south to receive the aid from GHF’s four or five militarised distribution centres. The UN has rejected the plan, saying it “weaponises aid” and threatens to cause mass displacement of Palestinians.
“I think we are being put in a situation where we will not be able to operate, and that will play into Israel’s narrative that has been pushing principal humanitarian organisations out [of Gaza] and trying to push for militarisation and privatisation of aid,” Lagouardat says.
Delivering aid during increasing hostilities
Last week, Israel targeted two of the largest medical facilities in Khan Younis, the Nasser medical complex and the European hospital, among the few that remained operational after 18 months of devastating attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system.
The most recent assault on the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza left the hospital reportedly under siege, with Gaza’s health ministry accusing Israeli forces of “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”. Israel’s military also declared an entire city a combat zone and launched airstrikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians over the weekend.
“There is only a certain level of risk we can take, institutionally speaking,” Lagouardat said. “Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, we have been pushing our own internal boundaries in terms of what is acceptable risk – from humanitarian and security perspectives – because the humanitarian imperative was so great. But we are reaching a point where the level of risk is so high that I am not sure we will be able to continue operating much longer.”
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Sport
Football | Jack Hinshelwood hit a dramatic 85th-minute winner just minutes after coming on to give Brighton a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Liverpool.
Rugby union | Next year’s Six Nations will kick-off on a Thursday night for the first time in the competition’s history, with the defending champions France hosting Ireland, and take place across just six weeks after organisers removed one of the fallow weeks for the championship.
Media | Gary Lineker (pictured above) will leave the BBC this weekend, it was announced on Monday, days after he apologised for amplifying online material with antisemitic connotations. The presenter, the highest-paid on-air star at the BBC, had been scheduled to present the 2026 World Cup and next season’s FA Cup for the broadcaster.
The front pages
“EU deal puts Britain back on the world stage, says Starmer” – that’s the Guardian and the Mirror has “Keir – deal is win-win”. “Starmer hails Brexit reset as ‘new era’ in EU relations” says the Times and “Kiss goodbye to Brexit” is the Telegraph’s version. The i paper is exhaustive – “Britain wins food and defence deals after fishing climbdown – with future clash on visas for under-30s” – and the Financial Times only a little less so: “UK and EU agree post-Brexit reset of trade links at showpiece summit”. The PM ought not fish for compliments elsewhere: “Starmer’s surrender” is what the Express calls it, while the Daily Mail goes with “Keir’s ‘abject surrender’ is betrayal of Brexit Britain”. The Metro has “Brexit battle 2 begins” under the strapline “Starmer hails EU deal as opponents take aim”.
Today in Focus
Opposing the war in Gaza, from inside Israel
Israeli anti-occupation activists Yehuda Shaul and Michael Sfard on the new offensive in Gaza.
Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Streaming offers us the idea of limitless discovery and joy. However, we all feel the toll of constant consumption and the nagging weight of decision fatigue. For the Guardian’s One change that worked column, Rich Pelley (pictured above) writes about his answer to this problem: quitting streaming music and re-embracing CDs.
“Instead of listening to random suggestions, I’m back to my own musical free will. Sure, it involves lining Jeff Bezos’s pockets … but you can’t beat the feeling of holding something physical in your hand,” he writes. “I couldn’t be happier, although my shelves, which are desperately reaching their CD weight limit, may disagree.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
