Izedine Lulu was besieged in Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital when he heard that Israel had bombed his family home in November. His brothers, sisters and father had all been killed.
The 21-year-old medic could not go to find their bodies because al-Shifa was surrounded by Israeli tanks and snipers. He could only tend to his patients.
“My experience from more than 20 years in Gaza is that the Palestinians don’t use civilian structures as what [Israel are] claiming, as some sort of hideouts for the armed resistance.”
The Israeli attacks on hospitals, mosques, education facilities and bakeries are part of a “campaign to eradicate the Palestinian society and any sign of Palestinian structures in the civilian life.”
“This is the politics of eradicating the Indigenous people to take their lands.”
Three homes have been demolished in Jenin. There is also damage to other homes.
Eleven Palestinians have been killed, including five minors and a surgeon who was parking his car in front of a hospital when he was targeted.
A Palestinian man walks past a damaged building after Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, May 23, 2024 [Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo]
In the last 24 hours, there has been a clear increase in all military attacks across Gaza, starting with the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. A four-storey building was completely destroyed, killing at least 16 Palestinians, including 10 children. An evacuation centre was also targeted.
A boy feeds a monkey that was one of many animals evacuated from a zoo in Rafah. The animals are in danger due to lack of food, healthcare and proper shelter.
A lion evacuated from a zoo in Rafah due to the Israeli military operation, drinks water at a sanctuary in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Palestinian children inspect the damage around charred fishing boats hit by an Israeli airsrike on the Mediterranean coast of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 22, 2024 [Eyad Baba/AFP]
Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli air attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where an AFP team reported more air and artillery attacks early in the morning on May 22, 2024 [Eyad Al-Baba/AFP]
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Defense Minister Gallant has announced he will expand the law to allow Israeli settlers, who were evicted during a 2005 disengagement plan, to return to settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded “punitive measures” from Netanyahu, including establishing a settlement on the occupied West Bank “for every country that unilaterally recognizes a Palestinian state” and promoting the construction of tens of thousands of housing units.