Summary

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the entire Gaza Strip will be under Israeli security control by the end of the war, and that Israel is open to a temporary ceasefire and a hostage release deal

  • Meanwhile, the UK's Development Minister Jenny Chapman accuses Israel of using hunger as a "weapon of war", during a visit to the West Bank

  • It comes a day after Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Israel's military escalation in Gaza "morally unjustifiable" and the UK suspended talks on a trade deal with Israel

  • Palestinians in Gaza are still waiting for aid to arrive after Israel eased an 11-week blockade on Sunday

  • Israeli officials said 93 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday but the UN says its teams have not yet been able to distribute aid

Media caption,

What's happening with aid trying to get in to Gaza?

  1. EU officials call on Israel to clarify 'warning shots' in West Bankpublished at 15:35 British Summer Time 21 May

    As we reported earlier, Israel's military says its troops fired "warning shots" in the vicinity of an accredited diplomatic delegation after it deviated from an approved route during a visit to the Jenin area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

    However, the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs said the delegation was "deliberately targeted".

    The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has since called on Israel to "investigate this incident and also hold those accountable who are responsible for this and any threats on diplomats' lives".

    Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement on X that he had instructed his ministry to "summon the Israeli Ambassador to Rome to obtain official clarifications regarding what happened in Jenin".

    Tajani said earlier that he had spoken to Alessandro Tutino, the deputy consul general of Italy in Jerusalem, "who is well and who was among the diplomats who were apparently shot at near the Jenin refugee camp".

  2. Malnourished Gaza hospital patients unable to fight infection - UK volunteer surgeonpublished at 15:27 British Summer Time 21 May

    Dr Tom Potokar

    Dr Tom Potokar is a British consultant plastic surgeon, who is currently volunteering in a hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

    He tells the BBC that in terms of medical supplies, "we do have... some still at the moment" - but it's just impossible to say how long that will last. "It's on a day-by-day basis."

    The surgeon says that "we don’t have any extra food in the hospital to support "patients and that "there is none available outside".

    “Because of the extensive malnutrition...we have to take [most patients] back to theatre because their wounds are just not improving and are chronically infected.

    "But you do increasingly hear numbers of people saying they’ve had enough, and they are just waiting to die. They just can’t cope with this anymore," he adds.

  3. IDF says it fired 'warning shots' after diplomats went off approved route in West Bankpublished at 15:13 British Summer Time 21 May

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it fired "warning shots" earlier today in the vicinity of an accredited diplomatic delegation, which the Palestinian Authority says was undertaking an official mission in the Jenin area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

    The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs says the delegation was "deliberately targeted by live fire" but the IDF, however, says the delegation deviated from its approved route, which resulted in soldiers firing warning shots to distance them.

    The IDF says no injuries or damages were reported and that the incident is being reviewed.

    The delegation was in the region "to observe and assess the humanitarian situation", according to Palestinian officials.

  4. People stuck in north Gaza hospital 'facing a water crisis'published at 14:41 British Summer Time 21 May

    Alice Cuddy
    Reporting from Jerusalem

    We have been speaking to a woman on the phone in northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, which ceased operations over the weekend.

    The woman said the group still inside the building included patients, doctors and other personnel. She described two of the patients as being in a “serious condition”.

    In the background of the call, crashes could be heard.

    “Five minutes ago, there was intense shooting in the surroundings of the hospital,” she said, adding that she could see tanks from the building.

    She said they still had supplies of food inside, but were “facing a water crisis”.

    Hadiki Habib, chairman of the MER-C Indonesia NGO that built the Indonesian Hospital, said there was a patient inside with "decreased consciousness".

    He also said he was concerned about the lack of water available for those in the building.

    The Israeli military has told the BBC it is operating in the area around the hospital, targeting “terrorist infrastructure sites”, but is not targeting the hospital itself.

  5. UK pledges £4m in humanitarian aid to Gazapublished at 14:20 British Summer Time 21 May

    The UK has pledged £4m in humanitarian aid to Gaza, during a visit by UK Development Minister Jenny Chapman to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

    "Vulnerable Gazans must urgently be given full access to aid," Chapman said during the visit.

    The government said in a statement that this new aid announcement would support organisations on the ground seeking to get food, water and medicine to those who need it.

  6. ‘We are waiting for the aid to arrive,’ says pharmacist in Khan Younispublished at 13:53 British Summer Time 21 May

    Alice Cuddy
    Reporting from Jerusalem

    I've just received a voice note from Suha Shaath, a pharmacist from Khan Younis in southern Gaza whose home is under Israeli evacuation orders, like much of Gaza.

    Suha has been told to move to the al-Mawasi area for safety but says: “I have not left my house until now because I haven’t found any place to set up my tent."

    “The humanitarian situation is very serious - no water, no food, no fuel. The shelling is hitting everywhere. We are waiting for humanitarian aid trucks to arrive… but there is no news yet,” she adds.

    Suha earlier told me of her fear over the situation in Gaza.

    It’s like “a heavy stone on my ribs - something like agony or death or gasping. It is a very painful feeling.”

    Suha ShaathImage source, Supplied
    Image caption,

    Suha shared a picture of her at work before the evacuation orders

  7. What's been happening so far todaypublished at 13:26 British Summer Time 21 May

    Israeli security forces stand near trucks with aid entering from Israel into GazaImage source, Reuters
    • The UN and humanitarian groups say much-needed aid is not reaching civilians in Gaza, despite around 100 aid trucks entering the Strip on Monday and Tuesday
    • Israeli authorities have not yet commented, but military body Cogat said yesterday that the IDF would "continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance" while making "every effort to ensure that the aid does not reach the hands of the Hamas terrorist organisation"
    • The UN’s humanitarian office says aid is not being released by the Israeli military on the Palestinian side of the crossing for distribution to the wider population
    • A representative of the UN's World Food Programme says the amount of aid being let in is "not sufficient at all" and that "so far, only very few trucks managed to leave from Kerem Shalom [border crossing] and the platform that is in Gaza towards the Strip"
    • Speaking to the BBC, a member of Israeli PM Netanyahu's Likud party says Israel is trying to ensure Hamas does not steal the aid
    • Pope Leo weighs in, calling for "sufficient humanitarian aid" to be allowed in, while Doctors Without Borders says medical supplies in Gaza are critically low
    • Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Civil Defence service says 15 people were killed overnight in Gaza by Israeli air strikes

  8. Gaza baby sent back to war zone after open-heart surgery in Jordanpublished at 13:01 British Summer Time 21 May

    Adnan El-Bursh & Lina Shaikhouni

    Baby Niveen lies on a pillow in a tent in Gaza, a purple and while blanket covers her
    Image caption,

    Seven-month-old Niveen needed open-heart surgery outside Gaza

    In a makeshift tent in al-Shati refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip, 33-year-old Enas Abu Daqqa holds her tiny baby daughter Niveen in her arms. A fan hums constantly behind her to break the morning heat.

    Enas worries that Niveen's health might deteriorate at any point. She is only seven months old, and was born during the war with a hole in her heart.

    As her mother explains how she struggled to keep her alive amid a collapsing health system in Gaza, Niveen, with her big brown eyes and tiny frame, cries and fidgets.

    "The war has been very tough for her," Enas tells the BBC. "She wasn't gaining any weight, and she would get sick so easily."

    Niveen's only chance to survive was to receive urgent care outside Gaza. And in early March, Jordan made that possible.

    To continue reading, head to our story.

  9. IDF says 115 'terror targets' in Gaza struckpublished at 12:45 British Summer Time 21 May

    The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) say they have struck over 115 "terror targets" throughout Gaza in the last 24 hours and killed a Hamas militant.

    They say the militant was part of the 7 October 2023 attack.

    "The targets included launchers, military structures, tunnels, terrorist cells, and additional terrorist infrastructure site," their post on social media X read.

    This wave of strikes is part of the IDF's latest offensive named "Operation Gideon's Chariots", which has seen hundreds of Palestinians killed in the last week.

    Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip.Image source, Reuters
  10. Gaza death toll rises to 53,655 - Hamas-run health ministrypublished at 12:30 British Summer Time 21 May

    Some 82 people have died and 262 were injured in the Strip over the past day, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

    It says there are a number of people still stuck under the rubble and cannot be reached by ambulances and civil defense crews.

    It is unclear if they are alive or dead.

    The latest figures bring the number of people killed in Gaza to 53,655 since 7 October 2023, the ministry says.

  11. Aid sits waiting just a few hours' drive from Gaza - Unrwapublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 21 May

    The UN's Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, has posted a video showing a large amount of aid sitting in a warehouse, external in Amman, the capital of Jordan, which it says is only a three-hour drive from Gaza.

    "Food for 200,000 people, medicine for 1.6 million, blankets, hygiene kits and school supplies sit waiting," it says, adding: "Meanwhile, people in Gaza are in need of everything. Supplies need to enter. Now."

    As we've been reporting, the UN and others have said today that although some aid has passed through Israeli security checks and entered the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials have not yet released it for distribution.

    The Israeli military body responsible for managing crossings into Gaza, Cogat, said 93 UN trucks carrying aid entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, following five the day before.

    It said on social media yesterday that the Israel Defense Forces "continue to facilitate humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip while making every effort to ensure that the aid does not reach the hands of the Hamas terrorist organisation".

  12. Gaza doctor fears 'death of hundreds of patients' if hospital forced to evacuatepublished at 12:01 British Summer Time 21 May

    There is also news from Nasser hospital - the largest remaining medical facility in Gaza - where a British doctor fears the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) could soon force an evacuation.

    And if that happens, she says there will be "imminent death of hundreds of patients".

    "We’re probably still about four streets from the active fighting zone," Dr Victoria Rose, who works in the hospital, says in an Instagram post.

    "We are praying and hoping the IDF don't get any closer to us," she says.

    If the fighting gets any nearer, she says they may not be able to transfer to al-Aqsa - the only other hospital that matches the size of Nassar - as parts of Gaza are blocked off by the IDF.

  13. Hospital is 'totally under siege', says directorpublished at 11:44 British Summer Time 21 May

    Alice Cuddy
    Reporting from Jerusalem

    I’ve just received a voice note from Mohammed Salha, director of northern Gaza's al-Awda hospital, who says it is “totally under siege”.

    “Nobody can move out and we can’t receive any cases from outside the hospital,” he says.

    Dr Salha adds that there is a quadcopter drone “shooting in the surroundings of the hospital and the outdoor area of the hospital. We also hear shooting from the tanks, I think it’s not close, maybe 400 or 500 metres [away],” he adds, before the voice note cuts out.

    In a follow-up message, he writes: “I am OK. But the situation is very difficult.”

    Al-Awda had already been struggling to operate because of a shortage of medical supplies caused by the blockade and the closure of nearby hospitals that it relied on for oxygen stocks and intensive care support following Israeli military operations.

    Dr Salha said that among other services, his hospital provided essential maternity care and that, without it, "women will have to give birth on the street".

    An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson told me: "I can confirm that there are forces operating in the area against terror targets; however, I am not aware of any siege on the hospital itself."

  14. UAE says it has reached deal with Israel to provide humanitarian aid for Gazapublished at 11:30 British Summer Time 21 May

    While the UN said its aid could not yet reach the Palestinian population, the United Arab Emirates says it has reached an agreement with Israel to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza.

    The agreement was announced last night following a phone call between UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar.

    "The aid will address the food needs of approximately 15,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip in the initial phase," according to a statement on the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

    The aid also includes "essential supplies" to support bakeries and "critical items" for infant care "while ensuring a continuous supply to meet the ongoing needs of civilians", UAE says.

    The UAE has not provided details about how the agreement will work, or who will be responsible for the aid entering and being distributed in Gaza. Israel has not yet commented on the agreement.

    UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.Image source, Reuters
  15. Background to why Israel is fighting in Gazapublished at 11:17 British Summer Time 21 May

    Over 19 months ago, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.

    During that attack about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Hamas still holds 58 hostages after having handed over some others in recent months in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel's aims include destroying Hamas, returning the hostages and making sure Israel cannot be threatened in future.

    The Israeli government also said it wanted tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to be able to return to their homes in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, following attacks by Hamas's ally Hezbollah.

    More than 53,000 people in Gaza - mostly civilians, the majority of whom women and children - have been killed in the fighting, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

    The UN says most of the 2.3 million population have been forced from their homes and that there are "catastrophic" levels of food insecurity. In recent days, the UN said Israel had given permission for around 100 aid lorries to enter Gaza after 11 weeks of blocking all aid - even though the latest aid could not yet reach the population.

  16. UK government's new tough tone is significantpublished at 11:01 British Summer Time 21 May

    Jeremy Bowen
    International Editor

    The UK government's announcement on suspending a trade deal with Israel yesterday was significant - in particular the tough tone they chose to use.

    I have been reporting on this story since the 1990s. I don't think I've ever heard a British government talk about Israel's conduct of its military operations in that way before.

    The Israeli media this morning is full of the implications of this, as well as a sense that Israel is hurtling towards pariah status among its allies - that's something which, while the government will keep pushing back hard on it, people in Israel will be concerned about.

    The amount of aid that's going in frankly looks like a token - a token mostly aimed at the way Donald Trump and some significant Americans have said they don't want to see pictures of starvation.

    Britain, Canada and France will have to decide what to do if Israel does not listen to their calls to stop the offensive and let in a significant and large number of shipments of aid - neither of those things have happened yet.

  17. In pictures: Palestinians mourn those killed in Israeli strikespublished at 10:51 British Summer Time 21 May

    As we've been reporting, the UN says the aid trucks haven't reached people in Gaza yet.

    It comes after a series of Israeli strikes hit the territory overnight. Here are some latest pictures.

    Smoke rises from northern Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, May 21, 2025Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Residential areas have been battered by Israeli airstrikes in the latest massive offensive, as seen here in Northern Gaza.

    Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, May 21, 2025.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Young men dig through the ruins of a destroyed home in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

    Palestinians carry a body at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip May 21, 2025Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Here, several men carry the body of a Palestinian who was killed in the overnight airstrikes in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

    Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, at Nasser hospital, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, May 21, 2025.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    At Nassar hospital in Khan Younis, Palestinians cry during a funeral for those who have been killed.

  18. 'Whole population on brink of starvation' in Gaza - World Food Programmepublished at 10:43 British Summer Time 21 May

    Antoine Renard, the UN's World Food Programme representative in East Jerusalem, says the "temporary opening up" of aid into Gaza is "not sufficient at all" for the "acute food needs".

    "So far, only very few trucks managed to leave from Kerem Shalom [border crossing] and the platform that is in Gaza towards the Strip," he tells the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.

    Asked about Israel's plan to change the way aid is distributed in Gaza away from relying on the UN, Renard says it is important the existing food network is allowed to stay in place.

    There needs to be sustained large-scale aid, "otherwise we will not avert what is currently a whole population on the brink of starvation", he says.

  19. Pope Leo calls for 'sufficient humanitarian aid' into Gazapublished at 10:14 British Summer Time 21 May

    Davide Ghiglione
    Reporting from the Vatican

    Pope Leo XIV holds his first general audience in St. Peter's SquareImage source, Reuters

    Over in the Vatican, Pope Leo has just given an address in which he called for "sufficient humanitarian aid" to be allowed into the Gaza Strip.

    During his first general audience in St Peter's Square the Pope said: “The situation in the Gaza strip is ever more worrying and painful.

    "I renew my appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the high price of which is paid by children, the elderly and the sick.”

  20. Medical supplies 'critically low' - Doctors Without Borderspublished at 09:53 British Summer Time 21 May

    The emergency coordinator in Gaza for the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders, Claire Manera, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that medical supplies are "critically low".

    "There is a small amount of aid that is inside, but it hasn't reached the communities at all," she says, adding Israeli officials are placing conditions on how it is distributed which are "not safe".

    Meanwhile, homes and hospitals are "being targeted" and "the access to healthcare and to any kind of assistance is becoming impossible", she says.

    She says the condition of people there is "deteriorating", and the number of children coming in with third-degree burns is "horrific".

    The "agony" of children without pain medication, people on the streets "desperate for food", and mothers "watching their children starve", are things that are "getting worse every day", she says.