Israel Rains Down “Deadliest, Most Widespread Attacks” Yet

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

NOTE: The Gaza Health Ministry’s daily casualty figures are based on the number of dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals, and does not include victims that are under the rubble or elsewhere, where ambulance and civil defense crews can not reach them.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip killed 150 people over the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged and bombarded territory.

Also killed Friday was West Bank resident Mohammad Nidal Abu Libdeh, after he allegedly stabbed an Israeli police officer at the Bab al-Silsila (Chain Gate), one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In Yemen, at least one person was killed and nine others injured in Israeli airstrikes, local authorities reported on Friday.

Israel escalates Its genocide in one of the deadliest, most widespread attacks on Gaza

Israel has intensified its genocidal campaign in Gaza through one of the most extensive and lethal assaults since the beginning of its offensive, committing massacres and adopting a scorched-earth policy involving the total destruction of remaining neighborhoods and infrastructure.

This approach follows a pattern sustained for over 19 months, characterized by mass killings, starvation, and the systematic destruction of all means of survival, with the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians in their homes, shelters, and vital facilities, all aimed at erasing Palestinian society in Gaza and eliminating any prospect of its return or reconstruction.

In recent days, Israeli occupation forces have escalated their assault across various areas of the Gaza Strip, carrying out systematic destruction of what remains of homes and civilian infrastructure, and committing mass killings of the population. This forms part of a policy designed to destroy all aspects of life, depopulate the area, and prevent the continued existence of its residents— a prelude to the imposition of a colonial reality by force, based on the erasure of the indigenous population and the de facto annexation of the territory to Israel, in grave violation of international law, including the prohibition on annexing land by force.

Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented the killing of more than 115 Palestinians in the northern Gaza governorate alone in less than 12 hours since dawn on Friday. The casualties followed Israeli airstrikes on at least 10 residential homes in Tel al-Zaatar (Jabalia) and Al-Salatin neighborhood (Beit Lahia).

These homes were completely destroyed with residents inside, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians, including women and children, in what amounts to a series of mass killings reflecting an escalating pattern of systematic violence against civilians in the Strip.

[At the time of writing] more than half of the victims remain trapped beneath the rubble, as rescue and civil defense teams are unable to reach them due to the lack of resources and equipment. Meanwhile, dozens of bodies and wounded individuals have overwhelmed the corridors of the Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital, highlighting the complete collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system (continue reading here).

Birth defects in Gaza linked to Israel’s internationally banned weapons

Officials in Gaza report a rise in birth deformities linked to new weapons and are calling for an urgent international investigation into Israel’s use of internationally banned chemical and experimental arms throughout its ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign.

An Israeli air strike hits Gaza every four minutes

During Trump’s Middle East visit, Israeli airstrikes escalate (what mainstream media did and didn’t tell you)

There had been widespread hope that Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates could lead to a fresh pause in hostilities or a renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Instead, the raids and bombardment over the past 72 hours have raised the levels of violence higher than it’s been for several weeks, with the death toll coming close to that seen in the first days of Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza after a fragile ceasefire collapsed in March.*

Israel’s military said its air force had struck more than 150 “terror” targets across Gaza.**

Anadolu Agency reports that during US President Trump’s Middle East tour from May 13 to 16, the Israeli military killed approximately 400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

*FACT: The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas did not “collapse.” Israel unilaterally shattered it without warning, killing hundreds. During the two-month ceasefire, Israel killed at least 170 Palestinians; Palestinians did not kill any Israelis during that time.

**NOTE: Here the Guardian only reports on what the Israeli military said about the recent attacks on Gaza. Excellent journalism would not stop there, but would offer context.

For example, the article could also point out that UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said on Thursday, “It is unconscionable that over 45 children have reportedly been killed in airstrikes in Gaza in two days. This should shock the world but is largely met with indifference.”

Or it could report that the Israeli military has admitted, and Israeli media has reported, that over 80% of those killed in Gaza in the past two months were uninvolved civilians.

Or the Guardian piece might have reminded readers that the International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide; or that Israel has blocked all aid to Gaza – including food and water – for over 2 months, and 1.1 million children are at serious risk of starving.

FACT: Mainstream Western media routinely betray a pro-Israel bias (for example, read this and this and this– more here).

RELATED: UN slams Israeli-backed Gaza aid plan as ‘cynical sideshow,’ warns it endangers thousands

This kitchen used to feed 5,000 people a day. Now it stands empty.

We have enough food ready to enter #Gaza, explains WFP’s Kate Newton. We just need the access.

Let aid in before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/wGOuSO5Ks9

— World Food Programme (@WFP) May 16, 2025

Hamas Says Witkoff Personally Promised to Lift Gaza Blockade in Exchange for Edan Alexander

A senior Hamas official told Drop Site that the group received a direct commitment from Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, that two days after the release of U.S. citizen and Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, the Trump administration would compel Israel to lift the Gaza blockade and allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory.

Witkoff, according to the official, also promised that Trump would make a public call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for negotiations aimed at achieving a “permanent ceasefire.”

“It was a deal,” said Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau who has previously engaged in direct talks with U.S. officials. He said the pledge was made by “Witkoff, himself.”

In an interview with Drop Site, Naim said the agreement was: “If we release [Alexander], Trump will speak out thanking Hamas for its gesture, obliging Israel on the second day to open the borders and allow aid to come into Gaza, and [Trump would] call for an immediate ceasefire and to go for negotiations to end the war.”

“He did nothing of this,” Naim added. “They didn’t violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment (continue reading here).

Trump administration may be working on plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya

The Trump administration is [or isn’t] working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.

The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former U.S. official said.

In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago, those three people said.

No final agreement has been reached, and Israel has been kept informed of the administration’s discussions, the same three sources said.

The State Department and the National Security Council did not respond to multiple requests for comment before this article was published. After publication, a spokesperson told NBC News, “these reports are untrue.”

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said that Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that has run Gaza, was not aware of any discussions about moving Palestinians to Libya.

“Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families, and the future of their children,” Naim said in response to questions from NBC News. “[Palestinians] are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do” (continue reading here).

RELATED: Libyan Gov’t Decries Fake News about Taking 1M refugees: “Committed to the Palestinian Cause”

‘We will not stay silent,’ 7 European countries say in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza

“We will not be silent in front of the man-made humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our eyes in Gaza. More than 50.000 men, women, and children have lost their lives,” Iceland, Luxembourg, Spain, Slovenia, Malta, Spain and Norway said in a statement.

They added: “We call upon the government of Israel to immediately reverse its current policy, refrain from further military operations and fully lift the blockade, ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid to be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip by international humanitarian actors and according to humanitarian principles.”

The countries also condemned the escalation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Israel, including illegal settler violence, the expansion of illegal settlements and intensified Israeli military operations.

RELATED: Witkoff informed mediators US does not plan to force Israel to end Gaza war: reports

WEST BANK HEADLINES

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this)

NEWS ON PROTESTS, ARRESTS, DEPORTATIONS, CRACK-DOWNS, ETC:

MORE NEWS:

The Cradle: Israel bombs Yemeni ports as Katz threatens assassination of Houthi leaders (why are Israel and Yemen in conflict?)

IMEMC Daily Reports

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MAY 16, 2025:

• At least 54,250 Palestinians killed, 129,066 injured – including:
• at least 53,272 killed in Gaza (~15,600 children) 
• at least 978 killed in the West Bank (~196 children)
• at least 120,673 injured in Gaza
• at least 8,393 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, it has killed at least 2,985 people. 9 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same time period.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – May 16, 2025: ~1,598 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 414 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 207 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israelis (other groups have tallied between 179 and 266 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

• Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
• Nakba of the Children: How Israel is Targeting the Palestinian Future
• 77 Years of Dispossession — Everything You Need to Know about the Nakba
• Did PBS’s Censorship Lead to the October 7th attack on Israel?
• Why Israel’s demand for Hamas to disarm is a red herring
• Independence Day, Nakba Day, and the Starvation of Gaza
• The Media Calls Israeli Captives “Hostages” and Palestinians “Prisoners”
• Hannibal Directive: Israeli troops ‘killed civilian during Hamas attack and covered it up’
• ‘Terrorism’? Israel has weaponized the charge for decades
• ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
• US Gaza pier op was more than a flop, it was a gigantic hazard
• To my newborn son: I am absent not out of apathy, but conviction
• What Google’s largest-ever acquisition of an Israeli software company tells us about Big Tech’s complicity in genocide
• ‘Tortured, starved, and even killed’: How Israeli forces have accelerated arrest campaigns against Palestinian children since genocide began
• Knesset Debate Reveals Not Everyone Thinks Starving Gazan Children Is a Bad Thing
• US-Hamas talks show that peace is possible
• Why many Americans are unaware of the massive event in Gaza BEFORE October 7th
• 15 Family Members Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza; Only Seven-year-old, His Mother Survived
• Israel Targets Gaza’s Last Lifeline for Food and Escalates Civilian Killings amid Widespread Famine
• Israel Must Let International Journalists Into Gaza: Our Call as Foreign Press Association Members
• Israel is starving Gaza to death, and still the world does nothing
• The Trump Administration Is Hiding American Casualties of War
• Inside Waltz’s Ouster: Before Signalgate, Talks With Israel Angered Trump