CrossFireArabia, Author at CrossFireArarbia

Gaza Death Toll Hikes to 72,939, With 172,927 Injured

CrossFireArabia
May 31, 2026

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza has risen to 72,939 Palestinians killed and 172,927 injured since October 2023, medical sources in the Gaza Strip announced on Sunday.

Health authorities reported that hospitals across Gaza received one newly killed victim, another who succumbed to previous wounds, and eight injured people over the past 24 hours according to Wafa.

They added that the total number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire that took effect on October 11, 2025, has reached 930, while injuries have risen to 2,819. A further 781 bodies have also been recovered from different areas of the Strip.

Medical officials noted that a number of victims remain trapped beneath the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and rescue crews continue to face difficulties reaching them due to ongoing conditions on the ground.

In a separate development, medical sources announced that the operating room at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has gone out of service after all electrical generators completely stopped functioning.

The sources warned that the generator crisis has reached a critical stage following the shutdown of the hospital’s fourth backup generator.

They explained that the backup generators are severely worn out after operating continuously for more than a year and are no longer capable of meeting the daily needs of the hospital’s vital departments.

According to the sources, dialysis units, neonatal care, intensive care units and laboratory services are now at risk of shutting down as the crisis worsens.

News

Israel Kills 26 Gazans Over Eid Festivities

CrossFireArabia
May 31, 2026

At least 26 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday – the eve of one of the most important holidays in Islam – the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on Friday.

The information was provided by its monitors in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) who condemned the increase in Israeli attacks as families prepared to observe Eid al-Adha.

They said 12 Palestinians were killed in three airstrikes on 26 May, while a teenage girl died of injuries sustained in a strike the previous day that also killed a woman and a young girl, initial reports indicated.

One airstrike killed four men in a camp in Middle Gaza, reportedly after they resisted attempts to search their homes by armed gangs allegedly supported by the Israeli military. Two other men were killed when a strike hit a car in Khan Younis.

The third airstrike, against an apartment in Gaza City, killed a newly appointed commander of the Hamas Al Qassam Brigades, his wife and three children, as well as a woman passerby.

Ten people allegedly affiliated with Al Qassam Brigades were reportedly killed in a strike on 27 May.

Death, displacement and deprivation

The office noted that Israeli forces have killed 922 Palestinians in attacks since the announcement of the ceasefire in October, bringing the overall death toll since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks to nearly 73,000, according to local authorities.

At least 32 children and eight women have been killed in attacks since the truce.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are still being deprived of adequate shelter, essential medicines, food and other necessities as the blockade on Gaza continues, it said.

Nearly the entire population remains displaced and concentrated “into a progressively narrower strip of land”, with multiple displacement orders issued in recent days.

Dire conditions, ‘unthinkable’ attacks

The rights investigators also addressed the announcement on Thursday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has directed Israeli forces to expand their deployment to cover 70 per cent of Gaza’s territory.

They said the continued contraction of areas available to civilians raises questions around access to humanitarian assistance and finding safety.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the human rights office in the OPT, said its concern over the commission of war crimes in Gaza has not stopped.

“It is difficult enough to navigate life in chronic displacement in the ruins of Gaza, under blockade, and after Israeli attacks virtually destroyed every essential system: healthcare, education, food production, law enforcement and civil order,” he said.

“Continuing military attacks on a population living under these conditions is unthinkable.”

Airstrike near aid facilities

Separately, UN aid coordination office OCHA said that an airstrike on Thursday hit a residential area near five humanitarian facilities in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. No casualties were reported.

The development followed an order from the Israeli military to shelter in place shortly before the strike.

OCHA continues to call for the opening of more crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to be let in as only one, Kerem Shalom, remains operational.

Humanitarian partners provided mental health and psychosocial support, as well as other protection, to more than 10,000 people between 11-17 May.    

These services – including recreational activities, art and drama sessions, counselling and parenting support – were provided in shelters, camps, schools and displacement sites.  

“Partners reiterate that to continue these services – particularly for children and adolescents – fuel, safe spaces, staff and other basic resources are needed,” OCHA said. UN News

Uncategorized

Football and Borrowed Boots!

CrossFireArabia
May 31, 2026

Matches organised by a former professional player are providing a brief respite from the harsh reality of life for the thousands living in overcrowded tents, schools or damaged buildings in the shattered Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza.

In the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, where tents stretch across the sand and snaking queues form for water and food, Asaad Al-Azzabi prepares for a match a world away from what he once knew.

Before the war, Mr. Al-Azzabi played for Al-Tajammu Club in Rafah, where he and his teammates had access to pitches, training halls, coaches and equipment.

A displaced football player from Rafah prepares his cleats in a sand camp in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, Gaza. — UN News Asaad Al-Azzabi’s torn boots.

Borrowed boots

Now, he’s lucky if he can find boots to play in. “Sometimes I borrow a pair from a friend or patch them up with tape,” he says.

His home is now a tent in Al-Rahma Camp, a shelter for people displaced from Rafah, where access to clean water and sanitation services is scarce. He lives alone, after his wife left for Jordan with their son, who has cancer, to seek treatment.

According to UN data, around 1.7 million people are living in around 1,600 displacement sites across the Gaza Strip, most of them in temporary or informal locations. Most residents rely on water brought in by truck and are forced to cope with restrictions on the entry of equipment, fuel and repair materials.

Amid the struggle to meet basic needs, Mr. Al-Azzabi is preparing for the match with nearby Sheikh Al-Eid Camp. He explains the game plan to his players by drawing on the sand, before the team sets off on foot toward a pitch located among the tents of displaced people.

The match appears to be more than a sporting activity – it is a respite from the daily hardships of life in the camps.

Children and young men gather around the sandy pitch, applauding players, some of whom arrived after spending hours standing in queues for food, water or battery charging.

A group of Palestinian refugees, including Asaad Al-Azzabi, gathers to watch a soccer match at a makeshift field in the Al-Mawasi displacement camp, west of Khan Younis, Gaza. — UN News Displaced people from Rafah watching the match between Al-Rahma Camp and Sheikh Al-Eid Camp.

Something out of nothing

Referee Alaa Abu Taha, a referee with the Palestinian Football Association and a displaced resident of Rafah, says football has become the “only outlet” for many people in Gaza.

“With the most limited resources, we try to play. Now there is no sports infrastructure. The pitch we are standing on now was originally prepared for basketball and volleyball, but our people create everything out of nothing,” he says.

Gaza’s sports sector has suffered widespread destruction since the outbreak of the war. According to the Palestinian Football Association, hundreds of athletes have been killed, including many footballers, while hundreds of sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed, including pitches, club headquarters and training halls.

In Al-Mawasi these losses have not prevented players from organising a championship between displacement camps.

The big match

The match kicks off in front of a small crowd of displaced spectators, with Mr. Al-Azzabi taking part in boots held together by plastic tape. At the end of the match, Al-Rahma Camp defeats Sheikh Al-Eid Camp 2–1.

A Palestinian football player lifts a soccer trophy in a refugee camp in Gaza, surrounded by celebrating teammates and children. — UN News Asaad Al-Azzabi celebrating with the crowd of young men and children.

After the final whistle, young men from the camp lift him and his teammates onto their shoulders, while children and young people celebrate among the tents. For a few brief moments, the sound of displacement recedes from the scene, and football emerges as a rare space for joy.

“Under these difficult circumstances, to be able to come out and play a match like this is a very good thing,” says Mr. Al-Azzabi. “Congratulations to our camp. I dedicate this championship to my wife and son in Jordan, and I wish my son a speedy recovery.”

For him, the game is more than a sporting victory. It is a message to his distant family and an attempt to preserve what remains of his life as a former player, chasing the ball as if it were the last thing connecting him to who he was before the war. UN News

News

UN Puts Israel on Its ‘Black List’ For Sexual Violence

CrossFireArabia
May 30, 2026

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday welcomed the inclusion of Israel on the UN blacklist for sexual violence in conflict, calling the move “realistic and objective.”

“UN inclusion of Israel on the ‘List of Shame’ for Perpetrators of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones is a scientific and logical outcome,” a Palestinian Foreign Ministry statement said.

The ministry expressed support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres amid what it described as Israeli attempts to influence the UN report that placed Israel on the list.

It said that Israel and its “official and unofficial institutions have practiced torture, sexual violence, and rape against our people in the occupied Palestinian territory, especially in detention centers.”

Israel “has used sexual violence as a weapon of war, which constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity,” it added.

The statement said that Israel has employed a “systematic and widespread policy” over the past years to “intimidate our people and create conditions of forced displacement.”

It added that including Israel to the UN sexual violence blacklist is “an objective, realistic, and scientific outcome of diplomatic efforts, especially in light of the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”

It noted that the designation came as a result of “irrefutable Palestinian and international documentation, numerous international reports, and testimonies submitted by the State of Palestine and Palestinian victims who have been subjected to various forms of sexual violence, torture, and other violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees during arrest, interrogation, and detention.”

Palestine called on the international community “to act today in light of all these international reports issued by the United Nations, credible and independent bodies, and to activate mechanisms for the protection of the Palestinian people, as well as accountability and prosecution,” according to Anadolu.

On Thursday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon announced the decision to end contacts with Guterres’ office in a pre-recorded video message, calling Israel’s addition “outrageous” while alleging the decision is part of a “campaign against Israel.”

The decision to add Israel to the blacklist comes after multiple reports from the media and human rights groups accused Israel’s military of engaging in sexual violence.

An opinion piece published in the New York Times by columnist Nicholas Kristof earlier this month alleged Palestinian detainees had been subjected to widespread sexual violence by Israeli prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.

Kristof said he interviewed 14 Palestinian men and women who described sexual assaults and other abuse during detention, or attacks perpetrated by Israeli forces and settlers.

The columnist wrote that there was “no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes,” but argued that Israeli authorities had created “a security apparatus where sexual violence has become,” citing a UN report, one of Israel’s “standard operating procedures.”

The article included testimonies alleging rape with objects, beatings targeting genitals, threats of sexual violence and humiliation during imprisonment.

Kristof cited reports by organizations including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Save the Children, B’Tselem and the Committee to Protect Journalists documenting allegations of sexual abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees.

He also referenced a UN report published last year accusing Israel of “systematically” subjecting Palestinians to “sexualized torture.”

News

Israel Seeks to Destroy Lebanon

CrossFireArabia
May 30, 2026

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday warned that his country is facing “dangerous and unprecedented” Israeli escalation in the south despite a ceasefire agreement.

“Israel is pursuing a policy of comprehensive destruction that goes beyond targeting specific locations in Lebanon. What Israel is doing is not only a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty but also an attempt to erase history,” Salam said at a press conference in Beirut.

“We are facing dangerous and unprecedented Israeli attacks,” he added.

The premier said Lebanon remains determined to end the war and prevent the country from becoming an arena for the conflicts of others.

He also argued that Israel cannot achieve security through destruction and military attacks.

Commenting on US-mediated negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, Salam said the Lebanese state is conducting talks on behalf of all Lebanese citizens according to Anadolu.

“There is no guarantee that the negotiations will succeed, but this is the least costly option for Lebanon and our people,” he said.

“Does negotiation mean surrender? No. The professional work of the negotiating team is aimed at securing a ceasefire,” Salam added.

Addressing residents displaced by Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the prime minister said the Lebanese state would continue efforts to secure a ceasefire and support reconstruction.

Israel has continued airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 and was later extended by 45 days beginning May 17 through US mediation.

Lebanese authorities said Thursday that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed more than 3,300 people and displaced over one million others.