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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
Yousef Al-Najjar, a four-month-old Palestinian infant, died of malnutrition on Monday in Gaza, as a direct result of Israel’s ongoing siege that has cut off the supply of essential goods, including baby formula and food. Medical staff say they were powerless to save him due to the collapse of the healthcare system under the Israeli blockade. His death is one of many illustrating the devastating impact of Israel’s deliberate policy of deprivation against Gaza’s civilian population. This video was filmed shortly before he died.
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Iranian FM visits Pakistan to promote 'de-escalation' with India
India has threatened military action after accusing Pakistan of involvement in an attack last month that killed 26 civilians in the disputed Kashmir region
❗️Israeli Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich:
“We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation.'"
(Israel's Channel 12)
❗️Government Media Office in Gaza:
"We firmly reject the Israeli plan to impose a new mechanism for distributing aid through centers controlled by the occupation army, which would turn humanitarian assistance into a tool of political blackmail.
The aid distribution mechanism that the occupation is trying to enforce in the Gaza Strip reinforces the policy of siege and starvation.
We stress the need for aid to be distributed through neutral international institutions and appreciate all responsible positions that have expressed rejection of this malicious plan."
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "32 martyrs (including 9 martyrs who were recovered) and 119 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours."
– "The death toll and injuries since 18 March 2025 has reached 2,459 martyrs and 6,569 injuries."
⭕️ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Monday for a one-day visit amid rapidly escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the deadly attack on tourists in disputed Kashmir.
New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the incident — a charge Pakistan firmly denies — and has since downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty. According to Iran’s envoy in Islamabad, Araghchi’s visit will focus on regional de-escalation, with a stop in New Delhi expected later this week.
The attack has prompted high-profile Indian officials, media figures, and segments of the public to call for an “Israel-style” military response — a phrase that has raised alarm among observers drawing comparisons to Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Critics warn this rhetoric risks normalizing settler-colonial strategies of repression. Kashmir, one of the most heavily militarised regions in the world, remains a flashpoint since the 1947 partition, with both India and Pakistan claiming it in full. Islamabad has requested an urgent UN Security Council briefing, citing “credible intelligence” of possible Indian military action and what it calls New Delhi’s “aggressive posturing.”
⭕️ Iraq’s Electricity Minister held talks with UAE-based renewable energy company Masdar on Sunday to speed up a major 1,000-megawatt solar power project in the provinces of Maysan, Dhi Qar, and Anbar.
The two sides discussed finalizing the power purchase deal and removing delays. Iraq is pushing to expand solar energy as part of its goal to produce 12 GW of renewable power by 2030 and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
(Shafaq News)
❗️Hamas's Qassam Brigades reported this morning that during a complex ambush, its fighters successfully targeted an Israeli engineering foot patrol with an anti-personnel shell, then engaged the unit in close-quarters combat using automatic weapons, inflicting deaths and injuries among the soldiers.
Following the clash, the fighters also targeted two Israeli tanks and a military bulldozer with Yassin 105 shells near the separation fence in the al-Farahin area east of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
⭕️ Iran has unveiled the Qassem Basir ballistic missile, an upgraded, solid-fuel weapon with a 1,200 km range and thermal imaging guidance, designed to evade missile defenses and resist electronic warfare.
Defense officials say it struck its target with high precision without GPS, and boasts enhanced maneuverability to bypass layered defense systems.
⭕️ Palestinian detainee Muhyiddin Fahmi Najem, 60, from Jenin, died at Israel's Soroka Medical Center after months of medical neglect while held under administrative detention without charge since August 2023.
A father of six and former long-term prisoner, Najem suffered from chronic illnesses and his condition deteriorated severely in recent months, yet he was denied adequate treatment and not informed of his diagnosis.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and the Prisoners' Society condemned his death as a “compound crime” resulting from prolonged arbitrary detention and medical negligence.
His death raises the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since October 2023 to 66, including over 40 from Gaza.
❗️ Syria’s transitional government is preparing to sign an agreement with Turkiye to import electricity via a 400-kilovolt transmission line, according to Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir.
He also announced efforts to rehabilitate the Kilis–Aleppo natural gas pipeline,
which could supply up to 6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Syrian power plants.
⭕️ Iraq’s Finance Ministry has begun tapping into long-dormant tax deposit reserves to pay public sector salaries amid a liquidity crisis caused by delayed US dollar transfers from the Federal Reserve.
With state banks facing cash shortages and halting loans, the cabinet granted emergency approval for the withdrawals to ensure payroll continuity.
(Shafaq News)
BREAKING | Two journalists suffocate from tear gas fired by Israeli occupation forces invading the Old City of Nablus, West Bank.
Red Crescent reports at least 44 Palestinians injured in the raid.
❗️Israeli Army Radio reports that Ghassan Alian, Druze-Israeli army commander, the head of the 'Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories' entered Syria and met with Druze leaders.
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Watch the moment Yemen's missile fell, as documented by a settler from inside Ben Gurion Airport.
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BREAKING | Israeli occupation forces begin demolishing a large number of homes and buildings in Tulkarem's Nour Shams Refugee Camp.
Israel has issued demolition orders for over 100 buildings in Tulkarem's camps.
⭕️ Israel exploits Syrian Druze minority as cover for expanding occupation, pushes for incursion toward Damascus
In a recent Jerusalem Post op-ed, Israeli commentator Avi Abelow openly advocates for the Israeli army to expand its occupation of southern Syria, all the way up to Damascus — under the guise of “protecting the Druze minority.”
Following days of deadly unrest near Damascus and in Suwayda, Israeli officials and media are reviving a familiar justification: military intervention and occupation to “protect minorities.” This comes amid reports of Israeli airstrikes on Syrian army positions and Israeli military helicopters evacuating Druze fighters to Israeli hospitals, while calls grow within Israel to “secure” territory up to the Syrian capital.
Beneath the rhetoric of protecting minorities, critics see a deeper strategy: accelerating Syria’s fragmentation and expanding Israel’s regional footprint.
⭕️ According to an exclusive report by Middle East Eye, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Lebanon on 19 May to announce an agreement with Lebanese officials to disarm Fatah and other Palestinian factions in Palestinian refugee camps, including by force if needed, and will publicly urge all Palestinian groups to lay down their arms.
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⭕️ Israel accuses Turkiye of financing Hezbollah’s resurgence in Lebanon – alleging planes loaded with cash
Israel has accused Turkiye of facilitating Hezbollah’s resurgence in Lebanon, claiming that Turkish flights have been used to transport cash for the group.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Israel detailed its allegations, which included flights originating from Turkiye carrying funds intended for Hezbollah’s operations.
These accusations come despite Israel’s long-maintained strategic ties with Turkiye.
The Israeli complaint claims these financial transfers violate UN sanctions and ceasefire agreements, but it is strikingly silent on the complex reality of its own regional alliances and actions. Israel’s increasingly absurd allegations against Turkiye raise questions about the credibility of its claims and the true motives behind its narrative.
❗️Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian home in the village of Al-Funduq, east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.
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Israel approves plan for Gaza 'conquest' and mass displacement
Israel has begun calling up reservists to implement a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, first proposed just days after the 7 October Hamas attack
⭕️ A senior Yemeni source told Al-Mayadeen yesterday that Yemen is on the verge of a "qualitative leap" in military capabilities, warning that "no interception systems, regardless of their size or type, will be able to confront Yemen’s missiles."
The source said the army has activated new missile systems and is ready to impose “new equations,” adding that the recent targeting of Ben Gurion Airport proves “the precision of our weapons” and that Israeli efforts “failed to neutralize Yemeni capabilities or obtain a target bank.”
⭕️ The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip announced that it is restructuring the Executive Force to secure the home front and restore security and stability.
The move was taken to confront thieves and collaborators with the occupation after their attempts to create chaos by looting aid warehouses and attacking shops and citizens’ property.
❗️Israeli PM Netanyahu says Trump is "absolutely right, the Houthi attacks originate in Iran," and that Israel will "respond to the Houthi attack on our main airport, at a time and place of our choosing, against the Iranian masters of terrorism who stand behind the Houthis."
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US-imposed dollar shortage forces Iraq to tap tax funds for salary payments
Since the 2003 US occupation of Iraq, Washington has controlled Iraq's oil revenues, holding them at the Federal Reserve in New York
WATCH | The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Quds Brigades publishes footage of several Israeli military vehicles being targeted using improvised explosive devices and repurposed bombs made from the remnants of Israeli missiles in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
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❗️Turkiye's CHP leader Ozgur Ozel was assaulted outside the memorial for MP Sirri Suueyya Onder.
The attacker, Selcuk Tengioglu, convicted of killing his children in 2004 and conditionally released in 2020, was arrested at the scene.
The attack sparked widespread outrage. Ozel blamed political incitement and said, “No one punches alone—there's always someone behind it.”
He called the assault an attack on civil politics and vowed to keep defending democratic dialogue over division.
Israel vows to strike Yemen 'without restrictions' following Ben Gurion airport strike
The Israeli army had refrained from striking Yemen itself due to a direct request from the White House
❗️The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the capture of senior ISIS figure Hamoud Abdullah al-Khatib (aka Abu Zakaria), who led a cell extorting civilians in Deir Ezzor under the guise of collecting “zakat.”
The operation, backed by the US-led coalition, also resulted in the seizure of a large weapons cache.
❗️ Spokesman for Hamas's Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida:
"Glory to Yemen, the counterpart of Palestine, as it continues to defy the mightiest forces of oppression, refusing submission or defeat despite the aggression it faces. It escalates its attacks on the heart of the illegitimate Zionist entity, surpassing the world’s most advanced defense systems to strike its targets with precision. May God guide your strikes, bless your struggle, and accept your sacrifices. You are of us, and we are of you."