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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
Peru opens criminal probe into Israeli soldier accused of 'methodical destruction' in Gaza
Prime Minister Netanyahu has boasted that the Israeli army is destroying Palestinians' homes in Gaza so they have nothing to return to
Syrian, Turkish presidents hold first meeting in Istanbul
The meeting comes as the US Treasury issued a general license easing some Syria sanctions
❗️A Jewish British national was detained and charged by the UK Metropolitan Police after holding a cartoon mocking late Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, with a pager and the caption “beep, beep, beep.”
(The Telegraph)
❗️The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 15 of its trucks carrying flour to Gaza were looted.
"Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity," the agency added in a statement.
According to Hamas, six members of a security team assigned to protect the aid convoys were killed by an Israeli drone.
⭕️ Scenes from the London concert of Irish rap group Kneecap, where the crowd can be heard chanting "Free, free Palestine."
The rap group is currently facing terrorism charges in the UK, with one member set to appear in court on 18 June.
Uranium enrichment dispute hangs over fifth round of US, Iran nuclear talks
Following a fifth round of talks in Rome, the Iranian FM described them as the 'most professional' and said there is 'potential for progress'
❗️Saudi Al-Hadath TV reports that "serious efforts" are underway to construct a deal on the release of Israeli-Russian 'researcher' Elizabeth Tsurkov, who went missing in Baghdad in March 2023.
Iraqi Al-Rabiaa TV reports that the deal to release Tsurkov included a condition for the release of an Iranian captive in Iraq along with six others.
⭕️ India will consult its security agencies regarding IndiGo airline's codeshare and leasing agreements with Turkish Airlines before determining its next steps, the country’s civil aviation minister said on Friday.
The decision comes amid rising public outrage in India over Turkiye's support for Pakistan.
"We are taking input from IndiGo on that and also with the necessary security agencies, and we'd like to see how to proceed with that," Minister Rammohan Naidu said on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.
❗️Ex-Israeli soldiers: Israeli army systematically used Palestinians as human shields
Former Israeli soldiers from Breaking the Silence have testified that the army routinely used Palestinian civilians as human shields, with orders allegedly issued by commanders and tolerated at all levels.
The soldiers say these were not isolated incidents but part of a systemic failure and moral collapse within the military. “Israel condemns Hamas for (allegedly) using civilians as shields, but our soldiers do that all the time,” one testimony stated.
⭕️ Palestinians recount being used as human shields by Israeli forces in Gaza and West Bank
Palestinian civilian Masoud Abu Saeed says he was used by Israeli forces as a human shield for two weeks in March 2024. According to an AP report, the 36-year-old was forced to enter buildings, homes, and a hospital in Khan Younis to search for tunnels while wearing a first-responder vest and carrying a phone, hammer, and chain cutters. During one operation, he says he encountered his own brother, also being used as a shield by another unit.
In the occupied West Bank, 25-year-old Hazar Estity reported being forced by Israeli soldiers to enter and film multiple apartments in the Jenin refugee camp before troops moved in. Estity says she pleaded to return to her 21-month-old son, but her request was denied. “I was most afraid that they would kill me,” she said. “And that I wouldn’t see my son again.”
⭕️ Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco is considering selling some of its assets to raise capital. The move comes as the kingdom faces a growing budget deficit, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimating that Riyadh needs oil prices above $90 per barrel to balance its budget, well above the roughly $60 per barrel recorded in recent weeks.
(Reuters)
❗️Images show hundreds of Palestinians struggling to obtain bread in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza Strip, amid the entry of limited humanitarian aid.
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❗️Gaza doctor discovers nine of her children among casualties while on duty, killed by Israeli airstrike on her home
While on duty at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, pediatrician Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar found the burned bodies of her nine children, killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck her home.
Dr. Al-Najjar and her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, had briefly left the house. Hamdi returned moments before the strike and is now in critical condition. Only their youngest child, Adam, survived with injuries. The nine children killed were Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gubran, Eve, Revan, Sadin, Luqman, and Sidra.
⭕️ ‘Israeli army says it bombed Hamas gunmen, Gaza officials say they were aid security’ (Al Jazeera)
An Israeli drone strike on Friday killed six members of an aid protection unit in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. The victims were reportedly securing the delivery of humanitarian assistance when they were targeted.
While Israeli military sources told The Times of Israel the strike was aimed at “armed Hamas operatives” near aid trucks, local authorities strongly rejected that claim. Citing Anadolu and Middle East Monitor, Gaza officials affirmed that the men were part of “aid security and protection teams … performing purely humanitarian tasks.”
❗️Israel has killed at least 76 Palestinians in attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources to Al Jazeera)
❗️Israeli settlers sabotage water supply to Palestinian communities near Jericho, West Bank
Israeli settlers damaged water pipes supplying Palestinian families in the al-Auja waterfall area, north of Jericho, according to the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.
Hassan Mleihat, the group’s general supervisor, told Wafa news agency that the attack was aimed at pressuring Palestinians to leave their land.
❗️Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of dunums of land in the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
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❗️Palestinian Mujahideen Movement rejects Israeli aid mechanism, calls it ‘policy of starvation’
The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement has condemned Israel’s aid distribution method, calling it a continuation of the blockade on Gaza.
In a statement on Telegram, the group said the mechanism “planned by the Zionist entity in cooperation with American companies is another facet of the policy of starvation and blockade.” It also criticized international silence over the ongoing siege and praised institutions and companies that refuse to participate in aid processes that “serve the agendas of the fascist enemy.”
❗️Israeli army announces that it struck "over 100 targets" throughout Gaza over the past day.
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BREAKING | Israeli army reports an "attempted stabbing attack" at a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, stating that the attacker was "neutralized."
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❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
– "79 martyrs (including 5 recovered martyrs) and 211 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours. (The statistics do not include hospitals in the North Gaza Strip Governorate due to the difficulty of accessing them.)"
– "The death toll and injuries since 18 March 2025 has reached 3,747 martyrs and 10,552 injuries."
❗️Director of Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza to Al Jazeera:
– "Occupation forces shelled the area around the hospital today, and shrapnel scattered throughout the vicinity."
– "The hospital has been targeted by the occupation forces for several days."
– "The occupation forces are imposing a complete siege on the hospital and its surroundings."
– "It is extremely difficult for patients and the wounded to reach the hospital."
– "The occupation forces are targeting ambulances transporting patients and the injured to the hospital."
❗️Four Palestinians reported killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a group of civilians in Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza city, according to local sources.
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❗️Gaza overnight update (24 May)
At least eight Palestinians, including children, were killed overnight in a series of Israeli attacks across central and southern Gaza, according to local reports.
In the south, heavy artillery shelling struck a residential flat, killing a man, his wife, and two of their children. Separately, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential building in Nuseirat refugee camp. In Gaza City, residents endured yet another night of relentless explosions as Israeli forces continued the systematic demolition of homes using planted explosives. Civilians were seen sleeping on footpaths amid the constant drone presence overhead.
(Al Jazeera)
❗️Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye, announced yesterday that he has taken on the position of special envoy to Syria.
Barrack also said that Secretary Marco Rubio will be responsible of "executing the President's vision," in Syria.
❗️As Gaza reels under Israeli bombardment, killings and displacement surge across West Bank
The occupied West Bank is witnessing a parallel escalation to Gaza in violence. According to the UN, 938 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza, including at least 198 children. Since the beginning of 2025 alone, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 132 Palestinians, among them 25 children.
Meanwhile, more than 42,000 Palestinians remain displaced from Nur Shams, Tulkarem, and Jenin refugee camps following large-scale Israeli raids launched in January 2025.
⭕️ Saudi, Egyptian, Jordanian, French FMs meet in Paris amid Gaza genocide, call for ceasefire and aid access
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and France met in Paris on Friday to discuss the situation in Gaza, as Israel’s war on the Strip enters its 20th month.
According to Egypt’s State Information Service, the ministers reviewed “international efforts to stop the war” and discussed mechanisms to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery. In a joint statement, they also condemned ongoing Israeli violations against Palestinians and stressed the urgency of ending the aggression on Gaza.
⭕️ Israeli poll: Majority of Israelis believe Netanyahu prioritizes power over ending war on Gaza
A new poll by Israel’s Channel 12 reveals that a majority of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more focused on preserving his political power than ending the war on Gaza or securing the release of captives.
According to the survey, 55% of respondents said Netanyahu’s top priority is remaining in office, while just 36% believe he is primarily concerned with bringing the captives home. The results remained largely unchanged when “winning the war” was used instead of “freeing captives.”
When asked why no ceasefire-for-captives deal has materialized, 53% attributed the failure to political motives.
❗️Israeli forces storm the city of Nablus and raid homes in the Balata area in the West Bank overnight, according to local sources.
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❗️BREAKING | US lifts Syria sanctions under General License 25, authorizing investment and transactions with the new government.
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