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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
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❗️Lebanese army patrols the southern Lebanese town of Mays al-Jabal.
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❗️Quds Brigades announces that its fighters succesfully shelled an Israeli foot patrol with 60mm mortar rounds near a gathering of Israeli military vehicles that had advanced into Al-Atatra, north of Gaza.
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❗️Al-Manar correspondent in south Lebanon Ali Shoeib:
– "A Zionist infantry force penetrated 150 meters into Lebanese territory in the Kroum al-Mrah area east of Mays al-Jabal, in parallel with the arrival of two bulldozers near the military road along the border."
– "The Israeli infantry force is still moving inside Lebanese territory east of Mays al-Jabal, having passed one of the houses. The soldiers are using flashlights, while the bulldozers remain near the border and have not entered."
❗️Israeli Channel 12 reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had a tense phone call on Thursday regarding their approach to Iran.
The discussion was filled with strong disagreements. Trump is said to have told Netanyahu: “I want a diplomatic solution with the Iranians. I believe in my ability to make a good deal,” while also stressing his desire for an agreement that would be mutually beneficial.
❗️Statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office:
“The prime minister meant that we will not give up on freeing our hostages, and if we don’t achieve that, hopefully in the coming days, we will achieve it later on,” the statement says, adding that, as of now, “Hamas continues to cling to its refusal.”
❗️Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that the Israeli ambassador in Stockholm will be summoned by the foreign ministry to express Sweden's protest over insufficient humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
Speaking to Swedish news agency TT, Kristersson emphasized that the European Union should apply sanctions and intensify diplomatic efforts to compel Israel to permit aid deliveries to Gaza.
"We have been incredibly clear about that, ourselves and together with many other European countries," Kristersson told TT.
"That pressure is now increasing, no doubt, and for very good reasons," he added.
Iran draws red line as Europe threatens nuclear ‘snapback’
As indirect US–Iran nuclear talks inch forward, Europe's fear of marginalization prompts a risky diplomatic maneuver in Istanbul.
By Vali Kaleji
❗️Israeli settlers dance with and carry Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.
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❗️The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that most medical equipment in Gaza has run out, and 42% of essential medicines, including painkillers, are currently unavailable.
"We are at stock zero of close to 64% of medical equipment and stock zero of 43% of essential medicines and 42% of vaccines," said Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, during a press briefing in Geneva.
Balkhy noted that 51 WHO aid trucks are still awaiting clearance at the Gaza border.
"Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages - they do not exist in the quantities that are required," she said, highlighting that critical drugs such as antibiotics, painkillers, and medications for chronic illnesses are severely lacking.
German chancellor says Gaza genocide 'no longer justified'
Support for Israel is falling among its traditional European backers amid its current war and ethnic cleansing of Gaza
❗️According to Axios: US envoy Steve Witkoff rejects claims that Hamas has accepted his ceasefire proposal
“What I have seen from Hamas is disappointing and completely unacceptable,” Witkoff said.
He stated that Israel is willing to agree to a temporary truce under which half of the living and deceased hostages would be returned, “and lead to substantive negotiations to find a path to a permanent ceasefire, which I agreed to preside over.”
“That deal is on the table. Hamas should take it,” Witkoff added.
❗️French Foreign Ministry:
– "Ben Gvir's entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is a new, unacceptable provocation."
– "Ben Gvir's storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a violation of the historical status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem."
⭕️ Less than 5% of Gaza’s farmland remains usable due to extensive damage and restricted access, “exacerbating the risk of famine in the area,” according to a UN assessment.
The report found that only 688 hectares, 4.6% of Gaza’s total cropland, can currently be cultivated. More than 80% of agricultural land has been damaged by Israel during its brutal war, and 77.8% is inaccessible due to restrictions and 'evacuation orders.'
Nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s greenhouses and over 80% of its wells have also been damaged, based on high-resolution satellite imagery used in the assessment.
Conditions are described as "particularly critical" in Rafah in the south and in northern Gaza, where nearly all farmland is out of reach.
“This level of destruction is not just a loss of infrastructure – it is a collapse of Gaza's agrifood system and of lifelines,” said Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, which conducted the assessment with the UN Satellite Centre.
⭕️ Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in an interview with Sky News Arabia, said that “the region has grown tired of Iranian-US polarization,” expressing hope that Arab states would re-engage with Lebanon.
“We will not remain silent over any arms outside the state’s control," he added.
Salam also spoke about his vision, saying, “The majority of the Lebanese people stand by us and my strength comes from regaining the people’s confidence in the state and my project is rebuilding the state.”
Commenting on south Lebanon, he said, “I’m sad because a part of Lebanon is occupied and we are advocates of peace, but we want a just and sustainable peace.”
On the issue of Palestinian weapons in refugee camps, Salam said: “What’s dangerous about the camps’ arms is that they may lead to an inter-Palestinian strife, and Palestine’s strength today does not come from arms, but rather from international recognition and diplomacy.”
❗️Syria: Local sources to Al-Mayadeen:
"Seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed in a massacre in the village of Juzat al-Ma' in the Mashqita area in the Latakia countryside."
❗️Israel has killed at least 81 Palestinians in attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
(Medical sources to Al Jazeera)
❗️Al-Akhbar correspondent in south Lebanon:
"An Israeli force advanced into the Kroum al-Mrah area, east of Mays al-Jabal, and stationed itself near the home of the citizen Hassan Ammar, who had recently returned to live there with his wife and children. Concerned for their safety, Ammar took the initiative to evacuate his family from the house before returning to it himself, only to see Israeli 'construction works'. So far, there has been no confrontation between him and the occupation soldiers."
❗️Israel ignites a large fire between the southern Lebanese village of Ghajar and town of Abbasiya.
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❗️Qassam Brigades:
– "After returning from the front lines, our fighters confirmed that they had targeted a Zionist force of four soldiers with several anti‑personnel rounds, and detonated a minefield beneath another Zionist engineering unit that had infiltrated overnight east of Al‑Mintar Street, on the eastern side of the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City."
– "After returning from the front lines, our fighters confirmed that they had struck a Zionist Merkava tank with a 'Yassin 105' shell inside the Qandil Orchard, east of the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, on 22 May 2025."
– "After returning from the front lines, our fighters confirmed that they had hit a Zionist force that was barricaded inside a house with an anti‑personnel round. The fighters observed body parts of several soldiers scattered at the scene, after which they engaged the remaining members of the force with light weapons. They also struck a Merkava tank with a 'Yassin 105' shell on Al‑Nazzaz Street, east of the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, on 22 May 2025."
US envoy denies reports of Hamas approval for Gaza truce proposal
Israeli leaders say they wish to continue the war until Gaza has been 'completely destroyed' and its population forcibly expelled
❗️Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: "Releasing the hostages is our top priority, and I hope we will have good news about them, if not today, then tomorrow."
An Israeli official told Channel 13 that there has been no progress in the talks, and that Netanyahu meant that no progress could be made unless Hamas agreed to Israel's conditions.
Another official told the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) that he doesn't really don't know what Netanyahu is saying, and that he is not aware of any progress in the negotiations.
Pakistan PM makes peace offer to India during Iran visit
Shehbaz Sharif thanked the Iranian president for Tehran's support in its conflict with India earlier this month, the deadliest between them in decades
❗️The banners being raised by Israeli settlers at Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem read:
"1967 – Jerusalem is in our grip
2025 – Gaza is in our grip
Without a Nakba, there is no victory."
❗️Iran says it will survive if nuclear talks with US collapse
“It’s not like we will die of hunger if they [US] do not want to negotiate with us and sanction us,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a ceremony today.
He added, “There are hundreds of ways to overcome the problems,” urging unity among the people.
“The Islamic Republic, today, is more powerful than ever,” Pezeshkian concluded.
(IRNA)
❗️Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, citing an official source:
"Hamas has agreed to a different formula for an agreement than the one accepted by Israel to conclude a deal."
❗️Israel's Channel 14, citing an Israeli source:
Israel rejected Hamas's offer to release 10 captives and a 70-day truce with Washington's guarantee to end the war.
❗️Quds Brigades reports that its fighters shelled a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with a barrage of heavy mortar fire in the vicinity of al-Ma’arri School, northeast of Khan Yunis.
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❗️Today, the Qassam Brigades announced two operations carried out on 24 May 2025:
— The targeting of two Israeli tanks with "Yassin 105" shells, resulting in one of the vehicles catching fire in the Aslan area of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
— The targeting of an Israeli force that had taken shelter inside a house with an anti-personnel shell in the Fifth Quarter area of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, UNRWA headquarters during Jerusalem ‘Flag March’
The supremacist march this year coincides with a significant escalation of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank