Airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza as criticism of Israel grows

Straits Times

20-05-2025

An Israeli soldier closes a gate at the border fence with Gaza, as seen from Israel, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Israeli soldiers stand next to military vehicles, near the border with Gaza, in Israel, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Military vehicles stand near the border with Gaza, in Israel, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A military vehicle drives from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border into Gaza, as seen from Israel, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Military vehicles drive their way from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border into Gaza, as seen from Israel, May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
CAIRO/TEL AVIV - Israeli airstrikes killed at least 55 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said, as Israel continued its bombardment of the strip despite mounting international pressure to stop military operations and allow unimpeded deliveries of aid.
Britain's government announced it was suspending trade talks with Israel and summoning the ambassador over "egregious policies" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, while France signalled possible European action affecting trade ties.
The war, now in its 20th month, has left Gaza in ruins and its population facing worsening hunger. It has strained Israel's relations with much of the international community and those with its closest ally, the United States, now appear to be wavering.
On Tuesday Israel conducted strikes across the densely populated coastal territory and medics said the sites hit included two homes where women and children were among the 18 dead, and a school housing displaced families.
Israel's military, which on Monday warned those in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to evacuate to the coast as it prepared for an "unprecedented attack", had no comment.
In Gaza City, Reuters footage showed men, women and children sifting through the rubble of the Daraj neighbourhood school where they had been sheltering, and where charred pieces of clothing and a red teddy bear lay among scattered belongings.
At the nearby Al-Ahli Hospital men performed prayers over bodies wrapped in white shrouds, before carrying them to their graves.
"What is our fault? What is the fault of children? What is the fault of the women we found on the stairs with their hair and clothes torn and burned?" said Omar Ahel, who had been sheltering at the school. "By God, this is injustice."
Outside a Khan Younis hospital, Younis Abu Sahloul said his brother, sister-in-law, and their four children were killed in an airstrike that hit a nearby camp sheltering displaced Palestinians without warning.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in the past eight days as the military campaign has intensified, medics in Gaza say.
SANCTIONS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament he, along with the leaders of France and Canada, was "horrified" by Israel's military escalation, repeating calls for a ceasefire.
The three nations had warned on Monday of "concrete actions" against Israel if it did not stop military operations in Gaza and lift restrictions on aid.
In addition to suspending trade talks, Britain announced sanctions against a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank over alleged violence against Palestinians.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said Britain had failed to advance free trade negotiations and called the sanctions "unjustified and regrettable."
"External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction," he posted on X.
Israel's ground and air offensive has displaced nearly all Gaza's 2.3 million residents and killed more than 53,000, according to Gaza health authorities.
The campaign began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities near Gaza's border in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
'EVERYTHING'S EMPTY'
The hunger crisis in Gaza deepened after Israel imposed a blockade on supplies from March 2. The territory is facing a critical risk of famine, a U.N.-backed hunger monitor said earlier this month.
On Monday, Israel cleared nine trucks for entry into Gaza, and on Tuesday the United Nations said it had received permission from Israel for about 100 aid trucks to enter.
The U.N. says Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. Throughout the war, trucks with aid have waited weeks and months at Gaza's border to enter.
Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on Tuesday there was little food left.
"Everything's empty. The warehouses, the distribution centres, they've been empty for weeks," she said, speaking from a warehouse in Jordan that she said had food for 200,000 people, which could be driven to Gaza in just a few hours.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French radio on Tuesday that there was a growing call from some countries, including France, to review a long-standing association agreement with Israel. Aid must be "immediate, massive and without any hindrance," he said.
Yair Golan, former deputy chief of staff of Israel's military and current leader of the opposition centre-left Democrats party, told local Kan Radio that Israel risked becoming a pariah state.
"A sane country does not engage in combat against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not pursue goals of population expulsion," he said.
His comments drew a sharp backlash from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused Golan of "echoing the most contemptible antisemitic blood libels" against Israel and the military.
Israel's leadership has insisted that it can free the hostages and dismantle Hamas through force.
Hamas has said it would release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails. REUTERS
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