Nicola Pratt

"My fear is increasing day after day. I am not exaggerating." My father is in an Israeli prison. Health deteriorating. Deprived of food, water, medical care. Elias Abu Safiya shares his concerns for the safety of his father, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

💢 DAY 218 of the Gaza “Ceasefire” Not a single aid truck entered Gaza on Sunday and no patients or humanitarian cases were allowed to leave through the Rafah crossing, as Israel continues collectively punishing Gaza’s population amid demands for Hamas to disarm, according to field monitoring shared with mediators. In the seven months since Israel’s cabinet and Prime Minister approved the Trump-brokered ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces have violated its terms nearly 3,000 times. Sunday alone saw 14 new violations, including attacks that killed 6 Palestinians and wounded 40 others. Incidents recorded on Sunday: 🔹 One civilian killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike near Rafah Garage in central Khan Younis 🔹 Three civilians killed and several wounded after an Israeli drone targeted a kitchen belonging to a Turkish organization near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah 🔹 One civilian killed and others wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting civilians in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis 🔹 12-year-old Karam Omar Lotfi Al-Masri wounded in a drone attack in Khan Younis 🔹 Five civilians wounded, including one critically, in a drone strike near the old Al-Yazji Bakery in Tal al-Hawa 🔹 70-year-old Fadl Arafat Irhaim killed by Israeli live fire in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood east of Gaza City 🔹 An elderly woman wounded by Israeli live fire in the Asdaa area northwest of Khan Younis 🔹 Several civilians wounded, including three critically, after Israeli drones struck a vehicle on Al-Baraka Street in Deir al-Balah 🔹 Israeli forces advanced military vehicles in Khan Younis and expanded the so-called “yellow zone,” displacing residents from the Al-Reqib and Abu Shab families Totals Since the ceasefire took effect, 877 Palestinians have been killed — including 217 children, 94 women, and 25 elderly — while 2,602 have been wounded, including 730 children, 457 women, and 117 elderly. 79 civilians have also been detained. Israeli forces have now carried out 1,291 airstrikes and shelling attacks, 1,119 live-fire incidents, 113 military incursions, and 309 home demolitions across Gaza since the agreement took effect. Ongoing Violations Israel also continues to hold approximately 34 square kilometers beyond agreed withdrawal lines and has blocked repairs to electricity, water, and sewage infrastructure, while preventing the entry of heavy machinery needed for reconstruction. Aid and movement restrictions also remain severe: Aid entry ▪️ Only 36.8% of agreed humanitarian aid has entered — 221 trucks per day on average vs. 600 agreed ▪️ Fuel deliveries remain at just 14.7% of agreed levels Rafah crossing ▪️ Only 5,304 of 15,800 planned crossings carried out (~33.5%) ▪️ 88 individuals turned back at the crossing ▪️ Rafah Crossing remained closed on the reported day ▪️ Medical and humanitarian travel continues to face severe restrictions even as 10 patients on the WHO-approved evacuation list die each day due to lack of treatment

💢 The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says Israel has turned the detention, abuse, and torture of international solidarity activists into official policy, accusing Israeli authorities of using the seizure of activists from the Sumoud convoy and Freedom Flotilla to send a global message of intimidation against support for Palestine. The statement came as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted video from Ashdod Port showing detained flotilla activists being mocked and physically restrained under the caption: “Welcome to Israel.” Ben-Gvir is seen waving an Israeli flag and declaring, “We are the owners of the house,” while another clip shows an activist shouting “Free Palestine” being shoved to the ground and told to “Shut up.” Other footage shows detainees forced to kneel face-down and marched with their hands zip-tied and heads bent. PPS said the scenes reflect some of the same humiliation and abuse routinely inflicted on Palestinians inside Israeli prisons, which it described as “one of the most prominent arenas of systematic genocide” under Ben-Gvir’s direction. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani demanded an apology over the treatment of Italian citizens aboard the flotilla, calling it a “total disrespect” of their dignity. Adalah said Israel is enforcing a “criminal policy of abuse and humiliation” against activists confronting Israel’s crimes in Gaza.

Right now, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos is at the Nakba Day demonstration in London. The 88-year-old has attended almost every demonstration in the last two year’s protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Stephen stands and sits with family and members of his group the ‘Holocaust Survivors & Descendants Against the Genocide in Gaza’. He told us: "Today, we commemorate not only the 1948 violent displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs during the creation of the State of Israel. But the unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.” “Justice for the Palestinians must be demanded and fought for by peoples of the world to force their own governments to act to end Israel's genocide, occupation and apartheid.” “That is why these marches have been attacked so much – it is the threat we pose to injustice. And the symbol of solidarity and hope we represent.” Photo by: @misanharriman

💢 Three Palestinians were killed and others wounded, including children, in Israeli strikes on Gaza Saturday evening, according to Palestinian Online. Israeli aircraft struck a civilian vehicle in the Al-Nasr neighborhood west of Gaza City, killing Baha Zaki Baroud and Abdul Karim Ma’in Nassar. In Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Sisi was killed in an airstrike near the Abu Hussein school. Several others, including children, were wounded in both attacks. In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians near the Abu Hamid roundabout, along with artillery shelling in the city’s eastern areas. The attacks come as Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 13 killed and 57 wounded over the past 48 hours amid continued Israeli violations of the October ceasefire agreement.

A fraction of today’s demo for Palestine and against the far right. A quarter of a million for peace and justice in the Middle East and against racism and war.

Israel returned to burning families alive in Gaza as they slept overnight. “Three women with severed arms and two men struck in the head and legs, all were severed.” Those were the words from a witness at scene of the Israeli massacre at Burj al-Moataz, a five-story residential building sheltering displaced families in Gaza City’s al-Rimal neighborhood. Israeli airstrikes targeted residential apartments in the building, igniting a massive fire and trapping families, including many women and children, inside. The strikes killed 8 people, and wounded more than 45 others.

Almost 80 years after the mass displacement known as the #Nakba, elderly Palestinians in #Gaza say today’s harsh conditions echo what they had lived through back then.  Mohamed says UNRWA remains a lifeline for Palestine Refugees, describing how he and many people from his community were educated at UNRWA schools, enabling them to get jobs and provide for their families. #UNRWAworks

I travel through the West Bank. Settlers in control. Near total impunity as they loot, burn and kill. Palestinians say they were SAFER when the army was in charge. But a spirit of stubborn resistance (sumud) survives. My despatch for Middle East Eye: middleeasteye.net/news/settlers-…

We’re here today to commemorate the 78 years of the Nakba, which continues today with the bombing of Gaza and Lebanon by Israel. And we’re here today to say no to the far right on our streets! @LindseyAGerman

They threatened to ban us, but they had to pull back. Congratulations to all who stood firm and called out the lies. There will be hundreds of thousands of us tomorrow. Be there.

PSC Deputy Director @PeterLeary on why we march for Palestine today, to commemorate the Nakba and against the far right. Join us! 1200 Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London.

Please sign to oppose the criminalisation of the slogan “globalise the intifada” 🇵🇸

Initiated by academic and advocacy organisations, the statement defends the right to discuss, research, teach, and publicly express support for the slogan without fear of criminalisation. Please read, sign and share: bit.ly/4fkHfEK 2/3

Israeli settlers today forced the family of Hussein Asasa, buried hours earlier in the Asasa cemetery south of Jenin, to dig up their father as Israeli security forces stood by. According to the family, they moved his body to another cemetery under a hail of stones from settlers. "This is appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians that we see unfolding across the OPT. It spares no one, dead or alive," Ajith Sunghay, head of @OHCHR_Palestine. The cemetery sits 300 meters from Sa Nur settlement, re-established in 2025. Palestinians must now obtain Israeli permits to bury their dead there, as Hussein's family had done that same morning.

💢 REPORT | Rafah crossing remained fully closed on Saturday for sick and wounded Palestinians seeking medical treatment abroad, even as Gaza’s Health Ministry says ~10 patients die each day waiting for permission to leave the Strip for treatment unavailable under Israel’s siege. A report shared by the Palestinian side with mediators and obtained by Drop Site News also shows: 🔸Israel agreed under the ceasefire to allow the daily movement of 200 passengers through Rafah crossing — 150 departures and 50 returnees — after reopening the crossing on February 20 under heavy international pressure earlier this year. 🔸 Israel also agreed under the ceasefire to allow 600 trucks into Gaza each day, including 50 fuel trucks. Saturday once again saw far fewer: just 67 trucks entered Gaza — 65 aid trucks and 2 commercial trucks, with no fuel deliveries — further deepening Gaza’s humanitarian collapse as hospitals shut down critical services, sewage systems fail, and much of the population remains displaced and dependent on aid. 🔸Saturday saw 15 new violations recorded across the Strip, as one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting an electric motorcycle near Al-Ittisalat Junction west of Jabalia, while four others were wounded, including two injured after an Israeli quadcopter dropped a bomb near the Yellow Line in Khan Younis. 🔸The total number of documented Israeli ceasefire violations has now reached 2,787, including 1,249 airstrikes and shelling attacks and 1,078 live-fire incidents. 🔸15 incidents recorded Saturday include: 🔹 Israeli naval boats opened fire toward western Gaza City 🔹 Israeli naval boats opened fire toward western Khan Younis 🔹 Artillery shelling east of Al-Bureij Camp 🔹 Renewed Israeli naval fire toward Khan Younis 🔹 Artillery shelling east of Gaza City 🔹 Israeli forces opened fire toward eastern Khan Younis 🔹 Israeli military vehicles advanced toward Salah al-Din Street in Khan Younis 🔹 Two artillery shells fired west of Rafah 🔹 Artillery shelling targeting Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City 🔹 Israeli drone strike near Al-Ittisalat Junction west of Jabalia killed one Palestinian 🔹 Israeli forces opened fire in Bani Suheila and east of Al-Qarara 🔹 Artillery shelling east of Khan Younis 🔹 Two civilians wounded after quadcopter dropped bomb near the Yellow Line in Khan Younis 🔹 Renewed shelling in Al-Qarara area 🔹 Explosive demolition of buildings east of Gaza City 🔸Since the ceasefire took effect, 851 Palestinians have been killed — including 217 children, 91 women, and 23 elderly — and 2,437 wounded, more than half of whom are children, women, or elderly. Another 73 civilians have been detained. 🔸Israel also continues to hold approximately 34 square kilometers beyond agreed withdrawal lines and has obstructed repairs to electricity, water, and sewage infrastructure. Reuters reported this week Israel has extended its occupation zone from 53% of Gaza to 64% of the territory since the “ceasefire.” 🔸Aid entry: ▪️ Only ~37.2% of agreed aid has entered Gaza, averaging 223 trucks per day versus the agreed 600 ▪️ Fuel deliveries remain at just 14.7% of agreed levels ▪️ Only 1,573 trucks entered Gaza over the past week out of 4,200 scheduled 🔸Rafah crossing: ▪️ Remained fully closed Saturday ▪️ Only 4,694 of 14,600 planned crossings have taken place overall since the crossing was reopened (~32.1%) ▪️ Medical and humanitarian travel remains heavily restricted while ~10 patients die each day while waiting to travel abroad for medical treatment, according to the Health Ministry.

As politicians and mainstream media without any relevant expertise line up to condemn a slogan, as scholars of the Middle East, we analyse “globalise the intifada” as part of political resistance against injustice.

A new archive of some of the Palestinian scholars in Gaza assassinated and killed by Israel rememberinggazascholars.org/the-scholars/?…

There’s still time to submit an abstract for this year’s SARN UK Conference 🙌 🕛📆 Abstracts are due by 23:59 BST on 17 May 2026 ✨For more details and to apply, please go to: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…