Closing summary
Donald Trump on Friday backed aid for the Palestinians, saying people in Gaza are starving and adding that he expected “a lot of good things” in the next month. According to Reuters, when asked whether he supported Israeli plans to expand the war in Gaza, the US president told reporters: “I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see. We have to help also out the Palestinians. You know, a lot of people are starving on Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting the death toll from Israeli strikes in Gaza on Friday has increased to 93. Heavy strikes were reported on Friday in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and in the Jabalia refugee camp, where Palestinian emergency services said many bodies were still buried in the rubble.
Israel’s military said Friday it struck two ports in Yemen that were controlled by the Houthi militant group. It claimed that the Hodeida and Salif ports were used by the Houthis to transfer weapons. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A senior Hamas official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday that the group expects the United States to pressure Israel into lifting its aid blockade of Gaza after the group released a US-Israeli hostage this week. “Hamas is awaiting and expecting the US administration to exert further pressure on the Netanyahu government to open the crossings and allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid – food, medicine and fuel – to the hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” Taher al-Nunu said, adding that aid entry was part of an understanding with US envoys in exchange for Edan Alexander’s release.
Edan Alexander, the Israeli-American hostage released Monday after backdoor US-Hamas diplomacy, left the hospital Friday, according to a statement released by his parents, who said his recovery is far from over. Yael and Adi Alexander said their son still needed medical treatment for his injuries suffered during the Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023, and over his 18 months in captivity. His hands are injured from a tunnel collapsing on him, they said.
The World Bank on Friday said it would restart operation in Syria after a 14-year pause, after Saudi Arabia and Qatar had paid off the country’s outstanding debts, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The bank’s operation in Syria were halted when the civil war broke out in 2011, preventing the country from gaining access to its development loans, grants, and technical expertise.
The Council of Europe on Friday said Gaza was suffering from a “deliberate starvation”, and warned that Israel was sowing “the seeds for the next Hamas” in the territory. “The time for a moral reckoning over the treatment of Palestinians has come – and it is long overdue,” said Dora Bakoyannis, rapporteur for the Middle East at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Seventeen Palestinian children and their caregivers were recently sent back to Gaza after receiving medical treatment in Jordan, reports the Associated Press (AP). More than two dozen children and their caregivers were evacuated from Gaza in March as part of a Jordanian initiative to provide medical care. The 17 patients who completed their treatment went home.
An Israeli official said the strikes in Gaza on Friday were preparatory actions in the lead-up to a larger operation and to send a message to Hamas that it will begin soon if there is not an agreement to release hostages. The official was not authorised to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press (AP).
Dozens of Israelis have protested in support of a soldier imprisoned for refusing to fight in Gaza, AP reports. The protesters expressed support for Daniel Yahalom, a reserve soldier who is serving five days in prison for refusing to participate in what he called an unjust fight.
US president Donald Trump said on Friday that American journalist Austin Tice, captured in Syria more than 12 years ago, has not been seen in years, reports Reuters. Trump was asked if he brought up Tice when he met Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said he did not consult ally Israel about the US decision to recognise Syria’s new government, despite deep Israeli suspicion of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s administration, reports Reuters.
US president Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran should make a quick decision on an American proposal for a nuclear deal or “something bad will happen”. Speaking in Abu Dhabi as he capped a Gulf tour, Trump said his administration had handed Iran a proposal for a agreement, adding that “they know they have to move quickly or something bad is going to happen”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement they would hunt down the Houthis’ top leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, after the Israeli military said the ports of Hodeidah and Salif were being used to transfer weapons.
“If the Houthis continue to fire missiles at the State of Israel, they will be severely harmed, and we will also hurt the leaders,” they said, adding that al-Houthi could join the list of militant figures killed by Israel, such as Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.
Residents in Hodeidah said they heard four loud booms and saw smoke rising from the port following Israeli strikes.
