Israeli Airstrikes Kill 82 in Gaza as Aid Struggles to Get Through
According to the United Nations, on Wednesday, Palestinians have yet to receive aid into Gaza this week due to delays and safety concerns. Israel previously blocked all food, medicine, fuel, and other material for nearly three months before succumbing to international pressure to put dozens of aid trucks into Gaza, as reported by the Associated Press.
The U.N. has been unable to bring supplies in for further distribution because the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
According to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. trucks carrying the majority of supplies could not be taken out of the crossing area after the road permitted for use by the Israeli military was too unsafe. He added that discussions for an alternative were underway.
Meanwhile, food security experts cautioned that Gaza, which has a population of around 2.3 million, risks falling into famine unless the blockade is lifted.
From overnight to Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people, including several women and a week-old infant, Hamas-run authorities in Gaza said. However, the number of deaths could not be verified, whether those killed were civilians or gunmen.
Israel also claims to take steps to minimize civilian casualties, blaming Hamas for operating within civilian infrastructure.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 53,500 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in light of the war that initially began with the terror group's attack on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli military said that Israeli troops fired warning shots, which shocked a group of international diplomats visiting Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The United Kingdom suspended free trade talks with Israel on Tuesday regarding its increasing assault, as the U.K., Canada, and France promised "concrete" steps to encourage Israel to halt the war.
Speaking with the BBC, U.N.'s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher noted that "there are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them."
The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) likewise confirmed the figure.
"We are pointing to the imperative of getting supplies into save an estimated 14,000 babies suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Gaza, as the IPC partnership has warned about. We need to get the supplies in as soon as possible, ideally within the next 48 hours."
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Anadolu/Contributor
Originally published May 21, 2025.
