🎥 Spain, Ireland and Norway will now recognise the state of Palestine. They join 143 other UN member states that already recognise Palestinian statehood.

In response to the historic move, Israel recalled their ambassadors to the countries. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have welcomed the decision. The U.S and many other western nations still do not.

So what does it all mean?

📰 Only around 30 to 35% of Hamas fighters have been killed after more than seven months of operations by Israel in the Gaza Strip, US intelligence sources told Politico.

According to Politico, the majority of fighters who were members of the Palestinian movement prior to the 7 October attack in southern Israel are still alive, even as the death toll in Gaza has reached over 35,000 dead, mostly women and children.

In addition, around 65 percent of Hamas' tunnel infrastructure remains intact, Politico's sources said, and thousands of new members are said to have been recruited to the group in recent months.

The report comes as Washington has become increasingly concerned about the viability of Israel's stated aim of destroying the Palestinian group.

📰 The University of Melbourne will disclose all of its research partnerships with arms producers, agreeing to a major demand of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

A grassroots pro-Palestinian movement of students, staff and alumni welcomed the decision as “a major win”.

“We recognise the University’s decision is the result of eight months of pressure to disclose and divest its unethical ties to weapons manufactures. This outcome is only a partial achievement,” Unimelb for Palestine said on X.

The group said it was ending its sit-in on the University’s South Lawn and other locations, but will continue to press for its full demands.

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🎥 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed Norway, Ireland and Spain for recognising a Palestinian state, saying the move was a "prize for terrorism”.

Netanyahu on Wednesday said the announcement would not derail Israel’s war on Gaza.

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🎥 Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticised the recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Norway and Spain during his visit to France. He also slammed the ICC for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, calling it a “disgrace”.

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📰 Egypt says it may withdraw from mediating between Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war amid efforts to "doubt its role".
The head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan told the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV on Wednesday that it may "completely withdraw" from the mediation.

The public threat comes as the US steps up criticism of Egypt, with officials appearing to side with Israel over Cairo in a spat over who is responsible for the closure of Rafah’s border crossing.

The US and Israel have relied on Egypt to relay messages to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

Current and former US officials and analysts say Israel and the US also need Egypt to destroy Hamas tunnels in Sinai and hunt for senior Hamas officials.

📰 US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said “it was unfortunate” that the US’s discussions with Israel over concerns about its invasion of Rafah became public.

“We’ve been very clear for a long time about our concerns about a full-scale military assault on Rafah,” Blinken said at a congressional hearing.

“It’s a conversation that was ongoing with Israel and it’s unfortunate that it became public, but it did,” he said.

Blinken said the US’s worries about Israel’s potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah remains a concern. The Biden administration has paused a shipment of that specific weapons system.

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🔴 RECAP #Israel #Palestine (as of 23:30 GMT, 22 May)

- US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan criticised Israel for withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority (PA)

- At least seven Palestinians were killed by an Israeli army drone strike in Gaza City, according to Palestinian news agency

- Israel has seized control of around 70 percent of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, the Wall Street Journal reported

- Three Israeli soldiers were killed fighting in northern Gaza on Wednesday

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed Norway, Ireland and Spain for recognising a Palestinian state, saying the move was a "prize for terrorism”

- In the last 24 hours, 62 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip

🎥 “This decision came 76 years late, but it is still a positive step and we thank Ireland, Spain and Norway”

A Palestinian in the West Bank reacts to European recognition of Palestinian statehood on Wednesday. Norway, Ireland and Spain announced that they will recognise a Palestinian state from May 28, sparking delight amongst Palestinians.

📰 Hamas welcomed an Associated Press report published that shed light on debunked allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by Palestinian fighters on 7 October.

“The report published by the American AP agency, in which it confirmed that the allegations of the Zionist entity that the Palestinian resistance committed sexual violence on 7 October are not true, and that they were deliberately fabricated, is a new slap in the face of the promoters of these baseless allegations,” Hamas said in a statement.

The report explores the testimony of Chaim Otmazgin, a volunteer with ZAKA Israeli search and rescue organization, that was used to document purported allegations of violence by Palestinian fighters on 7 October, but much of that testimony was later debunked.

The group called on US President Joe Biden and members of European countries to “apologise...stop repeating these false accusations against the resistance and the Palestinian people”.

📰 A TV channel owned by Egypt’s intelligence agency denied that Cairo had changed the terms of a ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hamas earlier this month, which purportedly led Israel to reject the deal.

The statement, published on the X account of Cairo News - refuted a CNN report citing three anonymous sources. The report said the deal announced by Hamas on 6 May was different from the one submitted to the Palestinian group by Qatari and American mediators.

CNN reported that Egypt’s intelligence made changes to the proposal, which “led to a wave of anger and recrimination among officials from the US, Qatar and Israel, and left ceasefire talks at an impasse”.

A source close to Hamas familiar with the ceasefire talks told Middle East Eye that the information relayed by the sources to CNN was “nonsensical”.

The source said the claims were an attempt to justify Israel’s refusal of the ceasefire agreement and subsequent invasion of Rafah.

📰 Columbia’s President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to the South American country’s foreign minister.

"President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” foreign minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said on Wednesday.

Petro said earlier this month that Columbia would cut ties with Israel and has asked to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

🎥 Palestinian journalist Momin Abu Owda captured footage of a Palestinian man who appeared to be dead in the middle of the street after being shot by an Israeli sniper in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

According to local reports the sniper was located on top of Habboub Tower and wass actively targeting people on the street.

🎥 Israeli forces burned and destroyed houses, shops and Unrwa shelters in Jabalia in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to Al-Jazeera

🎥 Israel has released 30 Palestinian prisoners who were detained in Gaza at different times after 7 October.

According to reports, three of the prisoners were in bad condition and had to be taken to the hospital.

Anadolu Agency cited Asra Media Office, saying that prisoners were “tortured” and “denied basic rights.”

🎥 On Tuesday morning, the police raided a Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of Michigan that was set up on 22 April, calling for the university to divest from Israel.

The protesting students were pepper sprayed by police.
According to reports, at least four people were arrested, and some were hospitalised due to chemical burns.

Sarah Hubbard, chair of the university’s governing board has said on X, formerly Twitter, “UM is not a campground.”

🎥 Palestinian journalists come together to eat dawali, or stuffed grape leaves, for the first time since Israel’s war on Gaza began more than seven months ago.

🎥 Israel’s Military Police have opened an investigation after a video showing a soldier throwing a Quran into a fire in a mosque in Gaza was published on social media.

The Israeli army said the soldier's behaviour is “not in line with their values” and that “the IDF respects all religions”.

The Israeli soldier, Yitzhak Bozna from the 435th Rotem Battalion of the Givati ​​Brigade changed the name of his Instagram account and made the account private after the video began circulating online.

🎥 Four Palestinians who were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza were released on Wednesday and are receiving medical treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah.

The detainees reported undergoing “brutal torture” by the Israeli military, who interrogated them about Palestinian armed organisations, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas. They said they endured harsh treatment despite having stated that they had no affiliation with either organisation.

📰 A third of elected politicians in Britain’s ruling Conservative Party have received funding from pro-Israel lobby groups, it has emerged.

Declassified reported on Thursday that 126 of the party’s 344 Members of Parliament (MPs) have accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups.

The funds amount to over £430,000 in donations and hospitality. The lobby groups have paid for Conservative MPs to visit Israel on 187 occasions, some of which included trips to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Thirteen of those MPs have visited Israel during its ongoing war on Gaza. In January, six MPs went on a "solidarity visit" hosted by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

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