Israel defiant as pressure mounts over ‘war of annihilation’ in Gaza
By Brian Osgood and Farah Najjar 20 May 2025 Al Jazeera
- An estimated 14,000 babies in Gaza are at risk of dying from starvation in the next 48 hours as Israel continues to block desperately needed food aid from entering in mass amounts.
- The UK pauses trade deal negotiations and the EU reviews existing agreements with Israel as Western criticism grows over the devastating blockade of Gaza and its war expansion.
- Israel expresses defiance at mounting pressure from Western allies, reiterating plans to “capture additional territory, clear and destroy the terrorist infrastructure”.
- Israeli forces kill more than 70 Palestinians in another day of relentless attacks including on a displacement shelter in Gaza City with children among the 22 dead.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 53,573 Palestinians and wounded 121,688, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
- An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 taken captive.
European politician says consequences for Israel long overdue
Lynn Boylan, a member of the European Parliament, says a series of steps announced by European countries meant to pressure Israel into conforming with human rights law in Gaza are positive developments, but should have been taken some time ago.
“I think anybody who has a phone in their pockets knows that Israel is breaching Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, because Article 2 requires Israel to uphold human rights, and they’re clearly not upholding human rights,” Boylan told Al Jazeera.
She noted Ireland and Spain called for this review a year ago and nothing happened.
“We’re now in a situation where anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 people are dead in Gaza,” said Boylan. “Where is the level of urgency that is absolutely required to address the situation in the Gaza Strip? We need aid to get in there immediately, and not the trickle of aid we’ve seen in the last 24 hours.”
‘Cannot do business as usual with a genocidal state’
Spain’s parliament has advanced a motion that could lead to a full weapons embargo on Israel.
Recent polls show nearly 80 percent of Spanish people want a stop to arms transfers over Israel’s war on Gaza and military operations in the occupied West Bank.
Ana Sanchez Mera, spokesperson for the Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine, told Al Jazeera the government has a legal obligation to “cut ties with Israel” over its conduct.
“Despite all of the positive words in support of Palestine, we are still having a lot of military and security cooperation with Israel,” she told Al Jazeera.
The government’s move to end all military cooperation would send a message to the rest of the world to do the same, Sanchez Mera added.
“We cannot continue to do business as usual with a genocidal state.”
‘Stop the genocide’: Secretary of State Rubio interrupted by protester
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a US-based Muslim rights group, has shared a video it says shows a pro-Palestine protester disrupting Marco Rubio during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“‘Stop the Genocide’ protesters interrupt Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Senate hearing,” the group said in a social media post.☀
