Australian Gaza aid flotilla activists allege abuse after Israeli abduction

One activist says she was dragged, sexually assaulted and beaten while detained by Israeli authorities.

Neve O'Conner, an Australian member of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces, arrives at Sydney International Airport on May 25, 2026 [Jeremy Piper/Reuters]

May 25, 2026 - Australian activists detained by Israel while on a flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza have returned home, and organizers allege abuse, sexual assaults and beatings that put some detainees in hospital.....MORE

Yet another sign of Genocide: Denying a people their religious identity

For third year in a row, Israel blocks Hajj pilgrimage for Gaza Muslims

As millions of Muslims gather in Mecca, Palestinians in Gaza face a third year of heartbreak as Israel has shut the border.

Hanan al-Hams, 65, sits in a makeshift tent pitched over the ruins of her home in northern Gaza. She was selected to perform Hajj in 2024 before the Israeli war shattered her lifelong dream [Al Jazeera]

May 24, 2026 - Hanan al-Hams was among the 3,000 Palestinians from Gaza scheduled to travel for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in 2024. But her lifelong dream to perform Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, was shattered by Israel’s war on Gaza, launched on October 7, 2023.

“I lost my son, my home was destroyed, and now I am deprived of the journey I waited decades for,” al-Hams, 65, told Al Jazeera, sitting inside a makeshift tent pitched over the ruins of her home in northern Gaza.

Entry and exit from Gaza were decided by Israel even before the war began. A partial opening in February of the Rafah crossing – the only connection to the outside world –  has allowed passage only for patients who need medical treatments abroad.

For any other travel requirement, including pilgrimage, study, and work, getting out of the enclave is near to impossible amid an Israeli land, air and sea blockade in place since 2007.

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Israel escalates Gaza attacks as Netanyahu stalls ceasefire for polls

Analysts and rights monitors warn that Israel is exploiting a nominal Gaza “ceasefire” to systematically dismantle the enclave ahead of elections.

Palestinians carry the bodies of members of the Abu Malouh family killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, May 24, 2026 (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) (AP)

May 25, 2026 - Seven months after a “ceasefire” was brokered to halt Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the agreement has morphed into a deadly cover for continued Israeli military operations in the enclave.

Israeli forces have killed at least 880 Palestinians since then, increasing the total from the war to 72,797, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

With Israel’s next national election expected in September, analysts and human rights officials have warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately stalling the peace process to appease his right-wing coalition allies and voters.

Mai El-Sheikh, spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office in Palestine, told Al Jazeera that Israel has transformed the “ceasefire” as cover for its ongoing war crimes.

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Flotilla activists describe beatings, tasers and mistreatment by Israeli forces

May 23, 2026 - Activists detained when their flotilla attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza say they have been mistreated at the hands of Israeli soldiers, describing beatings, tasers and attack dogs.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of 50 boats was intercepted in international waters some 250 miles (400 kilometers) off the coast of Israel, and activists along with journalists and at least one lawmaker from Italy were transferred onto military boats and brought to a larger military vessel at the Ashdod port in southern Israel, where they were held in containers, according to their accounts. They told The Associated Press they were punched and kicked, as well as dragged and pulled by their hair.

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Israeli security minister who taunted flotilla activists has a record of extreme actions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir smile in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

May 21, 2026 - Israel’s far-right national security minister has a long history as a provocateur. This week, Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked global outrage after promoting a video of himself taunting activists from a flotilla to Gaza who were detained by his police force.....MORE

Not just the US: How 51 countries armed Israel during Gaza war

Israel imported military-related goods from six European countries despite arms restrictions.

Members of the al-Najar family break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City, March 13, 2026 [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

May 23, 2026 - A months-long Al Jazeera investigation has found that military-related goods originating from at least 51 countries and self-governing territories continued entering Israel after the ICJ’s warning of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.

Based primarily on an analysis of Israeli Tax Authority (ITA) import data between 2022 and 2025, and supported by customs records and freedom of information requests, the investigation traced military supply chains linked to countries across Europe, Asia, North America and South America. All named countries are signatories to the Genocide Convention.

In some cases, the military-related goods originated from countries that had formally imposed arms embargoes on Israel or had partially suspended arms supplies to the country.

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Israeli forces attack central Gaza despite ceasefire agreement

May 23, 2026 - Video shows the moment Israeli forces struck Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza, injuring dozens despite an ongoing ceasefire agreement.

Police beat and detain Gaza flotilla activists at airport

May 23, 2026 - Police forcibly detained members of the Global Sumud Flotilla and their supporters at Bilbao Airport after the activists returned from Israeli detention. Videos showed officers from the Basque regional police force beating and dragging people. Four people were reportedly detained.

Video: Israeli ‘ceasefire’ violations on the rise in Gaza

Israel has violated the so-called Gaza “ceasefire” more than 2,400 times in the more than six months since the agreement was reached. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami gives an overview of the deteriorating situation.

How to Launder a Siege

Aid looting ran at 92% while Israeli-armed gangs held the roads. It hit zero the month that Hamas took control of the supply chain. But nobody wants to talk about that.

Not the government, but Israeli activists stop aid trucks from entering Gaza.

April 21, 2026 - Aid trucks are barely entering Gaza. Community fundraising for Palestinian families in the Strip has slowed down. Prices continue to remain elevated by design. It’s important we return back to dynamics that are still animating this genocide and identify the tactics of divide and conquer, as they are some of the oldest instruments in the colonial toolkit. We should recognize that those carrying out this genocide rely heavily on Western racial tropes to do their work: images of warring clans, lawless tribes, native society that dissolves into predation the moment imperial order is withdrawn. Western coverage of Gaza throughout the genocide has rehearsed these images with near-liturgical fidelity to the zionist narrative.....More