For today, links to seven reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Tass, and Middle East Eye, and to an editorial from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date, so far, is HERE.) — MCM

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12 killed today in airstrikes in central Gaza as strikes targeting Houthi rebels kill 16. From AP. At least a dozen people were killed in two airstrikes today in central Gaza. Two children and four women were among the dead. Palestinians in the border city of Rafah have reported heavy fighting in recent days as Israel’s military widened its offensive in the south, seizing control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt. READ MORE . . .

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Israeli military says combat in part of north Gaza is over. From Reuters. JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have ended combat operations in the Jabalia area of north Gaza after destroying more than 10 kilometres of tunnels during days of intense fighting that included over 200 air strikes, the military said today. At the south end of Gaza . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Israeli airstrike on Rafah kills 12 Palestinians, Gaza medics say, by Dan Williams | Reuters  Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinian civilians in a dawn air strike on Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday and fighting raged in several other areas of the coastal enclave, Gaza medics said. They said an unspecified number of others were wounded in another Israeli air strike in the centre of Rafah as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Palestinians report blowing up 3 Israeli Merkava tanks in Gaza, Hamas fighters claim. From Tass. BEIRUT — Members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said they had blown up three Merkava tanks while repelling Israeli assaults in the south of the Gaza Strip, the movement said. “Our . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Israel could have used smaller weapons against Hamas to avoid deaths in Gaza tent fire, experts say, by Tara Copp and Josef Federman | AP  WASHINGTON — Defense experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians on Sunday questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely U.S.-made. READ MORE . . .

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Taylor Swift is urged to end Capital One deal over Israeli arms link, by Imran Mulla | Middle East Eye  Taylor Swift is facing calls from some of her fans to sever ties with banking giant Capital One, the main sponsor of the U.S. leg of her music tour, over loans it provided to Israel‘s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Using the hashtag #SwiftiesForPalestine . . . READ MORE . . .

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Why Jabalia? From Middle East Monitor  For 20 days now, the occupation army has been committing massacres that have caught the attention of the entire world in Jabalia and the city’s refugee camp. Everyone is asking what makes this small spot the subject of this continuous destruction. READ MORE . . .

For today, links to nine reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Tass, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times, and the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date, so far, is HERE.) — MCM

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Ukraine can now strike military targets in Russia using some Western weapons. Reported by Joanna Kakissis and A Martínez | NPR  The Biden administration has given Ukraine permission to use certain U.S. weapons to strike inside of Russia near Kharkiv for “counter-fire purposes,” according to two U.S. officials. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY 30  Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using U.S. arms in strikes on Russian territory, U.S. officials say, by Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller | AP  WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the go-ahead to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter. READ MORE . . .

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Berlin lets Ukraine use German weapons against targets in Russia after the U.S. also eases its stance, by Illia Novikov, Matthew Lee and Karel Janicek | AP  KYIV — Germany joined the United States today in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying — a significant policy change that comes as depleted Ukrainian troops are losing ground in the war. READ MORE . . .

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Germany says use of its weapons by Ukraine doesn’t make it party to conflict. From Tass. BERLIN — “It has always been clear,” said Germany’s deputy government spokesperson, Wolfgang Buchner, “that we don’t become a party [to the conflict] and a warring party by supplying Ukraine with weapons.” READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin says Ukraine has already tried striking Russian territory with U.S. arms. From Reuters. MOSCOW — The Kremlin said today it was already aware of attempts by Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory with weapons provided by the United States. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian Army claims sweeping battlefield gains so far in 2024. From AFP. Russian forces are advancing on all fronts in Ukraine and have seized some 880 square kilometers of territory this year alone, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said today. If confirmed, Russia would have made more gains in the past five months than in all of 2023, when . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia, Ukraine swap 150 POWs with UAE mediation. From the Moscow Times. Moscow and Kyiv have traded 150 prisoners of war with the help of mediators from the United Arab Emirates, Russia’s Defense Ministryannounced today, the first such exchange after months of stalled talks between the two warring sides. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Russia-linked hackers’ phishing campaign against Ukraine is disrupted. Reported by Jenna McLaughlin | NPR  Hackers with ties to Russia planned to launch a massive phishing campaign against Ukraine, taking advantage of the recently lifted moratorium on evictions in the country. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Ukraine, Norway sign long-term security agreement, by Martin Fornusek | The Kyiv Independent  Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere today signed a bilateral security agreement between the two countries in Stockholm. Oslo pledges to . . . READ MORE . . .

There are eight links in this entry. They are to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio and to commentary from Capitol Hill Citizen and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Israel says it’s taken control of key area of Gaza’s border with Egypt awash in smuggling tunnels, by Tia Goldenberg, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Wednesday it seized control of a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt to cut off smuggling tunnels as it tries to destroy the militant Hamas group in a war now in its eighth month. READ MORE . . .

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Israel reopens Gaza food sales as Rafah raid chokes aid, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, John Davison, Emma Farge and Ali Sawafta | Reuters  The Israeli military has lifted a ban on the sale of food to Gaza from Israel and the occupied West Bank as its battlefield offensive chokes international aid, according to Palestinian officials, businessmen and international aid workers. Army authorities . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel seizes Gaza’s entire border with Egypt, presses with raids into Rafah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO – Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country’s military said Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory’s entire land border. Israel also continued deadly raids on Rafah in southern Gaza despite . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  The latest in Israel’s expanding military operations in Rafah. Reported by Greg Myre and Daniel Estrin | NPR  Israel’s military continues to expand operations in Rafah. The Biden administration continues to warn Israel against a “major operation” in the city. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY 29  Palestinian prime minister visits Madrid after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognize Palestinian State, by Joe Wilson | AP  BARCELONA, Spain — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and leading officials from several Middle Eastern countries in Madrid on Wednesday after Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  A family fled Rafah as the war closed in. Now they’re living in a bombed-out school. Reported by Kat Lonsdorf | NPR  The UN says about a million people have fled the southern city of Rafah since Israeli forces invaded there earlier this month. People are running out of options for where to go. One family is trying to make a bombed out classroom inhabitable. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY-JUNE 2024  Citizens push back against AIPAC dominance, by Russell Mokhiber | Capitol Hill Citizen  In April Congress overwhelmingly passed and President Biden signed a military aid bill that provides $95 billion in war aid—including $61 billion to Ukraine, $8 billion to Taiwan and $26 billion to Israel—in effect a genocide tax on the American people. Only a handful of House and Senate members . . . READ MORE, a lot more with subscription . . .

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Instead of recognising ‘Palestine’, countries should withdraw recognition of Israel, by Joseph Massad | Middle East Eye  On Tuesday, three additional European states officially recognised a non-existent Palestinian state. Ireland, Spain, and Norway are the latest to join more than 140 other United Nations members in recognising this phantom entity. The Palestinian Authority, which was set up in 1993 to aid Israel in . . . READ MORE . . .

There are 10 links in this entry. They are to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Tass, Le Monde, Agence France-Presse, and the Kyiv Post, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Ukraine army head says Russia augmenting its troops in critical Kharkiv region, by Illia Novikov | AP  KYIV — Russia conducted an array of aerial attacks on Ukraine with cruise missiles, drones and ballistic missiles, Ukraine’s air force said today, while the chief of the army said Russia is increasing its troop concentration in the Kharkiv region where Moscow’s forces have made significant advances in a spring offensive. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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Russia confirms reports of France preparing to send troops to Ukraine. From Tass. MOSCOW — Reports about France preparing to send troops to Ukraine have been confirmed, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing. “We announced such reports on April 3. Even though Paris . . . READ MORE . . .

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Macron wants to form a European coalition of military instructors in Ukraine, by Philippe Ricard and Cédric Pietralunga | Le Monde  Nothing has yet been finalized, but it could be a matter of weeks, or even days, before French and European instructors are sent to Ukraine. Le Monde has learned that the French authorities are looking to set up a coalition . . . READ MORE . . . Lire en français ICI.

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War lobbyists sabotage implementation of Istanbul agreements — Erdogan. From Tass. ANKARA — The Istanbul agreements between Russia and Ukraine were sabotaged by circles lobbying for the continuation of the war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says. “Next to us, the war between our Black Sea neighbors, Russia and Ukraine, is . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia says destroyed Ukrainian drones, missiles near Crimea. From AFP. Russia’s Defense Ministry said today it downed 13 Ukrainian drones in the southern Krasnodar region and areas close to the annexed Crimean peninsula. This morning, “five Ukrainian aerial drones were shot down by anti-aircraft defense systems in the Krasnodar . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  U.S.Treasury official visits Ukraine to discuss sanctions on Moscow and seizing Russian assets, by Fatima Hussein and Samya Kullab | AP  WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. Treasury official has met with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv to discuss U.S. financial support, enforcing sanctions on Russia and using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit in the war with Moscow. The visit this week by . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  What have Ukraine’s allies said about striking Russia with Western weapons? From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine has urged its allies to allow Kyiv to use Western-supplied arms to conduct strikes inside Russia and abandon an official position some have held throughout Russia’s 27-month-old full-scale invasion. Several have shifted their rhetoric. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainians run gauntlet returning to homes in occupied territories, by Sergii Kostezh | Kyiv Post  Right after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, in some regions many fleeing Ukrainians were unable to safeguard their property or evacuate relatives from the war zone. It’s now common for Ukrainians to travel back to the occupied territories by various means and for diverse reasons — some go . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  Ukraine urges allies to lift Western arms ban on hitting targets inside Russia. Will they? by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  Following a new Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine is increasingly raising pressure on its allies, urging them to lift restrictions on the use of Western-provided weapons against military targets inside Russia. Months before . . . READ MORE . . .

There are six links in this entry. They are to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Tass, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Tricontinental Institute for Social Research via Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Israel says Gaza war likely to last another seven months as tanks probe Rafah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israel sent tanks on raids into Rafah today and predicted its war on Hamas in Gaza would continue all year, after Washington said the Rafah assault did not amount to a major ground operation that would trigger a change in U.S. policy. READ MORE . . .

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A senior Israeli official offers a grim prediction for the war as fighting rages in Gaza’s Rafah, by Melanie Lidman, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy| AP  TEL AVIV — Israel’s war with Hamas is likely to last through the end of the year, a top Israeli official said today, a grim prediction for a war already in its eighth month that has killed tens of thousands, deepened Israel’s global isolation and brought the region repeatedly to the brink of a wider conflagration. READ MORE . . .

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Brazil president withdraws his country’s ambassador to Israel after criticizing the war in Gaza, by Eleanore Hughes and David Biller | AP  RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva withdrew his ambassador to Israel today after months of tensions between the two countries over the war in Gaza. READ MORE . . .

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Erdogan accuses West of complicity in Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.  From Tass. ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the U.S. and Western countries of being complicit in the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip — and the UN of inaction. “No state will be safe until Israel abides by international law and considers itself bound . . . READ MORE . . .

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Where is the Biden administration’s red line when it comes Palestinian deaths in Gaza? Leila Fadel of NPR talks with Aaron Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on whether an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp near Rafah crossed a red line with the Biden administration. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM MAY 2  Three evils, by Vijay Prashad | Tricontinental Institute for Social Research / Consortium News  In a chapter from Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks (1952), called “The Fact of Blackness,” Fanon writes about the despair that racism produces, the immense anxiety about living in a world that has decided that certain people . . . READ MORE . . .

There are 12 links in this entry. They are to reports from Tass, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Kyiv Post, the Moscow Times, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent and Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Lavrov urges countries of Global South not to attend Swiss meeting on Ukraine. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on the countries of the global majority to reject participation in the Swiss conference on Ukraine on June 15-16 and not to succumb to Western pressure on this issue, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. READ MORE . . .

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Life on Ukraine’s front line: ‘Worse than hell’ as Russia advances, by Mari Saito | Reuters  “They’re constantly firing, constantly probing,” says Viktor, an infantryman.“We have to survive somehow and we have to hold the line.” It is the start of another draining day on. . . READ MORE . .  .

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FROM MAY 28  Ukraine gets more military aid from Europe but Putin warns of consequences if Russian soil is hit, by Raf Casert and Barry Hatton | AP  LISBON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a second $1 billion promise of military aid in as many days Tuesday during a whirlwind tour of three European Union countries, while President Vladimir Putin warned that hitting Russian soil with Western-supplied weapons could set the war on a dangerous new path. READ MORE . . .

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France’s Macron urges a green light for Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with Western weapons. From AP.  Western countries should let Ukraine strike military bases inside Russia with the sophisticated long-range weapons they are providing to Kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron said, pressuring his allies in the most recent sign of a potentially significant policy shift that could help change the complexion of the war. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine urges allies to lift Western arms ban on hitting targets inside Russia. Will they? by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  Following a new Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine is increasingly raising pressure on its allies, urging them to lift restrictions on the use of Western-provided weapons against military targets inside Russia. Months before . . . READ MORE . . .

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Off target: Are Kyiv’s GPS-aided weapons susceptible to Kremlin EW jamming? by Leo Chiu and Christopher Stewart | Kyiv Post  Despite early battlefield successes, U.S.-made weapons augmented by Global Positioning System satellites for position updates in Ukraine are now susceptible to Russian electronic warfare (EW) jamming, reported the New York Times and the Washington Post, but it is unclear whether other factors are involved. READ MORE . . .

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Raiffeisen’s Russian division to end outgoing U.S. dollar payments. From the Moscow Times. The Russian division of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank will stop processing outgoing payments in U.S. dollars starting on June 10, the bank announced today, citing “changed requirements of correspondent banks.” “This change affects . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian troops destroy first French-made TRF1 howitzer in Ukraine operation. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian troops destroyed the first French-made TRF1 towed howitzer of the Ukrainian army over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today in a broader statement. READ MORE . . .

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Examining the success of sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine. Steve Inskeep of NPR speaks with David Wessel about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Wessel is director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Ukraine urges allies to lift Western arms ban on hitting targets inside Russia. Will they? by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  Following a new Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine is increasingly raising pressure on its allies, urging them to lift restrictions on the use of Western-provided weapons against military targets inside Russia. Months before . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 28  U.S. endgame in Ukraine — war without bnd, amen, by Patrick Lawrence | Special to Consortium News  The American propaganda machine has begun preparing the public for a wider war that is to extend, as a matter of policy and military strategy, into Russian territory. This effort began with . . . READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for the referenced May 24 report from Reuters.

For today, links to reports from Reuters, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press, and to commentary from the Middle East Eye and the Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Tanks reach Rafah’s centre as Israel presses assault, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli tanks reached the centre of Rafah for the first time today, witnesses said, three weeks into a ground operation in the southern Gaza city that has sparked global condemnation. . . . READ MORE . . .

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Airstrike on Rafah leads to international outcry and condemnation of Israel. Reported by Aya Batrawy and Michel Martin | NPR  Fallout continues from an Israeli airstrike on Rafah that killed at least 45 Palestinians in a makeshift encampment for displaced people. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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As Israel attacks Rafah, Palestinians are living in tents and searching for food, by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Lee Keath | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —  Over the past three weeks, Israel’s offensive in Rafah has sent nearly a million Palestinians fleeing the southern Gaza city and scattering across a wide area. Most have already been displaced multiple times during . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 27  Israeli strike kills dozens 45 in an area of Rafah that didn’t get evacuation orders. Reported by Kat Lonsdorf | NPR  An airstrike in Rafah on Sunday killed at least 45 people and injured dozens. This comes just days after the International Court of Justice ordered an immediate halt to the Israeli operation in Rafah. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Israel’s increasing savagery against Palestinians is a sign of its defeat, by Fareed Taamallah | Middle East Eye  Four recent developments on the international scene will likely lead to the cornering of Israel and the removal of the false mask it has always displayed to the world. The first . . . READ MORE . . .

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Why is a global superpower under the influence of the tiny Zionist state? by Yvonne Ridley | Middle East Monitor  On the world stage, the United States of America is the only country that fulfils the criteria to be considered a superpower, although . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and the Moscow Times; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Belgium commits $1 billion to Ukraine as Zelenskyy continues his whistlestop European tour, by Raf Casert | AP  BRUSSELS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today received a second $1 billion promise of military aid in as many days for his war with Russia during a whirlwind tour through the European Union. The pledge for 2024 came from Belgium, which . . . READ MORE . . .

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Zelenskiy: Biden missing Ukraine talks would be ‘applauded’ by Putin. From Reuters. BRUSSELS — Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said today that if U.S. President Joe Biden missed a peace summit organised by Kyiv in Switzerland next month, Russian President Vladimir Putin would applaud his absence. Ukraine hopes to host . . . READ MORE . . .

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EU top diplomat says Ukraine has right to strike Russian territory. From AFP. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell today urged countries to balance fear of escalation against Ukraine’s need to defend itself, saying Kyiv had the right to use Western arms to strike in Russia. “According with the law of war, it is . . . READ MORE . . .

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Conference in Switzerland not to settle situation in Ukraine — Kremlin. From Tass. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — The Kremlin thinks a conference on Ukraine slated to take place in Switzerland in June is futile, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “So far, we’ve seen an attempt to prepare a conference in Switzerland. A conference which, from our point of view, is . . . READ MORE . . .

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Western companies U-turn on Russia exit plans – FT. From the Moscow Times. Western companies are reconsidering leaving Russia amid increasing Kremlin-imposed exit costs, difficulty finding suitable buyers and rebounding consumer activity, the Financial Times reported today. Some remaining companies are increasingly open about their plans. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 27  Ukraine’s Zelenskyy gets more air defense missiles from Spain to fight deadly Russian glide bombs. From AP. MADRID — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday secured from Spain a pledge of additional air defense missiles to help fight the about 3,000 bombs that he says Russia launches every month at Ukraine in the third year of the war. However, Ukraine . . . READ MORE . . .

Commentary from The Writing Life via Substack, followed by a link to a poem from the Poetry Foundation; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries are HERE and HERE.) — MCM 

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On Memorial Day, by Matt Taibbi | The Writing Life  As a boy I read Wilfred Owen’s famous poem about World War I, describing the suffering of young men sent by industrial powers to die in clouds of poison gas. It’s a warning: if you saw what Owen did, and your nights were tormented by visions of blood and death, “You would not tell with such high zest, to children ardent for some desperate glory/The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” / Owen was killed in November 1918, a week before the Armistice. In his poems you read a soldier’s hope that boys like me would read them before they became old enough to want to prove themselves in combat. God didn’t design us to be killers, he said, noting we aren’t born with claws or talons, and a boy’s teeth are more suited for “laughing round an apple.” I know that’s true of my children, who’ll be taught to remember soldiers like Owen today.

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‘Arms and the Boy,’ by Wilfred Owen | Poetry Foundation  Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade / How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood; / Blue with all malice, like a madman’s flash; / And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh. / Lend him to stroke these . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to reports from National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, and Reuters, and to commentary by an Australian observer others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date and a TAIBBI entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Israeli strikes hit tents for displaced people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi and A Martínez | NPR  The Ministry of Health in Gaza says at least 35 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured by an Israeli air attacks on a camp in Rafah for displaced people. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Gaza health ministry says death toll from Israeli strike on Rafah camp rises to 45. From AFP. “The Rafah massacre yesterday left 45 martyrs, including 23 women, children and elderly,” the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said today, adding that 249 otherss were wounded in the camp housing displaced people. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 26  Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes kill 35 in Gaza’s Rafah as displaced people are hit, by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Tia Goldenberg | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian health workers said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 35 people Sunday and hit tents for displaced people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and “numerous” others were trapped in flaming debris. Gaza’s Health Ministry said women and children made up most of the dead and dozens of wounded. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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FROM MAY 25  Like so much else, the fuss over ‘international law’ is really about narrative control, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com.au  The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to cease its assault on Rafah, an order which will be disregarded by Israel with the full support of Washington. This comes days after the International Criminal Court announced its intention to seek warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials for . . . READ MORE . . .