Israeli

In 2010, Israeli forces stormed the Mavi Marmara, a ship in a flotilla trying to break the siege on Gaza. The raid left 10 people dead. Now, a new vessel, the Madleen, has set sail with the same mission – and the same risks. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal witnessed the 2010 raid firsthand and reflects on its lasting impact.

The Netherlands is still supporting the supply chain of Israel’s version of the F-35 fighter jet, more than a year after a court banned direct Dutch exports of F-35 parts to Israel, a report claims.

Research by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) shared with Al Jazeera shows that the port of Rotterdam is frequented by ships carrying F-35 parts for maintenance and assembly. The ships belong to the Danish shipping giant Maersk.

By examining import data and shipping receipts of Maersk and Lockheed Martin – the United States weapons manufacturer that designed the F-35 – the group found that more than a dozen shipments from Israel travelled through the port of Rotterdam on their way to the US from April 2023 until early 2025.

The F-35 fighter jet has been used by Israel to bomb Gaza from the air with devastating effect. Much of the Strip, where more than 50,000 people have been killed since October 2023, is in ruins.

“Maersk now operates a recurring shipping cycle between Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility in Texas and Israel Aerospace Industries in Israel, routed through Rotterdam,” the report stated. “In this cycle, Maersk transports pairs of empty F-35 wing containers from Houston to Ashdod, Israel, where they are loaded with completed F-35 wings. The filled containers are then shipped back to the US for final assembly or repair.”

The researchers noted that Rotterdam is a “key stopover point in this process, and shipments for this cycle have occurred beyond February of 2024”.

Then, a judge at a Dutch appeals court ordered the Netherlands to stop exporting and transiting F-35 parts to Israel, saying there was a “clear risk” they were being used in “serious violations of international humanitarian law”.

The Dutch state immediately lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court, but until a decision is made, it is still bound by the lower court’s ruling.

“The findings in the report show that the port of Rotterdam plays an important role in sustaining the operational capacities of Israel’s F-35 fighter jets. This way, the port of Rotterdam is complicit to international law violations in Gaza,” Gerard Jonkman, director of a Dutch NGO, The Rights Forum, told Al Jazeera.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera that the court had subsequently confirmed that the judgement in February 2024 applied only to the export or transit of F-35 parts from the Netherlands to Israel and that the Dutch state had implemented the judgement accordingly.

A spokesperson for the port of Rotterdam told Al Jazeera that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for issuing permits for the transhipment of military goods. Port officials check vessel compliance with environmental and safety regulations for shipping on behalf of the government and municipality of Rotterdam, they said.

“The harbour master receives only limited information regarding vessel cargo. The information received mainly pertains to whether the vessel is carrying hazardous substances. Other aspects of vessel cargo are monitored by various other public authorities, such as customs.”

They said they were “aware” of the February 2024 court ruling.

“All activities in the port must comply with international laws and regulations and the permits issued by the government. If we see any indication that this is not the case, the Port of Rotterdam Authority alerts the competent authority.”

‘The Netherlands is still part of the supply chain’

The Rights Forum was one of three parties, together with the Dutch affiliate of Oxfam and PAX for Peace, the largest peace organisation in the Netherlands, that sued the Dutch state over its export of F-35 parts to Israel.

“In this case, there is no direct export from the Netherlands to Israel, but the Netherlands is still part of the supply chain for the Israeli F-35 programme,” Gerard Jonkman, head of the Rights Forum, said of the Palestinian Youth Movement’s findings. “This way the Netherlands facilitates the Israeli F-35 programme and might breach its obligations under international law.”

PAX for Peace project leader Frank Slijper told Al Jazeera: “This indeed shows that the Netherlands is part of the F-35 supply chain.”

A grassroots organisation, the Palestinian Youth Movement believes that targeting Maersk directly disrupts the flow of weapons in the “supply chain of death used to genocide Palestinians”.

According to the group, Maersk has shipped the wings for every Israeli F-35 since March 2022.

In November 2024, following a decision by Spain to deny docking permission to two ships carrying weapons bound for Israel, Maersk adjusted its routes. The company’s fleet now avoids Spain in favour of Rotterdam and the port of Tangier in Morocco

“Maersk has, for years, knowingly supplied the Israeli military with key weapons components used to carry out genocide in Gaza,” Aisha Nizar of the Palestinian Youth Movement told Al Jazeera. “The company has done so without hesitation, potentially violating multiple arms embargo policies across Europe.”

The F-35 is considered a top-of-the-line fighter jet. The aircraft designed by Lockheed Martin costs at least $80m in its most basic configuration.

Currently, 12 countries operate the jet. F-35 parts are made in the United States and several participating partner countries, giving the project the moniker Joint Strike Fighter.

“It is very sad to see that Maersk is not distancing itself from Israel’s crimes against humanity in Gaza and more broadly continues lending itself to the crucial replenishment of Israel’s armed forces,” Slijper said. “Shipping military supplies for the benefit of Israel’s arms industry and the [Israeli army] risks Maersk being complicit in Israel’s crimes.”

The use of the jet by Israel, the only country with its unique version of the F-35, has been scrutinised since the start of the onslaught in Gaza.

Recently, campaign groups took the United Kingdom government to court in a bid to halt the exports of British-made F-35 parts to Israel.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Lockheed Martin said: “Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions, and we closely adhere to US government policy with regard to conducting business with international partners.”

Regarding F-35 shipments, Maersk told Al Jazeera that it upholds a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to active conflict zones and that it conducted due diligence, particularly in regions affected by active conflicts, including Israel and Gaza, and adapts this due diligence to the changing context. It confirmed, however, that its US subsidiary Maersk Line Limited was one of “many companies supporting the global F-35 supply chain” with transport services.

The F-35 programme includes several coalition countries, including Israel.

“As part of the coalition-building of the F-35, Maersk Line Limited regularly transports parts between participating countries, including Israel, where F-35 wings are manufactured,” it said.

June 5 (UPI) — Israel said Thursday it had recovered the remains of two Israeli-American hostages in a military operation overnight in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that the bodies of Gadi Haggai, 72, and Judy Weinstein-Haggai, 70, had been returned to their families in Israel 20 months after they were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and taken back to Gaza.

He said the married couple were recovered in a special operation mounted by the Israeli Security Agency and Israel Defense Forces.

“I would like to thank, and express appreciation to, the fighters and commanders for this determined and successful operation. We will not rest, nor will we be silent, until we return home all of our hostages — the living and the deceased,” Netanyahu said.

The couple, who held U.S. citizenship, were out for a morning walk near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were gunned down by Mujahideen Brigades fighters who joined the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds abducted.

“We welcome the closure and their return to a proper burial at home, in Israel,” a statement from the families of Haggai and Weinstein said.

Judy Weinstein-Haggai was born in New York but moved to Toronto, Canada, with her family at the age of 3. She married Gadi Haggai after meeting him while working as a volunteer on a kibbutz in the 1970s, according to a bio posted on social media.

Gadi Haggai was described as a retired chef, a passionate jazz musician, and a devoted father and grandfather.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it was a painful time but also a moment of solace.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to bring our sisters and brothers back from hell — the living, for healing and rehabilitation, and the fallen, to be laid to rest in dignity. Every last one of them!” Herzog said on X.

The couple’s recovery means 54 out of the 251 people originally taken hostage remain in Gaza, of whom about 20 are believed to be still alive.

As of Wednesday, Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas, put the number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its military response a day after the Oct. 7 attacks at 54,607 and 125,341 injured.

The “Bring Them Home Now” Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it wanted to stress that a grave was a basic human right and called for authorities to do whatever was necessary to reach an agreement that will see the return of the rest of the hostages, “the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial.”

“There is no need to wait another 608 agonizing days for this. The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want.”

Thursday’s rescue came hours after the United States vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.

The Slovenia-sponsored resolution, which also called for the unconditional release of all the hostages held by Hamas and other groups and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on aid going into Gaza, was defeated in a 14-1 vote on Wednesday evening in New York, the U.N. said in a news release.

Slovenia’s representative to the U.N. expressed disappointment at the vetoing of a measure motivated by humanitarian intentions, saying “starving civilians and inflicting immense suffering” was inhumane, in breach of international law and unwarranted by any war objective.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea said Washington could not support rewarding Hamas with a permanent cease-fire that would leave it with the ability to carry out further attacks and criticized the “false equivalence” drawn between Hamas and Israel in the text of the draft resolution.

She also argued that the draft did not make any mention of the failings of the system used operated by the U.N. and aid charities to distribute humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which she said had been exploited by Hamas for its own benefit.

“Performative actions designed to draw a veto” would only serve to undermine efforts to resolve matters through quiet diplomacy currently underway between the parties, said Shea.

Israeli military says it shelled targets in Syria in response to a pair of projectile launches.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned an Israeli strike on the Syrian province of Deraa, saying that it caused “significant human and material losses”, the state news agency SANA reports.

The strike came after the Israeli military said that two projectiles had crossed from Syria towards Israel on Tuesday, and fell in open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, though the Syrian Foreign Ministry said these were “reports that have not been verified yet”.

The ministry reiterated that Syria has not and would not pose a threat to any party in the region.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the projectiles.

“We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilise the region to achieve their own interests,” the ministry added.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the projectiles.

“We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire towards the State of Israel, and a full response will come soon,” Katz said.

Syria and Israel have recently engaged in indirect talks to ease tensions, a significant development in relations between states that have been on opposite sides of the conflict in the Middle East for decades.

Several Arab and Palestinian media outlets circulated a claim of responsibility from a little-known group named the Muhammad Deif Brigades, an apparent reference to Hamas’s military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024.

The statement from the group could not be independently verified.

The Israeli army said it attacked southern Syria with artillery fire after the projectiles launched at Israel.

Residents said that Israeli mortars were striking the Wadi Yarmouk area, west of Deraa province, near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The area has witnessed increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli military incursions into nearby villages, where residents have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops.

Israel has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that has destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure. It has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and taken more territory in the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s removal in December, citing lingering concerns over the past of the country’s new government.

Around the same time that Israel reported the projectiles from Syria, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile from Yemen.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they targeted Israel’s Jaffa with a ballistic missile. The group has been launching attacks against Israel in what they say is in support of Palestinians during the Israeli war in Gaza.

Israeli forces have killed at least 27 Palestinians and injured 90 more as they opened fire close to an aid distribution site in Rafah, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The latest killings came early on Tuesday at the Flag Roundabout, near an aid hub operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

It was the third such incident around the Rafah hub in as many days. Gaza’s authorities report that more than 100 aid seekers have been killed since the United States- and Israel-backed GHF started operating in the enclave on May 27, with reports of violence, looting and chaos rife.

The Israeli military said it had fired shots as “a number of suspects” deviated from the regulated routes, on which a crowd was making its way to the GHF distribution complex.

The “suspects” were about 500 metres (approximately 550 yards) from the site, the military said in a statement on Telegram, adding that it was looking into reports of casualties.

The death toll was confirmed by Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s records department.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Hisham Mhanna, said 184 wounded people had been taken to its field hospital in Rafah, 19 of whom were found dead on arrival, and eight others died later of their wounds.

Video verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency showed the arrival of dozens of injured people at the hospital.

Lured

Gaza’s Government Media Office accused Israel of “a horrific, intentionally repeated crime”, saying it has been luring starving Palestinians to the GHF centres – controversially opened following an 11-week total blockade to take over most aid distribution from the United Nations and other aid agencies – and then opening fire.

It said Tuesday’s death toll brought the number of aid seekers killed at aid sites in the Rafah governorate and the so-called Netzarim Corridor since GHF launched operations to 102, with 490 others injured.

The United Nations on Monday demanded an independent investigation into the repeated mass shootings of aid seekers in Gaza.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” said Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

“We heard from witnesses that there was chaos,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting about Tuesday’s killings from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. “The Israeli forces just opened fire randomly, shooting Palestinians … using quadcopters and live ammunition.”

Health Ministry officials and doctors said most of the wounded have been hit in their chest and head, she added.

The bloodshed, she continued, had unfolded in the same way as on the previous two days, amid ongoing chaos around the aid distribution centres.

“There’s no process. There’s no system,” she said. “You just need to run first to be able to get the food.”

‘Either way, we will die’

Rasha al-Nahal told The Associated Press news agency that “there was gunfire from all directions”, and that she saw more than a dozen people dead and several wounded on the road.

When she finally made it to the distribution hub, there was no aid, al-Nahal said, adding that Israeli troops “fired at us as we were returning”.

Another witness, Neima al-Aaraj, from Khan Younis, described the shooting as “indiscriminate”.

“I won’t return,” she said. “Either way, we will die.”

The Israeli military, in its statement on Telegram, said troops had fired warning shots as people deviated from “designated access routes” and “after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops”.

However, it denied firing on civilians or blocking them from accessing aid.

This account echoes statements around similar incidents on Sunday, when 31 aid seekers were reportedly killed, and on Monday, when three more were killed.

Israeli forces have opened fire again on Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid from a distribution site in Gaza, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30, as the United Nations demands an independent investigation into the repeated mass shootings of aid seekers in the strip.

The shooting erupted at sunrise on Monday at the same Israeli-backed aid point in southern Gaza where soldiers had opened fire just a day earlier, according to health officials and witnesses.

“The Israeli military opened fire on civilians trying to get their hands on any kind of food aid without any kind of warning,” Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

“This is a pattern that’s been widely condemned by international aid organisations because it enhances the breakdown of civil order without ensuring humanitarian relief can be received by those desperately in need.”

Witnesses said Israeli snipers and quadcopter drones routinely monitor aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the United States.

A Red Cross field hospital received about 50 people wounded in the latest shooting, including two who were dead on arrival, said Hisham Mhanna, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Most had been hit by bullets or shrapnel. A third body was taken to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

Moataz al-Feirani, 21, said he was shot in the leg while walking with thousands of others towards the food site.

“We had nothing, and they [the Israeli military] were watching us,” he told The Associated Press news agency, adding that surveillance drones circled overhead. The shooting began about 5:30am (02:30 GMT)  near the Flag Roundabout, he said.

The pattern of deadly violence around the GHF aid distribution site has triggered mounting international outrage, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday demanded an independent inquiry into the mass shooting of Palestinians.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food,” he said. “I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”

The Israeli military has denied targeting civilians, claiming its soldiers fired “warning shots” at individuals who “posed a threat”.

The GHF has also denied the shootings occurred although doubts about its neutrality have intensified since its founding executive director, former US marine Jake Wood, resigned before operations even began after he questioned the group’s “impartiality” and “independence”.

Critics said the group functions as a cover for Israel’s broader campaign to depopulate northern Gaza as it concentrates aid in the south while bypassing established international agencies.

Aid is still barely trickling into Gaza after Israel partially lifted a total siege that for more than two months cut off food, water, fuel and medicine to more than two million people.

Thousands of children are at risk of dying from hunger-related causes, the UN has previously warned.

At least 51 people killed in 24 hours

Elsewhere in the territory, Israeli air attacks continued to hammer residential areas.

In Jabalia in northern Gaza, Israeli forces killed 14 people, including seven children, in an attack on a home, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence agency. At least 20 people remained trapped under the rubble.

Two more Palestinians were killed and several wounded in another attack in Deir el-Balah, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, while a drone attack in Khan Younis claimed yet another life.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that at least 51 Palestinians have been killed and 503 injured in Israeli attacks across the territory in the latest 24-hour reporting period alone.

Despite growing international condemnation, Israel’s military on Monday ordered the displacement of even more civilians from parts of Khan Younis, warning it would “operate with great force”.

Roughly 80 percent of the strip is now either under Israeli military control or designated for forced evacuation, according to new data from the Financial Times, as Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are crammed into an ever-shrinking patch of land in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border.

Israel has made little secret of its aim to permanently displace Gaza’s population as officials openly promote “voluntary migration” plans.

The Financial Times reported that the areas Palestinians are being pushed into resemble a “desert wasteland with no running water, electricity or even hospitals”.

Satellite images showed Israeli forces clearing land and setting up military infrastructure in evacuated areas.

Analysts who reviewed dozens of recent forced evacuation orders said the trend has accelerated since the collapse of a truce in March.

“The Israeli government has been very clear with regards to what their plan is about in Gaza,” political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera.

“It is about ethnic cleansing.”

At least 30 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid near a distribution hub in Rafah, run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The attack comes amid disputes over the text of a US-backed ceasefire proposal.

Twenty-six Palestinians have been killed and 150 injured in Israeli tank shelling and gunfire near an aid distribution centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to medics and local residents.

Mohammed Ghareeb, a local journalist in Rafah, told the BBC that thousands of Palestinians had gathered near a US-backed humanitarian aid distribution centre when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.

Local journalists and activists shared harrowing footage of bodies and wounded individuals being transported on donkey carts to the Red Cross field hospital in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah, as rescue teams were reportedly unable to reach the scene.

The BBC has contacted the IDF for a response.

Mr Ghareeb said the crowd of Palestinians had gathered near Al-Alam roundabout around 04:30 local time (02:30 BST), close to the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, shortly before Israeli tanks appeared and opened fire.

“The dead and wounded lay on the ground for a long time,” Mr Ghareeb said.

“Rescue crews could not access the area, which is under Israeli control. This forced residents to use donkey carts to transport victims to the field hospital.”

The Red Cross field hospital said 26 people had been killed and 150 injured.

Efforts were under way to transfer the casualties to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for further treatment, the doctor added.

Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency that more than 100 people were wounded “due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens”.

The incident underscores the dire humanitarian conditions in Rafah, where recent Israeli military operations have severely limited access to aid and emergency services.

On Saturday, crowds of civilians rushed aid trucks in Gaza, the World Food Programme has said, as hunger and desperation create chaotic scenes.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a new US and Israel-backed organisation that has been distributing food at designated sites across Gaza. Israel set up the plan after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

The GHF said it distributed two million meals this week, which the BBC has not been able to independently verify.

This comes as the US attempts to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas responded to the US ceasefire proposal by saying it is prepared to release 10 living Israeli hostages and 18 dead hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

However, the group also repeated its demands for a permanent truce, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and guarantees for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid. None of these are in the deal on the table.

Hamas said it had submitted its response to the US draft proposed by Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East.

Witkoff said the proposal was “unacceptable and only takes us backward” and insisted the US deal was “the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days.”

Israeli air strikes hit homes in Gaza City on Friday, forcing families to flee through smoke and rubble. The attack came as Hamas is reviewing a new US-backed ceasefire proposal but has said that its current terms would result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.

FIVE protesters have been arrested after they allegedly targeted the filming of Gal Gadot’s new movie.

The demonstrators disrupted production at several locations across London in recent weeks, the Metropolitan Police said.

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The force said the protestors targeted sets “solely because an actress involved in the production is Israeli”.

Gadot, 40, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, previously showed support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi) has since argued people who support their group should boycott Gadot films.

Gadot is understood to currently be filming an action thriller called The Runner in the capital.

Police were called to a set location in Westminster on Wednesday.

Officers detained five people on suspicion of harassment and offences under Section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.

Two of the arrests were in relation to previous protests, while three were in response to incidents that unfolded on Wednesday.

All five remain in custody.

Supt Neil Holyoak said: “While we absolutely acknowledge the importance of peaceful protest, we have a duty to intervene where it crosses the line into serious disruption or criminality.

“We have been in discussions with the production company to understand the impact of the protests on their work and on any individuals involved.

“I hope today’s operation shows we will not tolerate the harassment of or unlawful interference with those trying to go about their legitimate professional work in London.”

The Runner, produced by David Kosse, stars Gadot as a lawyer on a mission to rescue her kidnapped son.

Gadot has been pictured back on set this week, despite the protests.

Demonstrations also followed the actress to her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony after her role in the latest Snow White movie.

A Pro-Palestine group stood outside the ceremony carrying signs reading: “Viva Viva Palestina”.

In a Variety interview earlier this week, Gadot said: “After October 7th [2023], I don’t talk politics — because who cares about the celebrity talking about politics?

“I’m an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world.

“But on October 7th, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent.

“I’m not a hater. I’m a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel and established his family from scratch after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz.

“And on the other side of my family, I’m eighth generation Israeli. I’m an indigenous person of Israel.

“I am all about humanity and I felt like I had to advocate for the hostages. I am praying for better days for all.

“I want everybody to have good life and prosperity, and the ability to raise their children in a safe environment.”

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On World Hunger Day, Palestinians continue to starve in Gaza, a day after a chaotic rush on an Israeli- and US-backed distribution point delivering the first aid since Israel’s March blockade. Some Israelis oppose even this minimal relief. Here’s what they’ve been saying.

Authorities are investigating the fatal shootings outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, as hate crimes and ‘terrorism’.

Following the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, DC, last week, some social media users claimed the incident was a “false flag” because of when and where it happened.

“So you’re telling me two Israeli diplomats got killed across the street from an FBI field office outside a Jewish museum that had *closed* 4 hours earlier,” said a May 22 X post. “And one day after Israel fired at European diplomats and Europe was talking sanctions and you don’t think it’s a false flag?”

Other X posts similarly speculated about the deadly shooting on May 21.

The “false flag” phrase stems from the misuse of literal flags. Historically, a false flag operation referred to a military force or a ship flying another country’s flag for deception purposes.

Some confirmed false flag operations have occurred throughout history. But they have been outpaced in recent years by conspiracy theories that label real events as “false flags,” or an attack that’s designed to look like it was perpetrated by one person or party, when in fact it was committed by someone else.

Unfounded false flag claims often follow mass violence incidents, including Israel’s war on Gaza, the 2022 Uvalde school shooting and the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Historians warn that social media rumours alleging that big news events are “false flags” should be viewed sceptically. Real false flag operations are logistically complex and tend to involve many people.

PolitiFact found no credible evidence to support the claim that the Israeli embassy employees’ shooting is a false flag.

What we know about the shooting

The X post said the shooting, which happened on a Wednesday, is a “false flag” because the museum had closed four hours earlier. The museum usually closes at 5pm on Wednesdays, except for the first Wednesday of each month, when it closes at 8pm.

However, the American Jewish Committee hosted an event on May 21 at the museum, scheduled to end at 9pm.

Preliminary investigations say the shooting happened after 9pm local time when the two victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were exiting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, said Pamela A Smith, the Metropolitan Police Department police chief, at a May 21 press conference.

Police identified the suspect as Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois. Rodriguez chanted, “Free, free, Palestine” after he was arrested, Smith said. The Justice Department charged him with the murder of foreign officials and other crimes.

The shooting, which has widely been criticised, came as Israel’s actions in Gaza has caused a global outrage and protests calling for ceasefire.

Jeanine Pirro, interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, said on May 22 that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime and “terrorism”.

The Capital Jewish Museum is diagonally across the street from the FBI’s DC field office. FBI Director Kash Patel and the Israeli government have condemned the shooting.

There is no evidence that the shooting was a false flag. We rate this claim False.

May 28 (UPI) — Israeli warplanes struck the Houthi-controlled Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said, seemingly in response to missiles recently launched by the militant group toward Israel.

The IDF said in a statement on X that its airstrikes targeted unidentified aircraft belonging to the Houthis.

“The aircraft that were attacked were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transport terrorists who promoted terrorist acts against the State of Israel,” it said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike destroyed the last remaining planes used by the Houthis at the site that remained following the IDF’s previous attack on the airport on May 6.

“This is a clear message and a direct continuation of the policy we established: Whoever fires at the State of Israel will pay a heavy price,” Katz said in the statement, The Times of Israel reported.

“The ports in Yemen will continue to be struck heavily, and the airport in Sanaa will be destroyed again and again, as will other strategic infrastructures in the area used by the Houthi terror organization and its supporters.”

Houthis, an Iran-backed group, have repeatedly attacked Israel since early in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, in response to Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw another 251 kidnapped.

The involvement of the Houthis, also an Iran-proxy militia, increased starting in mid-November when it started to enforce a military blockade of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, vowing to attack Israeli ships attempting to pass. It said the blockade was in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The rebels followed by broadening targets to include U.S. military ships.

Israel, with its allies, including the United States, have responded with conducting mass airstrikes in Yemen.

On May 6, Israel attacked the airport in Sanaa, and last week conducted similar airstrikes on ports in Hodeidah and al-Salif.

On Tuesday, the IDF said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

“This is another example of the Houthi terrorist organization’s brutal use of civilian infrastructure for terrorist activities,” the IDF said Wednesday morning on X, seemingly in reference to the Sanaa airport.

“The IDF is determined to continue to act and strike with force anyone who poses a threat to the residents of the State of Israel, at whatever distance is required.”

Palestinian groups slam the raids targeting exchanges in several cities in a widespread operation in the territory.

Israeli forces have raided money exchanges across the occupied West Bank, using live fire and tear gas as they stormed the city of Nablus, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding more than 30.

Exchange shops in the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron Arrabeh, el-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jenin and Tubas were attacked on Tuesday, residents said.

In the northern city of Nablus, Israeli soldiers raided a foreign exchange belonging to the Al-Khaleej company and a gold store, according to local media reports. They also fired smoke bombs in the centre of Jenin, and streets were closed in Tubas and Bethlehem in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Ramallah-based Ministry of Health said one man was killed and eight injured by live ammunition during a raid in Nablus.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated 20 people for tear gas inhalation and three injured by rubber bullets.

The raids on foreign exchanges came as Israel continued its intensified military campaign in Gaza, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians since the war began on October 7, 2023, as tens of thousands of people starve in the besieged enclave.

Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday said Israel conducted the raids on foreign exchanges on suspicions that the shops supported “terrorism”. The radio station also said the operation resulted in the confiscation of large amounts of money designated for “terrorism infrastructure” in the West Bank.

“Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organisations,” a leaflet left by Israeli forces at the company’s Ramallah location read.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said Israeli authorities have not released an official statement yet but an official talked to the Israeli media about the raids.

“This official said earlier that Israel ‘believes’ – not that it has any evidence or proof – but ‘believes’ that these cash exchange places are funnelling money to what they call terror organisations,” said Salhut, who was reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Israel has banned Al Jazeera from reporting from Israel and the West Bank.

“The people who own these shops say they were not given any sort of proof by the Israeli military,” she added.

Salhut said it was the fourth time such raids have taken place since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“The first time was in December of 2023 when five different cash exchange places were raided by the Israeli military and they seized nearly $3m,” she said. “It happened again in August 2024 and again in September of that same year.”

Hamas slams raids

Hamas denounced the Israeli raids, saying they “constitute a new chapter in the occupation’s open war against the Palestinian people, their lives, their economy, and all the foundations of their steadfastness and perseverance on their land”.

“These assaults on economic institutions, accompanied by the looting of large sums of money and the confiscation of property, are an extension of the piracy policies adopted by the [Israeli] occupation government,” the Palestinian group said in a statement, adding that the targeted companies were “operating within the law”.

Hamas urged the Palestinian Authority to take measures against the Israeli attacks.

Separately, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said the raids are “part of the open war against our people, targeting their very existence and cause”. The group also urged the Palestinian Authority to “defend” Palestinians from such attacks and “halt its policy of security coordination” with Israel.

Attacks on civilian infrastructure rising amid Israel’s ‘intensified’ offensive on battered enclave.

Israeli attacks on northern Gaza are reported to have killed more than 50 people since dawn.

The death toll from the overnight attacks was being tallied on Monday morning. Among the targets hit was a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City and a family home in Jabalia, according to Palestinian Civil Defence officials.

At least 33 people were killed in an attack in the middle of the night on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency.

The school had been sheltering “hundreds” of people, Bassal said, adding that those killed were mostly children and women. Dozens were injured, he added.

The Israeli military claimed on Monday that the target of the attack had been a Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad control centre housing “key terrorists”.

“Numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians,” it added.

Video footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed fires in classrooms where forcibly displaced people had been sleeping, a child wandering alone among the flames, and people on the outside desperately trying to break windows.

In a separate attack on a residence in the town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, 19 members of the Abd Rabbo family were killed, according to Bassal.

A nearby tent camp in Gaza City was also targeted, according to unconfirmed reports, killing six people.

Schools targeted

Despite mounting international pressure, which has pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated last week that Israel would carry out an intensified military campaign until it controls the whole of Gaza.

International humanitarian law forbids attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools. But Israel has repeatedly bombed schools, mostly being used as shelter by displaced people, throughout its 19-month war in Gaza.

At least 50 people were killed by bombs and artillery attacks in November 2023 at al-Buraq School in Gaza City

At the nearby al-Tabin School, more than 100 people were killed as they gathered for morning prayers in August last year.

An Israeli air strike on the home of pediatrician Dr Alaa al-Najjar killed nine of her 10 children in Khan Younis, while she was at work in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. Her husband and only surviving child are in critical condition.