Palestinian PM discusses latest developments and ceasefire efforts with Norwegian Foreign Minister (2025)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa has met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican to discuss ceasefire efforts, Wafa reports.

During the meeting, Mustafa emphasised the urgent need to intensify international pressure on Israel to halt its ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip and to open the border crossings into enclave, warning that the ongoing closure exacerbates the risk of worsening famine.

Wafa adds that Mustafa stressed the critical need for the immediate entry of humanitarian aid amid severe shortages of food, medicine, and other basic necessities.

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Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has appointed a close aide as the first ever vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), AFP reports citing a member of the organisation’s executive committee.

“Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as a deputy (vice president) of the PLO leadership,” Wasel Abu Yousef said, in a move that positions Sheikh as a potential successor to veteran leader Abbas.

Hamas is open to a years-long truce with Israel in Gaza but is not willing to lay down its arms, an official said, as leaders of the Palestinian fighter group met mediators in Cairo for ceasefire talks, AFP reports.

Sources close to the talks told Reuters Hamas hoped to build support among mediators for its offer, adding the group might agree to a five to seven-year truce in return for ending the bombardment, allowing for the rebuilding of Gaza, the freeing of Palestinians jailed by Israel and the release of all hostages.

“The idea of a truce or its duration is not rejected by us, and we are ready to discuss it within the framework of negotiations. We are open to any serious proposals to end the war,” said Taher Al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas leadership, in the first clear signal that the group was open to a longer-term truce.

However, Nono ruled out a core Israeli demand that Hamas lay down its arms. Israel wants to see Gaza demilitarised.

“The weapon of resistance is not negotiable and will remain in our hands as long as the occupation exists,” Nono said.

Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 56 more Palestinians, bringing the death toll to 51,495 since Israel launched its military campaign in October 2023, Anadolu reports quoting the enclave’s health ministry.

A ministry statement said that 108 more injured people were transferred to hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of injuries to 117,524 in the Israeli onslaught.

“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Israel to allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a ‘political tool’, hours after the UN agency ran out of stocks due to a sustained Israeli blockade on supplies, Reuters reports.

“The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government’s blockade, food cannot be used as a political tool,” Carney said on X.

The UN agency said no humanitarian or commercial supplies had entered Gaza for more than seven weeks because all main border crossing points were closed, the longest closure the Gaza Strip had ever faced.

Gaza’s civil defence agency has said Israeli strikes killed at least 17 people across the territory, while more trapped under the rubble after a family home was hit.

“Israeli air strikes in several areas killed 17 people since dawn,” civil defence official Mohammed Al-Mughayyir told AFP.

A strike on the house of Al-Khour family in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood killed 10 people, Mughayyir said, with witnesses reporting an estimated 20 victims trapped beneath the rubble.

At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since early this morning, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Most died in attacks on Gaza City, where some 13 of the 16 were killed.

Hamas seeks an agreement to end the Gaza conflict that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year truce, according to an official from the Palestinian group.

“Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has condemned Israel’s more than seven week aid block on war-ravaged Gaza as “a man-made and politically motivated starvation”, AFP reports.

“The Government of Israel continues to block the entry of food + other basics,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X, hours after the World Food Programme said it had depleted its food stocks in Gaza.

“Nearly 2 months of siege. Calls to bring in supplies are going unheeded”, Lazzarini added.

Gaza’s civil defence agency has said an Israeli strike on Gaza City killed at least four people and left “more than 30” feared buried under the rubble of a house.

“Our crews were able to recover four martyrs and five wounded following the attack,” which hit a family home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood at dawn, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Bassal said that “more than 30” people are presumed missing under the rubble of the targeted house in Gaza City, in the territory’s north, and “our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery”.

The UN World Food Programme has warned that its food aid stocks are fully depleted in Gaza, where starvation looms as Israel continues a total blockade, according to Al Jazeera.

“To meet the basic needs of the population in Gaza, it is critical that we are able to resume food deliveries into Gaza immediately,” WFP’s Palestine country director Antoine Renard said in a post shared on social media.

WFP has more than 116,000 tonnes of food supplies already positioned and ready to enter Gaza through aid corridors, as soon as Israel reopens Gaza borders.

Michael Fakhri, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, has spoken to Al Jazeera about Israel’s deliberate campaign to starve Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

“The United States is complicit in the genocide, in the starvation ofcivilians,” Fakhri told Al Jazeera.

“Let’s look at who controls the borders, who controls the flow of goods and humanitarian aid, who controls everything that goes in and out of Gaza. It is Israel,” he said.

“What we saw in the last month, one month alone, child acute malnutrition increased by over 80 per cent. So they are using children’s lives and the death of thousands in this negotiation process,” he said.

“Again, there is no condition, there is no political excuse to deny humanitarian aid to civilians, no matter what’s going on on the ground,” he added.

The Israeli army has said that a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, Reuters reports.

Sirens sounded in a number of areas in Israel following the launch, the Israeli army added in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Houthis, who have been launching attacks against Israel as well as ships they perceive as affiliated with Israel, in what they say is to support the Palestinians in Gaza against the Israeli offensive on the enclave.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged Israel to allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to work in Gaza, saying food must not be used as a “political tool”, hours after the UN agency ran out of stocks due to a sustained Israeli blockade on supplies, Reuters reports.

“The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government’s blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool,” Carney said on X.

“Palestinian civilians must not bear the consequences of Hamas’ terrorist crimes,” Carney said. “The World Food Programme must be allowed to resume its lifesaving work.”

“We will continue to work with our allies towards a permanent ceasefire and the immediate return of all hostages,” Carney added.

The WFP said yesterday it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens providing hot meals in Gaza and that the facilities were expected to run out of food in the coming days.

United States President Donald Trump says he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “we’ve got to be good to Gaza”, pressing him to allow food and medicine to enter the battered enclave.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the US president was asked about whether access to food was brought up during a recent meeting with the Israeli PM.

“Gaza came up and I said ‘we’ve got to be good to Gaza’. Those people are suffering … we’re going to take care of that,” he replied. “There’s a very big need for food and medicine, and we’re taking care of it.”

When asked if the US is pushing Israel, Trump responded, “We are.”

He added that Netanyahu “thought a lot about” the request.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud hosted his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, holding discussions focused on several issues, including the situation in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“Regional and international issues of common interest were discussed, most notably the current situation in the Gaza Strip and the efforts being made for the conference to resolve the Palestinian issue and implement the two-state solution, scheduled to be held next June under the joint chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says “the situation is desperate” in Gaza as a result of Israel’s blockade, Al Jazeera reports.

“Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war,” UNRWA said.

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO network, has warned that community kitchens still operating in Gaza only have enough food to last them a few days.

“For 54 days, the borders were closed totally. Nothing entered,” Shawa told Al Jazeera from Gaza City.

“Now, we are in a collapse of the humanitarian system. Our capacity to respond to these huge needs became more limited day by day. We have no food — no milk, no eggs, no meat,” he explained.

Shawa called on the international community to take action “to pressure Israel to stop its war and at the same time, to open these crossings” to allow humanitarian supplies into the enclave.

The ministry in the enclave says 84 people killed and 168 injured were reported to Gaza’s hospitals in the last 24 hours, Al Jazeera reports.

The toll includes the bodies of six people killed in the previous days but recovered today.

The death toll from Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023 has risen to 51,439, with 117,416 injured, a statement on Telegram added.

The UN’s World Food Programme warns that it has depleted all its food stocks in Gaza, where the entry of all humanitarian aid has been blocked by Israel since March 2, AFP reports.

“Today, WFP delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip. These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days”, WFP said in a statement.

The UN human rights office says Israel’s attacks on Palestinians have accelerated since the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire in March and during the past week in particular, Al Jazeera reports.

A statement by the agency stressed that attacks killed countless civilians and further risked the destruction of what little infrastructure remains in the enclave. It issued a reminder that Israel’s complete closure of Gaza, preventing lifesaving assistance from reaching civilians, including food and fuel, has entered its eighth week.

“Persistent Israeli military attacks on civilians and civilian objects have continued throughout Gaza in violation of the core principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack required by international humanitarian law,” the agency stressed.

It added: “Extremely high civilian casualties over 18 months do not appear to have prompted any changes in Israeli targeting practices and policies, a pattern indicating at the very least a complete disregard for the lives of civilians in Gaza.”

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the multiple forced displacement orders issued by the Israeli military have left Palestinians “with less than a third of Gaza’s area to live in”, Al Jazeera reports.

“That remaining space is fragmented, unsafe, and barely liveable,” a statement on X said.

It added: “Overcrowded shelters are in a terrible condition, service providers are struggling to operate, and the last resources are being depleted.”

A child has succumbed to their wounds after an Israeli attack on a tent housing displaced people in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reports.

Since Israel restarted its attacks in March, it has issued several forced evacuation orders to Palestinians, calling on them to move to the al-Mawasi area, which the army has routinely targeted.

Gaza’s government media office says famine is spreading in the enclave, with “more than a million children at risk”, Al Jazeera reports.

“Vital sectors in Gaza are collapsing amid a stifling blockade and shameful international silence. We warn that the humanitarian catastrophe will continue to worsen at a frightening rate as the occupation continues to close the crossings,” the office said.

It added that famine has become a “reality” with at least 52 deaths, including 50 children, due to hunger and malnutrition.