THERE is no way the murder of 2 Jewish staffers of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. can be justified. It is tragic these young people were taken from their families and friends. But the tirade by Israeli ambassador yechiel leiter-goebbels over the murder of 2 Jews while attempting to justify the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed on Muslim and Christian Palestinians and the deaths of over 53,000 Palestinian children, women and men by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank is disgusting and perverse and exposes the "never again" holocaust hypocrisy of the current government and "religious" right wing extremist in Jerusalem. There is no difference in what the nazis did to Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and what netanyahu's administration and the idf is doing to Muslim and Christian Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The United States MUST stop supplying weapons and ammunition to the IDF and to Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The United States MUST demand Israel stop committing the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity it is committing on Muslim and Christian Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The United States MUST demand Israel completely lift the blockade on Gaza and allow, unhindered, food, water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter to be delivered daily. Please e mail your representative and senators and tell them to end all military aid to Israel until the Gaza blockade is lifted and the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity on Muslim and Christian Palestinians is stopped permanently. My comments in this post is the e mail I sent to Rep Subramanyam D-VA 10th district and Senators Warner D-VA and Kaine D-VA. This from the PBS News Hour
Dozens in Gaza killed by Israeli strikes as critical aid fails to reach Palestinians
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip Wednesday, despite a surge in international anger at Israel’s widening offensive. The attacks killed at least 82 people, including several women and a week-old infant, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and area hospitals.
Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but the aid has not yet reached Palestinians in desperate need.
Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the U.N.’s humanitarian agency, said no trucks were picked up from the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the Israeli border crossing with southern Gaza.
U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Tuesday that although the aid had entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time.
The Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza said trucks entered Gaza Wednesday morning, but it was unclear if that aid would move deeper into Gaza for distribution. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said its staff had waited several hours to collect aid from the border crossing but were unable to do so on Tuesday.
A few dozen Israeli activists opposed to Israel’s decision to allow aid into Gaza while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages attempted to block trucks carrying supplies Wednesday morning, but were kept back by Israeli police.
Diplomats come under fire in Jenin
A group of diplomats came under fire while visiting Jenin, a city in the Israel-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority. The diplomats were on official mission to observe the humanitarian situation in Jenin when shots rang out.
An aid worker, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said a delegation of about 20 regional, European and Western diplomats were standing near the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp when they heard gunshots Wednesday, she said. No one was injured, she added.
WATCH: Israel allows ‘minimal aid’ into Gaza as it intensifies airstrikes and ground operations
The Israeli military said the delegation “deviated from the approved route” and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots to distance them from the area. The military apologized and said they will contact all of the countries involved in the visit.
Footage shows a number of diplomats running for cover as rapid shots rung out. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said firing even warning shots was unacceptable and called on Israel to investigate.
The Italian government of Premier Giorgia Meloni also demanded an explanation, saying that its vice consul was among those who came under fire.
Jenin has been the site of Israel’s widespread crackdown against West Bank militants since earlier this year.
On Jan. 21 — just two days after its ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza — Israeli forces descended on Jenin as they have dozens of times since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The fighting displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians, one of the largest West Bank displacements in years.
International pressure on Israel
A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, near the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025. Photo by Amir Cohen/ Reuters
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom. suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault, a step that came a day after the U.K., Canada and France promised concrete steps to prompt Israel to halt the war. Separately, the European Union was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza, according to its foreign policy chief.
Israel says it is prepared to stop the war once all the hostages taken by Hamas return home and Hamas is defeated, or is exiled and disarmed. Hamas says it is prepared to release the hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory and an end to the war. It rejects demands for exile and disarmament.
READ MORE: UK cuts trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive and blockade
Israel called back its senior negotiating team from ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday, saying it would leave lower-level officials in place instead. Qatari leaders, who are mediating negotiations, said there was a large gap between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes continued across Gaza. In the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel recently ordered new evacuations pending an expected expanded offensive, 24 people were killed, 14 from the same family. A week-old infant was killed in central Gaza.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, but has said it is targeting Hamas infrastructure and accused Hamas militants of operating from civilian areas.
Desperate need for food
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Gaza City, May 21, 2025. Photo by Mahmoud Issa/ Reuters
Experts have warned that many of Gaza’s 2 million residents face a high risk of famine. At one displacement camp in Gaza City, a charity group distributed thin and watery lentil soup.
Somaia Abu Amsha scooped small portions into bowls for her family, saying they have not have had bread for over 10 days and she can’t afford rice or pasta.
READ MORE: As Israel’s blockade pushes Gaza towards famine, aid workers say they feel helpless
“We don’t want anything other than that they end the war. We don’t want charity kitchens. Even dogs wouldn’t eat this, let alone children,” she said, pointing at the soup.
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called for aid to reach the Gaza Strip and for an end to the “heartbreaking” toll on its people during his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Hospitals surrounded
Israeli troops also have surrounded two of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said this week.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday urged world leaders to take immediate action to end Israel’s siege on Gaza, issuing the appeal during a visit to Beirut, where he was expected to discuss the disarmament of Palestinian factions in Lebanon’s refugee camps.
“It is time to end the war of extermination against the Palestinian people. I reiterate that we will not leave, and we will remain here on the land of our homeland, Palestine,” Abbas said, demanding the immediate entry of aid, the release of detainees, and a full withdrawal from Gaza.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
Related
2 of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza encircled by Israeli forces, staff say UK cuts trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive and blockade Israel’s latest military offensive kills 85 in Gaza despite mounting international criticism As Israel’s blockade pushes Gaza towards famine, aid workers say they feel helpless Aid trucks enter Gaza for the first time in nearly 3 months Airstrikes kill at least 103 people as Israel launches ‘extensive’ new ground offensive in Gaza Israel launches new military operation in Gaza a day after Trump leaves the Middle East Israeli strikes kill at least 54 in southern Gaza, hospital says
Read the Full Transcript
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
Nick Schifrin:
What does this say about the threat to your staff, to staff at other Israeli embassies and diplomatic institutions around the world, perhaps even the threat to Jews in general who attend public events like this?
Yechiel Leiter:
Well, look, there's an international attempt to delegitimize and demonize Israel. We're called the worst kinds of names. Our prime minister is called a war criminal. All of our soldiers are referred to in such derogatory fashion.
And the ultimate result is going to be people streaming through the streets of campuses screaming "From the river to the sea," which is a genocidal chant, which is basically calling for the elimination of Israel. And if there's a genocidal idea, ultimately, people are going to take guns and use them against Jews. That's what happened.
Antisemitism is as old as the Jewish people. It just takes on different forms. Today, that form is anti-Israelism and anti-Zionism.
Nick Schifrin:
The Anti-Defamation League cited the highest number of antisemitic attacks last year since it's been started measuring a half-century ago, including a nearly 900 percent increase in the last decade.
Police say that the war on Gaza has accelerated incidents, but what do you think is the cause of this kind of hate?
Yechiel Leiter:
Well, the war on Gaza is a response to a Nazi-like attack on our civilians. We're responding to violence.
What's causing this spike in antisemitism — and the ADL is spot on in their figures — is the demonization of the state of Israel, the attempt to say that we are interlopers or colonizers or occupiers, that we don't really belong. So if we don't belong, we need to be removed. If we need to be removed, that's an eliminationist way of thinking, and almost anything that's done, whether it's violent or violent, verbiage is permitted.
So, obviously, there's going to be a spike. The battle against antisemitism has to take the form of battling against this delegitimization of Israel. With the people of Israel, we have been there long before there was a geographic location called Palestine. We will be there long into the future. And that is exactly what we're fighting for.
Nick Schifrin:
As we heard in the story that aired right before you and I started speaking, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Saar, blamed the murders here in Washington U.N. and European officials who've criticized Israel's recent block of humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza.
Do you believe that your two staff are dead because of foreign officials' critiques?
Yechiel Leiter:
Do Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron and Prime Minister Carney have some explaining to do? They certainly do, because what they are attempting to do is unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. They want to give a prize to Hamas, as if October 7 should be Palestine liberation day.
Leading the charge in this is President Macron. It's a contortion of morality. This is almost, I would say, moral depravity. You don't award terrorists with sovereignty, with recognition. So, do they share in the blame for the rise of antisemitism? Absolutely.
Stop beating up on Israel. Stop condemning us. Stop delegitimizing us. We're not doing anything that is comparable to what we're being charged with doing. I lost my son, by the way, who led forces into Gaza on foot. We didn't strap-bomb population centers.
If we'd be guilty of what these Western leaders are accusing us of, my son might be alive today. So, please, don't give us lectures of morality, Mr. Macron. The French army has a long history of all sorts of violations around the world. We are in consonance with international law and with moral law.
Nick Schifrin:
May your son's memory, sir, be a blessing.
You mentioned the new plan to distribute aid into Gaza. The prime minister has talked about that today, this U.S. company that will move into Gaza with U.S. security. The prime minister talked about — quote — "The Palestinian population will move there" into these new pockets for their own safety.
How will this aid distribution work? Are you using these aid distribution pockets in order to move the population into certain areas?
Yechiel Leiter:
No, actually, we have moved populations earlier in order to move them to safety. The food under this program, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, will be distributed.
Instead of doing it through Hamas, will be done in distribution centers. Each distribution center will be able to service some 300,000 people. The food and aid will go directly to families, not to organizations. So the people that need it most will get it. This is a dramatic improvement in what's been going on until now, despite the fact that the humanitarian aid that we have been providing, these 92,000 trucks, 1.8 million tons, despite the fact it was going to Hamas in large numbers, we continue to do it.
Nick Schifrin:
Finally, sir, I don't have that much time left. So I just wanted to return to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
Both of them worked on coexistence, as you know. What do you think the best way is to continue their legacy?
Yechiel Leiter:
They did. They did.
The best way to continue their legacy is to forge forward with coexistence, and, at the same time, to continue to defeat the evil that is intent on preventing coexistence. The attack on October 7 stemmed from Iran's absolute conviction that the Abraham Accords were moving forward, that coexistence was moving forward.
And the attack was intent on thwarting that coexistence. If we defeat those who would stand in the way of coexistence, we will be able to move to a peaceful Middle East.
Nick Schifrin:
Ambassador Leiter, thank you very much.
Yechiel Leiter:
Thank you, Nick.
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