A trickle of humanitarian aid is now starting to get into Gaza. For over 11 weeks, between 2 March and 18 May, no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip due to the siege imposed by the Israeli authorities. As a result, basic humanitarian supplies, including food, fuel, medical aid and vaccines for children, are running out, with a devastating impact on the population.

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said:

“It is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed, and significantly more aid must be allowed into Gaza.”

As the Gaza Genocide plays out on our screens in live time as Israel continues to bomb the remaining areas where people are sheltering, in the past 2 months over 950 children have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes. Israel launched a new military operation, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots” resulting in hundreds of more civilians killed and injured.

Today, Saturday 24 May, islanders in Orkney, who have been holding Peace Vigils since October 2023, will again be on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, between 1 and 2pm, in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

The devastation in Gaza is even shocking previous political supporters of Israel’s actions. The UK, which continues to sell military equipment and shares surveillance information with Israel from its Spy planes, has suspended its talks on negotiating a Free Trade Deal with Israel. Spain has called for Israel to be banned from taking part in international cultural events.

An international diplomatic group which was visiting The West Bank were shot at by Israeli forces. Israel said these were ‘warning shots’ over the heads of the diplomats who were on a planned visit to Jenin. Israeli violence in The West Bank has been increasing since October 2023. According to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 17 May 2025, 938 Palestinians – including at least 198 children – were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Of those, 132 Palestinians, including at least 25 children, were killed only since the beginning of 2025.

As of May 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 10,068 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Israeli custody, including 1,455 sentenced prisoners, 3,190 remand detainees, 3,577 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,846 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.

Official numbers report that between 7 October 2023 and 21 May 2025, according to the MoH in Gaza as stated by OCHA, at least 53,655 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip while 121,950 have been reported injured. This number is an under estimate. It does not include those who have starved to death or who have died of other conditions, having been unable to obtain the necessary medical treatment.

UNRWA medical staff continue to provide what care and treatment they can despite the appalling devastation around them. A fourth round of the polio vaccination campaign was scheduled to start on 13 April but had to be postponed until further notice due to the continuous bombardment and displacement orders from the Israeli authorities, as well as the lack of sufficient vaccines due to the siege imposed by the Israeli authorities. Polio returned to Gaza after being eradicated 25 years ago. Its re-emergence is a result of the Israeli Government’s actions to destroy all the civilian infrastructure.  At least 310 UNRWA team members have been killed since 7 October 2023

OCHA reported that, of the 58 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza from 14 to 20 May 2025, 36 were denied, ten were initially accepted but faced impediments, five withdrawn, and seven facilitated. Overall, of the 167 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip between 1 and 20 May, 105 were denied, 15 impeded, eight withdrawn, and 39 facilitated. UNRWA situation report #172

Since 15 May, seven journalists were reportedly killed across Gaza, bringing to 219 the total number of journalists and media workers killed since October 2023. This is a deliberate strategy to stifle reports of the Gaza Genocide with only recently Main Stream Media, including the BBC, beginning to tone down their support for Israel.

The Orkney News remains committed to documenting the activism in Orkney by the Peace campaigners and the atrocities being committed in Gaza by the Israeli military.

Fiona Grahame