MAP aid worker and baby son injured during Israeli strikes on Gaza City

On the evening of Tuesday 26 May, a MAP Programme Officer sustained minor injuries when Israeli forces struck a residential building adjacent to her home. Her baby son was also injured in the attack. Both are now in a stable condition.

On the same evening, simultaneous Israeli military attacks targeted residential apartments and other civilian sites in Gaza City, reportedly killing at least six people and injuring several others.

Mai Elawawda, MAP’s Communications Officer in Gaza, said: “These attacks come at a time that should have been marked by Eid celebrations, yet instead they are overshadowed by ongoing attacks during the so-called 'ceasefire.'

"This includes repeated “pre-strike warnings” and forced evacuation orders targeting almost entire residential blocks. They are forcing dozens of families to flee their homes under extreme fear, only for these areas to be left in widespread destruction."

Israeli forces have intensified strikes across multiple areas of Gaza in recent weeks, with 24 Palestinians reported killed between 12 and 20 May. These include attacks on both sides of the so-called “Yellow Line”, the demarcation of the deployment line to where Israeli forces withdrew in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. This shifting boundary has reached an estimated 58% of the territory, raising serious concerns over de facto annexation and the continued shrinking of safe space for civilians and humanitarian operations.

Despite the “ceasefire” agreement last October, the Israeli military has killed at least 906 Palestinians in Gaza and injured more than 2,600, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. These ongoing violations have brought the cumulative number of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to more than 72,700, including more than 1,700 healthcare workers and 594 aid workers.

MAP calls for urgent action to ensure the ceasefire is upheld and becomes permanent, and for civilians to be protected in line with international humanitarian law. Governments, including the UK, must maintain meaningful pressure on Israel to bring a permanent end to Israel’s genocide, including through halting arms transfers and ensuring accountability.

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Phone: +44 (0) 203 869 1310

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity. We work in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

MAP’s local team in Gaza continues to deliver our largest humanitarian response in our history in order to meet critical health and humanitarian needs caused by more than two year’s of Israel’s genocide.

For more information please visit: www.map.org.uk