British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday the situation in Gaza is "getting worse day by day" and that it was essential to ensure more urgent humanitarian aid reaches the Palestinian territory. "The situation is intolerable in Gaza, and it is getting worse day by day," Starmer told reporters in Scotland, when asked if the United Kingdom would take any action on the issue. He added: "That is why we are working with our allies… to be absolutely clear that humanitarian aid has to get in, and it has to get in quickly, and in quantities that it is not at the moment, which is causing such devastation." The British government summoned the Israeli ambassador to London, Tzipi Hotovely, on May 20th regarding the expansion of military operations in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources reported 35 people killed by Israeli fire near an American company's aid centre west of Rafah in the past 24 hours. Israeli forces also launched intense raids on Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, where a large explosion was heard in the city centre, the sources said. Detailing the events, Palestinian medical sources stated that 35 people were killed by Israeli fire near aid centres in the last 24 hours. Palestinian media also reported a large explosion in the centre of Khan Younis, while Israeli gunboats fired shells and illumination flares in the vicinity of the Al-Alam area, west of Rafah. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces began a wide-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 54,418 citizens, the majority of whom were women and children, according to Palestinian medical sources. The comprehensive Israeli assault has also injured 124,190 others, in a non-final toll, as a number of victims remain under the rubble and in the streets, inaccessible to ambulance and rescue crews, the sources added.
