Zelenskyy won’t be meeting with any Russian officials in Istanbul other than Putin, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said Tuesday on a YouTube show run by prominent Russian journalists in exile.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday accused Ukraine of “violating” Moscow’s three-day ceasefire more than 14,000 times. Ukraine, which did not agree to the May 8-10 ceasefire, has also accused Russia of violating its own truce, with the Ukrainian foreign minister calling it a farce.A Russian official on Sunday evening also accused Ukrainian forces of a missile strike on a town in Russia’s Kursk region that borders Ukraine. Acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram that the strike “seriously damaged” a hotel in Rylsk, a town east of the Ukrainian border, and wounded three people.
Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Thomas Adamson-Koumbouzis in Paris contributed to this report.Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine atJERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has blockaded all entrances to the Gaza Strip since March.
While pummeling the strip with airstrikes, it has banned any food, water, shelter or medication from being trucked into the Palestinian territory, where the U.N. says the vast majority of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 captives remaining in Gaza, 21 are believed to still be alive, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday, revealing that three had died.Here’s a look at the humanitarian crisis spiraling in Gaza, through key statistics and charts:
The current blockade has lasted longer than any previous Israeli halt in aid to Gaza
. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel froze aid to Gaza for two weeks.Ruth James, Oxfam regional humanitarian coordinator, said large networks are needed to get aid to everyone. “That takes time and expertise,” she said. “Any new system that comes in this quickly and without humanitarian expertise and trust from communities will not be able to do that.”
Huckabee called on U.N. agencies and aid groups to join the new mechanism.Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office, said Friday that U.N. concerns have not been addressed in multiple meetings with Israeli officials. He dismissed claims that theft of aid was significant in scale.
“The problem is the blockage of hundreds of aid trucks that should go into the Gaza Strip every single day. That is the root cause of the humanitarian crisis.”El Deeb reported from Beirut, and Keaten from Geneva.