Daily Peace and Crisis Report — Thursday

Summary

Middle East

Gaza Strip

Israel announced on Wednesday that it had killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed chief of Hamas’s armed wing (the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades), in an airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City on Tuesday. A family statement confirmed Odeh was killed along with his wife and son. Gaza health officials reported that six people were killed and more than 20 wounded in the strike, which destroyed an upper floor of a residential building. Democracy Now!

The killing came during the Eid al-Adha holiday, with residents reporting that “there is no ceasefire” as shelling continued day and night. Since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, Israel has killed approximately 900 Palestinians in Gaza, with OCHA’s 25 May situation report documenting 881 fatalities and 2,621 injuries during that period. OCHA

The cumulative death toll in Gaza since 7 October 2023 has reached 72,803 killed and 172,855 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry figures reported by WAFA. This toll remains incomplete as many victims remain trapped under rubble. UNRWA’s Situation Report #223 noted a renewed military escalation over recent weeks, with Israeli forces issuing multiple evacuation and shelter-in-place orders across Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Maghazi, Bureij, and Nuseirat. Nutrition partners observed a 21 per cent increase in malnutrition admissions between January and April 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, despite the ceasefire. UNRWA

Humanitarian access remains severely constrained: only half of all aid trucks from Egypt could offload at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom Crossing in the first 18 days of May, according to the Logistics Cluster data tracked by OCHA. ReliefWeb / OCHA

West Bank

The UN Human Rights office reported that Israeli military and police forces and settlers have killed 1,096 Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October 2023, with children making up approximately 20 per cent of fatalities. Settlement expansion has increased by 80 per cent since the current Israeli government took office, with 102 new settlements added to the 127 that existed previously. UN News

Between 12 and 18 May, Israeli forces and settlers killed five Palestinians, including one child, while nearly 60 Palestinians were injured across the West Bank. OCHA documented more than 50 settler attacks during that week alone, bringing the total documented since the beginning of 2026 to over 870 across more than 220 communities—an average of six attacks per day. Concerns over forced displacement intensified after the Israeli Finance Minister instructed authorities to implement demolition orders against Khan al Ahmar, a Bedouin community of over 700 Palestine refugees. OCHA

Lebanon

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 31 people and wounded 40 on Tuesday 27 May, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel launched more than 120 airstrikes on that day alone, one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks. An Israeli military official confirmed that troops had begun operating beyond the so-called Yellow Line, a boundary running roughly 10 kilometres inside Lebanon. Democracy Now!

The escalation comes despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced on 16 April. Since 2 March, over one million Lebanese have been forced to flee their homes, and more than 3,200 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, with nearly 10,000 injured. The Israeli military reported that 10 of its soldiers had been killed since the April ceasefire, six of them by Hezbollah’s explosive drones. Vatican News / Reuters

Iran–US Situation

The US–Iran conflict entered its 89th day, with ongoing negotiations reported through Qatari mediation. Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf returned from Qatar on Tuesday, reportedly seeking the release of US$24 billion in frozen Iranian funds. President Trump stated that Iran was “negotiating on fumes” and that US midterm elections would not affect his war strategy. Iran partially restored internet access after a nationwide blackout lasting nearly three months. Democracy Now!

The US carried out what it described as “self-defence” strikes against Iranian missile launch sites, prompting Iran to accuse Washington of acting in “bad faith” during peace talks. Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz remain active, with Trump threatening to “blow up” an ally over the strategic waterway. 9News

Eastern Europe

Russia–Ukraine Conflict

Russia launched one of its largest aerial barrages on Kyiv on the night of 24–25 May, deploying 600 strike drones and 90 missiles, including the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile—only the third time the weapon has been used in the war. At least two people were killed and 83 wounded in the Ukrainian capital, with damage recorded in 50 locations across several districts, including residential buildings, schools, a market, and the National Chornobyl Museum. 9News / AP

Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed the Oreshnik was used to strike Ukrainian “military command and control facilities,” stating the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on “civilian facilities on Russian territory.” President Putin had ordered retaliation following a Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobelsk (Russian-occupied Luhansk) on 22 May, which killed 21 people and wounded 42. AP

Russian Perspective: The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that its “cup of patience has overflowed” and announced that the military would now “systematically target defence industry facilities in Kyiv.” Moscow urged foreigners, including diplomats and representatives of international organisations, to leave the Ukrainian capital “as soon as possible.” Russian strategic analysts described a shift toward “managed escalation,” with one expert warning that “the next blow will be even more painful and will cause greater damage.” RT (Rus)

At a UN Security Council emergency meeting held at Russia’s request, Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk denied accusations of war crimes, calling them a “pure propaganda show” and asserting that the 22 May operations “exclusively targeted the Russian war machine.” European leaders condemned the Oreshnik use, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stating that “Russia hit a dead-end on the battlefield, so it terrorises Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centres.” AP

According to the latest UN briefing to the Security Council, at least 238 civilians were killed and 1,404 injured across Ukraine in the most recent monthly reporting period—the highest monthly number of civilian casualties recorded since the full-scale invasion began. The cumulative toll since February 2022 stands at more than 13,000 civilians killed and over 30,000 injured. Russia Matters

Russia Matters’ analysis of ISW data for the four weeks ending 19 May indicates that Russian forces registered a net loss of 69 square miles of Ukrainian territory during that period, contrasting with a net loss of only 2 square miles in the preceding four-week period. The head of UK intelligence agency GCHQ revealed that nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war began. Russia Matters

Africa

Sudan

Sudan’s civil war, now in its 26th month, continues to produce catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Fatality estimates vary widely: ACLED has recorded 29,582 conflict-related deaths, while broader estimates from research institutions and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine suggest the true toll may range from 61,000 to over 150,000 when accounting for indirect deaths from disease, starvation, and lack of medical care. CFR; ReliefWeb

The UN estimates that over 30 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, with 825,000 children projected to suffer severe wasting in 2026. More than 8 million people are internally displaced. A new study published in the journal Science concluded that the abrupt withdrawal of USAID has led to a “significant and sustained increase in conflict” across Sudan and other African countries. Democracy Now!

Reports indicate growing internal splits within the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with factional tensions around RSF leader Hemedti potentially reshaping the conflict dynamics. The humanitarian response remains severely underfunded, with the UN describing Sudan as an “abandoned crisis.” ReliefWeb

DRC — Ebola Outbreak

The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 1,000 suspected cases with over 220 deaths, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo species of Ebola and has spread to Uganda, with 85 confirmed cases across both countries as of 21 May. Three Red Cross volunteers have died while responding to the outbreak. Health workers face arson attacks and community mistrust, severely hampering containment efforts. WHO; Al Jazeera

Asia

Myanmar

A Myanmar military junta airstrike targeted a base of the prominent resistance group Ye Balu in Ye Township, Mon State, at approximately midnight on Wednesday 27 May, killing around 10 resistance fighters. The strike represents the junta’s continued reliance on air power against opposition forces across the country. The Irrawaddy

Heavy clashes intensified along the Sagaing–Kachin border on 26 May as junta forces and resistance fighters battled for control of a key gateway to the country’s north. Separately, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and People’s Defence Force (PDF) joint forces ambushed three junta vehicles near Pinmalut village on the Katha–Nabar road on 26 May, killing 13 junta soldiers. Myanmar Now

The junta has also stepped up offensives in northern Kachin State, seeking to retake a rare-earth mining belt near the China border that supplies critical minerals. On 21 May, the military claimed it had recaptured the border town of Mawtaung near Thailand after more than two weeks of fighting. In Karenni State, a junta counteroffensive has pushed resistance forces into a new phase of war, while thousands of civilians have fled villages near Bagan as regime forces conduct raids in Mandalay Region. Myanmar Now

Statistics

Table 1 — Casualties (Killed / Wounded)

* OHCHR access is denied to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine; figures for civilians in occupied territory cannot be independently verified. The vast majority (96%) of verified civilian casualties occur in Government-controlled areas.

Table 2 — Numbers (non-casualty figures)