Timothee Chalamet’s mum shares four-word statement on Kylie Jenner amid family feud

Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet’s mother, Nicole Flender, has spoken out for the first time about his relationship with reality TV star Kylie Jenner

Timothee Chalamet’s mum finally shares opinion on Kylie Jenner amid family feud

Timothée Chalamet’s mother has finally weighed in on his high-profile relationship with Kylie Jenner – as tensions reportedly simmer between Kylie and Timothée’s sister, Pauline. The Call Me By Your Name actor, 29, and the 27-year-old beauty mogul first sparked romance rumors back in spring 2023, and since then, their relationship has been a lightning rod for controversy online.

However, not everyone in Timothée’s inner circle seems thrilled with his choice of partner. His older sister, Pauline Chalamet, 33, has been suspected of throwing shade at Kylie on multiple occasions through pointed social media posts.

Now, in a candid conversation with Curbed, Timothée’s mom, Nicole Flender, shared her perspective on her son’s romantic life – and she had only kind words for Kylie. “I have to say she’s lovely,” Nicole said, reflecting warmly on her interactions with Kylie. “She’s very nice to me. “

Timothee's mum is a huge fan of Kylie
Timothee’s mum is a huge fan of Kylie(Image: Getty Images for BFI)

However, the same can’t be said for Pauline as the actress has taken a far less subtle approach. Just last month, she appeared to criticise extreme wealth on her Instagram Stories, sharing a New York Times article about cuts to foreign aid while highlighting America’s “insane wealth disparity” — a pointed remark given Kylie’s estimated $700 million fortune.

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Pauline wrote alongside the article: “New York Times, liberal bias, yes yes yes I get it. But this one by @nickkristof is worth the read. It’s about empathy and humanity. The United States faces a tremendous number of domestic issues.

“Our maternal mortality rate is embarrassing, our way of shopping and eating food completely out of season makes no sense, we’re spoiled in our desire to BLAST ACs and heat, our INSANE wealth disparity is sick, the list literally goes ON and ON.

Pauline doesn't appear to be too fond of Kylie
Pauline doesn’t appear to be too fond of Kylie(Image: Penske Media via Getty Images)

“BUT just take a second and think about the fact that LESS THAN 1 PERCENT of all of our money goes to humanitarian aid. That money is insignificant in fixing any of the larger problems that play in the United States. And yet so significant to the lives of millions of individuals across this shared home we call Earth. “

Pauline had previously amplified a scathing anti-billionaire sentiment by reposting a Bernie Sanders tweet critiquing extreme wealth and private jet culture – behaviors often associated with the Kardashian-Jenner clan.

Sources close to the Chalamet siblings told The U. S. Sun that Timothée and Pauline’s relationship is “at an all-time low,” with Pauline’s disdain for Kylie driving a wedge between them for the first time ever.

“Something is broken,” one insider revealed, alleging that Pauline feels Kylie “doesn’t share the same values and morals” as Timothée and that their relationship will ultimately end when Kylie “gets bored. “

Timothee and Kylie have been dating since early 2023
Timothee and Kylie have been dating since early 2023(Image: Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images)

“Pauline thinks that Kylie is with her brother because it boosts her image – it looks cool to be dating one of Hollywood’s most talented rising stars,” the source continued. “She thinks Kylie’s interest is more about clout than genuine love. “

Last month, other insiders speaking to The U. S. Sun also voiced serious family worries, warning that marriage between Timothée and Kylie would be a “terrible mistake. ” A relative described the couple as “two complete opposites,” wondering aloud how they could ever sustain a lasting union: “It’s a mystery. Many of us don’t understand how they connect. “

As for Pauline, her patience appears to be wearing thin. “She’s tired of what she calls ‘The Kylie Show,'” the source said. “Timothée and Pauline barely talk these days. This relationship has driven a major wedge between them – and the gap only seems to be widening. “

The Mirror has reached out to Timothee’s representatives for comment on this story.

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Putin discusses US-Iran nuclear talks with leader of Oman in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed Iran’s nuclear programme with the visiting leader of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, the Kremlin has said, as the diplomatic shuttling around the edges of Iran-US nuclear talks continues apace.

Oman has been mediating between Iran and the United States as US President Donald Trump seeks an agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear programme, which Washington believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon – something that Iran denies.

“This topic was touched on … in the context of mediation efforts by Oman,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a briefing at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov also said both sides “discussed the progress of negotiations between Iranian and American representatives”, according to remarks carried by Interfax.

“We will see what the result will be. We maintain close contact with our Iranian colleagues. Where we can, we help,” Ushakov was quoted as saying.

Trump has threatened to bomb Iran unless a deal is reached. Iran has said there can be no deal under threat of bombardment.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran in January and is also trying to improve relations with the Trump administration.

Moscow has a role in nuclear talks with Iran as a signatory to a previous landmark 2015 nuclear deal that Trump abandoned during his first term as US president in 2018 – a move that prompted Iran to breach its terms a year later.

Russia has warned that any US military action against Iran would be illegal.

In televised comments, Putin was shown telling the sultan that Russian energy companies were interested in developing relations with Oman.

Meanwhile, Putin announced plans to stage a summit with the Arab League group of states later this year as Moscow searches for new partners as it continues its three-year offensive on Ukraine.

Slapped with sweeping Western sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine, Russia has turned towards Asian, African and Arab countries for political and economic ties.

“We plan to hold a summit between Russia and Arab countries this year,” Putin told the Omani leader.

“Many of our friends in the Arab world support this idea,” he added, inviting Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to the summit, without specifying the date and location.

The visit comes days after Putin hosted Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Moscow for talks on Syria and the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip. Doha is a key mediator between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Gulf states are gaining ever-growing diplomatic influence as mediators in negotiations to resolve the world’s most pressing crises, which have claimed thousands of lives, such as the conflict in Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

A third round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington is scheduled to take place in Oman on Saturday.

Ahead of the visit, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit China on April 23 at the invitation of Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The two sides will discuss bilateral relations and international and regional hot-spot issues of common concern, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.

The visit is believed to have great significance for deepening political mutual trust between the two countries, Guo told reporters.

Araghchi previously visited China, which was a signatory to the since-abandoned 2015 agreement brokered by world powers that both reined in Tehran’s nuclear programme and provided it with substantial financial relief, in December.

Not just Trump: Which world leaders did Pope Francis clash with?

As tributes pour in from around the world for Pope Francis, who died aged 88 on Monday, the pontiff is being remembered by many for embracing communities and challenges that the Roman Catholic Church had carefully avoided previously.

However, many of those issues — among them the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, climate change and immigration — also put Francis on a collision course with several world leaders. The pope’s funeral is on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, and many world leaders – including those he locked horns with during his papacy – have said they will attend it.

So which world leaders did the pope disagree with and what were the issues that drove those differences?

Donald Trump

Francis battled with the United States president over the issue of migration for nearly a decade.

During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Donald Trump promised to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the US border with Mexico.

In February 2016 during a trip to Mexico, Francis lamented Trump’s pledge: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. ”

Trump hit back in a statement posted on his Facebook account, saying: “No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.

“I am proud to be a Christian and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened. ”

Trump added a hypothetical scenario involving the ISIL (ISIS) armed group: “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened,” Trump wrote.

Trump ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2020 and won in a third run in 2024 on the campaign promise of carrying out “the largest deportation in American history”.

Referring to Trump’s plan for mass deportations, Francis said a day before Trump’s inauguration in January: “If it is true, it will be a disgrace because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the imbalance. It won’t do. This is not the way to solve things. ”

In February, the Vatican released a letter to US bishops from the pope about the deportations, which Trump had begun after taking office on January 20. While acknowledging a country’s right to safeguard itself and keep its communities safe, he remarked: “The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness. ”

After the pontiff’s death, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him! ” Trump also said that he would attend the pope’s funeral with first lady Melania Trump.

Mauricio Macri and Javier Milei

Francis left his hometown, Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, in 2013 after he was elected pope. The pontiff made more than 45 international trips during his papacy, but Argentina was not among the countries he visited. Before becoming the pope, he was archbishop and then cardinal in Buenos Aires.

In the years that followed, he had tense relations with multiple Argentinian leaders.

Mauricio Macri, who was the centre-right president of Argentina from 2015 to 2019, never publicly clashed with the pope, but Francis was widely believed to be a critic of Macri’s austerity programmes and their impact on the poor in Argentina. When Macri visited the pope at the Vatican in February 2016, the photos of their meeting showed an unusually stern Francis, strengthening speculation of differences between them. Neither of them quashed those suggestions.

In June 2016, Macri made a donation of 16,666,000 pesos (about $15,200 at current exchange rates) to the Scholas Occurentes educational foundation backed by Francis.

However, Francis wrote to the Argentinian branch of Scholas Occurentes, asking it to return the donation.

If tensions between Francis and Macri were more subtle, current far-right President Javier Milei has been open in his disdain for the pope.

While Milei was campaigning for the presidency in 2023, he described the pope as “the representation of evil on Earth”. However, Milei’s tone towards the pontiff softened after he came to office in December 2023. In February 2024, the two met at the Vatican. Milei has said he will attend the pope’s funeral.

Pope Francis meets Argentinian President Javier Milei at the Vatican on February 12, 2024 [Handout/Vatican Media via Reuters]

Milei wrote on X on Monday: “Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honour for me. ”

Jair Bolsonaro

During his papacy, Francis advocated for the protection of the Amazon rainforest, most of which is in Brazil.

Deforestation and wildfires have ravaged the rainforest in recent years, and as Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2023, Jair Bolsonaro implemented policies seen by critics as exacerbating the struggle to save it.

In 2019, the pope urged Amazonian bishops to take bold action to take care of the rainforest. “If everything continues as it was, if we spend our days content that ‘this is the way things have always been done,’ then the gift vanishes, smothered by the ashes of fear and concern for defending the status quo,” he said.

In 2020, the pope published a text on the exploitation of Indigenous people in the Amazon and the damage caused to the forest due to mining and deforestation.

“Pope Francis said yesterday the Amazon is his, the world’s, everyone’s,” Bolsonaro said in response to the text.

“Well, the pope may be Argentinian, but God is Brazilian. ”

Current Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will attend the pope’s funeral with first lady Janja Lula da Silva.

“With his simplicity, his courage and empathy, Francis brought the topic of climate change to the Vatican,” Lula said after the pope’s death.

Benjamin Netanyahu

The pope repeatedly denounced Israel’s war on Gaza, where more than 51,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed since October 7, 2023.

But his sharpest criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war came in November when the Italian daily La Stampa published excerpts from a new book of his.

“We should investigate carefully to assess whether this fits into the technical definition [of genocide] formulated by international jurists and organisations,” the pope said.

Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli described the pope’s comment as a “trivialisation of the term ‘genocide’ – a trivialisation that comes dangerously close to Holocaust denial”.

In December, the pope also called Israel’s bombardment of Gaza cruel.

An Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson responded to the pope’s sentiments, saying it was “particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism – a multifront war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.

“Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people. ”

Netanyahu had hosted the pope in 2014, and according to the Israeli government’s website, Francis in November 2023 met with representatives of Israeli captives taken by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered his condolences. “I send my deepest condolences to the Christian world and especially the Christian communities in Israel – the Holy Land – on the loss of their great spiritual father. … I truly hope that his prayers for peace in the Middle East and for the safe return of the hostages will soon be answered. ”

Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Francis three times with their last meeting taking place in 2021.

In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the pope never explicitly criticised Putin publicly, he spoke out against the war.

In May 2022, the pope chastised Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, for supporting the war. “Brother, we are not state clerics. We cannot use the language of politics but that of Jesus,” the pontiff said, describing a conversation with Kirill to the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera. The pope said he had warned Kirill against becoming “Putin’s altar boy”.

Putin expressed his “deepest condolences” over the pope’s passing in a letter to Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, camerlengo of the Roman Catholic Church. “Throughout the years of his pontificate, he actively promoted the development of dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, as well as constructive cooperation between Russia and the Holy See,” Putin wrote.

Ukraine’s leaders

Francis also upset Ukraine’s leaders after he said during a February 2024 interview that Kyiv should have “the courage of the white flag” to negotiate an end to the war.

“Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags,” Ukraine’s then-foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba wrote in a response on X.

In October after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the pope said: “I appeal for the Ukrainians not to be left to freeze to death. Stop the air strikes against the civilian population, always the most affected. Stop the killing of innocent people. ”

In an X post on Monday, Zelenskyy wrote about the pope: “He knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer, and foster unity. He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians. We grieve together with Catholics and all Christians who looked to Pope Francis for spiritual support. ”

Zelenskyy said he will attend the pope’s funeral.

Catholic Church

The pope also criticised his own institution.

In 2022, the pope apologised for the “cultural genocide” of Canada’s Indigenous population during a visit to the country.

From the 1800s to the late 1990s, the Canadian federal government took at least 150,000 children belonging to First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities to residential schools to erase their cultures and languages. Most of these schools were run by the Catholic Church.

“I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,” Francis said.

However, his refusal to call what the church did “cultural genocide” drew criticism from some First Nations leaders.

What were other contentious moments for the pope?

In November 2017, the pope visited Myanmar and did not explicitly acknowledge the Rohingya community, for which he drew criticism. A month later, during a December visit to Bangladesh, the pope acknowledged the persecuted community, saying: “The presence of God today is also called Rohingya. ”

George Clooney hits back at Donald Trump’s ‘fake movie star’ taunts

Hollywood icon George Clooney wasn’t bothered as he responded to President Donald Trump’s comments claiming he was a ‘fake movie actor’ and a ‘rat’

George Clooney shares thoughts on Donald Trump’s ‘fake movie star’ comment

George Clooney said he ‘doesn’t care’ as he shared his thoughts on Donald Trump’s comments about him. The President of the US recently slammed the Oscar-winning actor after the latter wrote an op-ed piece urging former president Joe Biden to step down from re-election and allow a younger Democratic candidate to run.

In the piece called ‘I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee’ for the New York Times from last summer, the 63-year-old said Biden could continue his work helping democracy by letting the younger candidate take over, giving them a bigger chance of beating the current POTUS. It wasn’t long before Trump labelled Clooney a “fake movie actor” before branding both him and Biden “rats”.

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Donald Trump
Trump called Clooney a ‘fake movie actor’ (Image: Getty Images)

Trump said at the time: “So now fake movie actor George Clooney, who never came close to making a great movie, is getting into the act. He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are. “

Clooney finally responded to the comments during an appearance on CBS Mornings. Speaking to Gayle King, he said: “I don’t care. I’ve known Donald Trump for a long time.

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“My job is not to please the president of the United States. My job is to try and tell the truth when I can and when I have the opportunity. I am well aware of the idea that people will not like that. ”

George Clooney
Clooney said he ‘doesn’t care’ about Trump’s comment(Image: Getty Images)

He continued: “People will criticise that. Elon Musk has weighed in [about me]. That is their right. It’s my right to say the other side. ”

Clooney said last week he felt it was his “civic duty” to champion another nominee for the recent elections. He said on CNN: “I don’t know if it was brave.

“It was a civic duty. When I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought that was time to. ” He also touched upon the backlash he received.

He said: “The idea of freedom of speech is you can’t demand freedom of speech and then say, ‘But don’t say bad things about me. ’ That’s the deal, you have to take your stand if you believe in it. Take a stand for it and then deal with the consequences. ”

During Clooney’s interview on CBS on Monday, he also touched upon his marriage to Amal Clooney – with who he has been married to over a decade.

He stood by his claim that the couple have yet to have an argument. He admitted he even said the same thing about his marriage the last time on the show.

“I remember we were here with you once before and I remember we said we’d never had an argument. We still haven’t. We’re trying to find something to fight about! ” he explained.

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“I feel so extraordinarily lucky to have met his incredible woman. I feel as if I hit the jackpot. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think I’m the luckiest man in the world. So it’s great.”

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Sophie Nyweide’s cause of death confirmed as family share heartbreaking statement

Sophie Nyweide, the former child actress known for her role in the 2009 romantic drama Mammoth, has passed away at the age of 24, her family has confirmed

Sophie Nyweide’s family confirm cause of death in tragic statement as actress dies at 24

Sophie Nyweide, best known for playing the daughter of Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal’s characters in the 2009 romantic drama Mammoth has died at the age of 24. The American actress, who appeared in a number of films by the age of 10, was described as “a kind and trusting girl” by her family in a moving statement.

Confirming her death, they hinted that Sophie had taken her own life after a series of ‘struggles’. Sophie family further suggested that past traumas were to blame for her death as they explained that they were left broken hearted after their “efforts couldn’t save her from her fate.” Sophie had tragically “self medicated” in order to process the “trauma” she had ensured.

“She self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside,” they said, before adding: “And it resulted in her death. ” The late star had told her family she would “handle” her issues and had rejected treatment, which they say could have saved her life.

Child star Sophie has died at the age of 24
Child star Sophie has died at the age of 24(Image: Getty Images North America)

Sophie’s family also urged her loved one and fans to donate to the RAINN charity – a charity committed to supporting survivors of sexual violence, cultivating communities of anti-sexual violence activism, and promoting policies that deliver justice and hold perpetrators accountable.

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Their heartbreaking statement read: “Sophie was a kind and trusting girl. Often this left her open to being taken advantage of by others. She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered. Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas.

“Even with those roadmaps, diagnoses and her own revelations, those closest to her, plus therapists, law enforcement officers and others who tried to help her, are heartbroken their efforts couldn’t save her from her fate. She self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death. She repeatedly said she would ‘handle it’ on her own and was compelled to reject the treatment that might possibly have saved her life. “

Sophie shot to fame at the age of 10
Sophie shot to fame at the age of 10(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)

The actress played the young daughter of a mum who was dying of cancer in the 2010 movie, Invisible Sign, which starred Jessica Alba. Sophie, was born on July 8, 2000, had expressed her desire from a young age after watching movies bought by her mum, Shelly Gibson, who was also an actress.

Her mum, who appeared in Dust to Malibu previously said: “She grew up in this movie theatre and slept in the movie theatre and had a little bed in the projection booth and watched many movies. ” Sophie is said to have “begged” her grandmother to become an actress when she watched the 2003 movie, Something’s Gotta Give.

Sophie landed her first role in the 2006 production of Bella, taking the lead – which was written by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and appearing alongside Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. The movie went on to win the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Marife Necesito poses with child actors Sophie Nyweide, Jan Nicdao, and Martin Delos Santospose
Marife Necesito poses with child actors Sophie Nyweide, Jan Nicdao, and Martin Delos Santospose (Image: DDP/AFP via Getty Images)

Following this, she went on appear in an episode of Law & Order one year later, as well as the 2007 movies, And Then Came Love and New York Serenade. Sadly, Sophie’s last on-screen credit came in 2015 when she appeared on the ABC hidden camera show, What Would You Do?

In a moving obituary, her family said the star was “happiest on a movie set, becoming someone else. ” They added: “It was a safe place for her and she relish from the casts and crews who nourished her talent and her well being. She was an eager adventurer and picked up the customs and even languages of any place she visited. She made friends easily at her schools and saw the good in everyone. “

They went on to add that the star was a “king and trusting girl,” but her sweet nature often left her open to being taken advantage of by people. Her family said: “Sophie. A life ended too soon. May it not be in vain. May we all learn from her brief life on earth and do better. Yes, we must all protect our children and do better. “

If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.

If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch

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Israeli attacks kill 28 in Gaza, destroy bulldozers for recovering the dead

Israeli forces have killed at least 28 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn, including 11 people who burned to death inside their home in Khan Younis, and carried out air strikes that destroyed equipment used to retrieve the dead from under rubble.

Seven members of a family were also killed on Tuesday by an air raid on the home where they were sheltering in western Gaza City. Three civilians, including two girls, were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of people in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned that more than two million people – mostly women and children – were being collectively punished.

“Gaza has become a land of desperation,” he said on X.

Nearly 3,000 trucks of UNRWA supplies and humanitarian aid remained stuck outside Gaza, unable to enter while food and medicine inside the strip are quickly running out.

“Hunger is spreading,” Lazzarini warned. “Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip – a weapon of war. ”

The UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, warned that withholding humanitarian aid constitutes a war crime. “This action would further aggravate conditions of life calculated to destroy the Palestinian population of Gaza. ”

Hamas slammed Israel’s ongoing blockade, which began on March 2. “The Gaza Strip is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” the group said in a statement, citing severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine.

It added that the siege as well as daily attacks on shelters, hospitals and residential areas amount to a “premeditated crime” by the Israeli leadership.

Hamas also blamed the situation on a “political, moral, and humanitarian failure” on the part of the international community and called on the UN and other institutions to pressure Israel to lift the blockade on aid.

‘Eradicating entire families’

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said: “The situation is unfolding rapidly here on the ground. What we are seeing is truly extraordinary in terms of very huge momentum of air strikes and artillery bombardments that have been seen over the course of the past 24 hours. ”

“What we understand is that the Israeli military has launched huge and heavy waves of air strikes with the latest targeting a group of Palestinians – three were confirmed killed in the strike, including two girls under the age of 14,” he added.

“It has been quite obvious that these attacks are focused on eradicating entire families (as in Khan Younis attack) – we’re talking about four generations being wiped out – and also a more systematic escalation has been taking place on targeting heavy machinery that has been allowed to enter Gaza during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal,” Abu Azzoum said.

Bulldozers used to recover the dead destroyed

Gaza’s Civil Defence said Israel also targeted bulldozers used in humanitarian operations, including rubble removal and the recovery of bodies.

Nine bulldozers brought into Gaza from Egypt during a six-week ceasefire that Israel ended on March 18 were destroyed in Israeli attacks on the Jabalia al-Nazlh municipality garage in northern Gaza, according to Civil Defence official Mohammed el-Mougher.

“An agreement had previously been reached with the Egyptian-Qatari committee regarding the location of the bulldozers’ shelters,” he said, noting that their coordinates had been shared with Israel.

“The targeting of municipal headquarters by Israeli occupation aircraft and the bombing of heavy equipment designated for rescue and rubble removal, including bulldozers and other machinery, is a criminal continuation of the war of extermination,” the group added in a statement.

The Israeli army claimed heavy equipment destroyed in overnight attacks on Gaza was used “for terror purposes”.

Thirty rights groups including Oxfam, Medical Aid for Palestinians and ActionAid issued a statement saying Israel has intensified its violence in Gaza and the occupied West Bank despite the UN General Assembly having demanded in September an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months.