Hook News Brief | 19.05.25

Israel launches “Gideon’s Chariots”, eases Gaza blockade

Israel has announced it will allow a "basic amount of food" to enter Gaza to ensure that "no starvation crisis develops" after blockading the territory for 10 weeks.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the move was made on recommendation of the Israeli Defense Forces.

The announcement came hours after Israel's military said it had begun "extensive ground operations" - Gideon’s Chariots. The operation will involve regular and reserve soldiers of the Southern Command leading the ground invasion of both northern and southern Gaza and backed by the air force.

The IDF reported attacking more than 670 places in Gaza over the past week and claimed all were “Hamas targets” located both above and beneath the ground.

Russia’s biggest drone attack

Ukraine says Russia has launched its biggest drone attack since the full-scale invasion began, targeting several regions including Kyiv, where one woman died. The barrage came just a day before a scheduled call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 273 drones of which 88 drones were intercepted and another 128 went astray "without negative consequences".

Earlier on Friday, Russia and Ukraine held their first face-to-face talks in more than three years in Turkiye, agreeing a new prisoner swap deal but little else.

Shock upset in Romania: Dan wins presidential election

Romania’s centrist Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, has won the country's presidential election after months of political turbulence.

In a shock upset - the pro-EU Dan beat out Romanian right-wing nationalist and vocal Trump supporter - George Simion after the latter had won a dramatic first-round victory earlier this month.

Official results on Sunday from nearly all voting stations showed Dan garnering about 54% of ballots cast by voters while Simion was at 46%. Simion conceded after earlier saying he won the election which drew the highest percentage of voter turnout in a Romanian election in 25 years.

IPL is back!

In the standout result - Gujarat Titans beat Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets!

Titans’ Sai Sudarshan scored a blistering unbeaten 108 with his captain Shubman Gill chipping in with an unbeaten 93 as they chased down the 200 run target with an over to spare.

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