Israel launched a major military operation in the Gaza Strip, ostensibly to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages, a day after US President Donald Trump concluded his Middle East trip. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with "great force." Over 140 people were killed as the operation commenced on Saturday (May 17). Israel called back its senior negotiating team from ceasefire talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday.

The military operation left two of northern Gaza's last functioning hospitals encircled by Israeli troops, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said. The UK, France and Canada issued a rare joint condemnation of Israel, denouncing its expanded offensive in Gaza and the blocking of aid into the territory, as the UN on Wednesday (May 21) warned that 14,000 children could die in the next 48 hours without aid.

A bomb attack on a school bus in Pakistan's Balochistan region killed at least five people and injured dozens. The bus was carrying around 40 school children when it exploded at about 07:40am local time on Wednesday, just outside the remote town of Khuzdar, police told the BBC. Three of the five people killed are children, police said. Pictures circulating on social media show the charred wreckage of a large bus, with backpacks scattered around it.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident till day's end, but Balochistan, a turbulent province in the country's south west, has long been plagued by a long-standing insurgency and human rights violations. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the incident as "sheer barbarism", calling the attackers "beasts who target children" in an attempt to destabilise the country. The country's military has accused neighbouring India and its proxies in Balochistan of orchestrating the explosion.

US President Donald Trump's much-anticipated phone calls with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia failed to produce any significant breakthrough towards ending the 3-year war. Trump said the two countries will "immediately" begin ceasefire negotiations, but it was not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Trump's announcement came days after the first direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. Those negotiations in Turkey brought about a limited exchange of prisoners but no pause in the fighting.

After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting after a "very informative and very frank" conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should "find compromises that would suit all parties." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he reaffirmed to Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire. He urged the international community to maintain pressure on Moscow if it refuses to halt its invasion.

Iran's supreme leader pushed back against US criticism of the country's nuclear program, saying that Tehran won't seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and calling American statements "nonsense." Speaking at a memorial for the country's late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: "No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction - and it will stick to them."

Khamenei's remarks came as indirect talks between Iran and the US reportedly continue, though he expressed doubt about their outcome. "Yes, indirect negotiations were held during Raisi's time too, just like now," he said. "But they didn't go anywhere - and we don't expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen." IRNA reported that Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy foreign minister, said that Tehran had received a proposal regarding the next round of indirect talks with Washington and was currently reviewing it.