Israeli forces have seized control of Gaza’s entire border with Egypt, an eight-and-a-half-mile stretch known as the Philadelphi Corridor. This comes as Israel intensifies its attack on the southern city of Rafah. One Israeli strike hit an ambulance, killing two paramedics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

In Gaza City, the Palestinian journalist Motasem Dalloul has revealed one of his young sons was killed in an Israeli attack near a refugee shelter where the family was staying. Another one of Dalloul’s young sons was killed in an Israeli attack less than two weeks ago.

In Khan Younis, families pleaded for Gaza’s borders to be opened to help injured children receive medical attention.

Jamila Abu Athab: “I ask all the leaders of the world, anyone with a conscience, to open the border and allow these children to leave. What have they done to deserve this? Where will they go? Where will they be treated? Where should we go? I kiss your hands and feet to open the border crossings. Let the wounded out and send doctors in. Send teams, send the Red Cross, and send the whole world to Gaza.”

More than 30 countries have condemned Israel for targeting Gaza’s healthcare system. The countries backed a motion presented at a major meeting of the World Health Organization in Geneva. This is Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Fahrettin Koca: “The healthcare system of Gaza is devastated. Israel has targeted hospitals in Gaza, completely destroying treatment facilities. This also means a war against the fundamental right to health. … Access to food, water and other basic needs are blocked. Israel uses hunger as a weapon of war. In addition to the collapse of the health system, we also need to consider the long-term consequences of inhuman living conditions, epidemics, malnutrition and severe psychological trauma.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hosted Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Barcelona Wednesday, as Spain expands its diplomatic relationship with Palestine. Also present were officials from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Mustafa praised Spain, Ireland and Norway for recognizing a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa: “This recognition strengthens our resolve to continue our struggle for a just and lasting peace. Rafah is testing the world. Let’s not fail Rafah. Let’s not fail Rafah. Let’s not fail Palestine. Long live Spain. Long live Palestine. Que viva España. Tahya Falastin. Shukran.”

Brazil has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel after months of escalating tensions between the two countries. In February, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva compared Israel’s war on Gaza to the Holocaust.

In other diplomatic news, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an international peace conference in the Middle East. Xi Jinping made the comment during a summit in Beijing with Arab leaders and diplomats.

Daily protests against Israel’s war continue. In the Northern California city of San Ramon, dozens of activists blocked the entrance to Chevron’s corporate offices as the company held its annual shareholder meeting. Chevron says it supplies Israel with the bulk of its electric energy, and owns deepwater gas fields off the coast of occupied Palestinian land, from which Israel has raked in billions in profits in recent years. This is Wassim Hage of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

Wassim Hage: “Chevron is a major stakeholder in the unfolding violence we are seeing in Palestine, massive shareholder and massive profits to be promised from the plunder of Gaza. And we are here to demand an end to the complicity of this corporation in that genocide.”

Here in New York, a labor and delivery nurse has been fired by her hospital after she gave a speech expressing solidarity with Palestinian mothers and referring to the war in Gaza as a “genocide.” Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, made the comments earlier this month as she accepted an award from NYU Langone for her compassionate care while treating patients who had just lost their babies.

Hesen Jabr: “It pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza. This award is deeply personal to me for those reasons. Even though I can’t hold their hands and comfort them as they grieve their unborn children and the children they have lost during this genocide, I hope to keep making them proud as I keep representing them here at NYU. Thank you.”

Hesen Jabr says she was fired on her first day back to work after receiving the award.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has removed a network of hundreds of fake accounts tied to an Israeli company that posted AI-generated comments to defend Israel’s assault on Gaza and to amplify claims of antisemitism on college campuses. Some of the fake accounts were set up to look like they were operated by Jewish students and “concerned” African American citizens. Meta said the network was run by a Tel Aviv-based firm called STOIC.

The foreign ministers of NATO member nations are meeting in Prague amid growing calls to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike within Russian borders. Germany joined France this week in saying Ukraine should be able to target military sites in Russia which were used to launch missiles at Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the issue during a visit to Moldova Wednesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “We haven’t encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine. But Ukraine, as I’ve said before, has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself. We’re going to make sure that it has the equipment it needs to do that.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned European nations were “playing with fire” and that there could be “serious consequences” if Ukraine uses NATO member weapons inside Russia.

President Vladimir Putin: “This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences. If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons? Hard to say. Do they want global conflict?”

In Mexico, another mayoral candidate has been killed ahead of Sunday’s election. Alfredo Cabrera was shot dead at point-blank range while at a campaign rally in the southern Guerrero state yesterday. Just one day earlier, on Tuesday, a mayoral candidate from the state of Morelos was killed, and another shot and wounded in Jalisco. At least 35 political candidates or aspiring candidates have been murdered since last September.

In Hong Kong, a court has found 14 pro-democracy activists guilty of subversion in the largest national security trial since China imposed the highly contested law in 2020. Two people were acquitted. The group was part of a case involving 47 pro-democracy activists and politicians who were accused of holding unofficial primary elections. The 31 others previously pleaded guilty.

The verdict comes as Hong Kong made its first arrests under the national security law over social media posts deemed as “seditious.” One of those charged is Chow Hang-tung, who used to organize large Tiananmen vigils before they were outlawed. Chow was already in custody on related charges. Here she is speaking in 2021.

Chow Hang-tung: “The government always criticizes us, the activists, the pro-democracy camp, for destabilizing Hong Kong. I think it’s the government, it’s the national security law, that’s destabilizing Hong Kong. It’s destroying the environment of stability, of security, that people have been living in.”

The 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre is coming up next Tuesday, June 4.

The U.N. is warning the Muslim-minority Rohingya community in Burma is once again facing deadly attacks and displacement as fighting intensifies between the Arakan Army and the ruling military junta in the western state of Rakhine. Some 4,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee to an area on the Naf River along the border with Bangladesh.

Back in the U.S., deliberations in Donald Trump’s hush money and election interference trial are entering a second day. Jurors deliberated for about four-and-a-half hours on Wednesday. In his instructions to the jurors, Judge Juan Merchan said, “It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours. You are the judges of the facts.”

In other Trump news, The Wall Street Journal is reporting Trump is considering giving Elon Musk an advisory role if the former president wins in November.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has told Congress that he will not recuse himself from cases involving Donald Trump and the January 6 Capitol insurrection after photos emerged of two flags associated with election deniers flying in front of Alito’s homes in Virginia and New Jersey. Alito said his wife was responsible for putting up the two flags.