At UN, Pakistan pushes for efforts to promote reconciliation in divided Libya – Daily Times
Published on: August 23, 2025 1:40 AM
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Hegseth also fired Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore, who is chief of the Navy Reserve, as well as Rear Adm. Milton Sands, a Navy SEAL officer who oversees Naval Special Warfare Command, another US official said.
The reasons for their firings, the latest in a series targeting military leaders, were not clear Friday.
The Trump administration increasingly has moved against both the military leadership and the intelligence community. Some current and former national security officials saw their security clearances revoked this week in a tactic that the administration has used against perceived foes.
Critics say the administration’s actions could chill dissent and send a signal that the intelligence community should be careful in reaching conclusions at odds with Trump’s interests.
Kruse’s firing comes a few months after details of a preliminary assessment of US airstrikes against Iran leaked to the media. It found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months, contradicting assertions from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report.
In a news conference following the June strikes, Hegseth lambasted the press for focusing on the preliminary assessment but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of Iranian nuclear production facilities.
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was an historically successful attack,” Hegseth said then.
While the Pentagon has offered no details on the firings, Democrats in Congress have raised alarm over the precedent Kruse’s ouster sets for the intelligence community.
“The firing of yet another senior national security official underscores the Trump administration’s dangerous habit of treating intelligence as a loyalty test rather than a safeguard for our country,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called on the administration to show why Kruse was fired or “otherwise, we can only assume that this is another politically motivated decision intended to create an atmosphere of fear” within the intelligence community.
The firing of Kruse, Lacore, and Sands was earlier reported by The Washington Post.
Trump has a history of removing government officials whose data and analysis he disagrees with. Earlier this month, after a lousy jobs report, he fired the official in charge of the data. His administration has also stopped posting reports on climate change, canceled studies on vaccine access and removed data on gender identity from government sites.
The new firings culminate a week of broad Trump administration changes to the intelligence community and shakeups to the military leadership. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence — which is responsible for coordinating the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including DIA — announced that it would slash its staff and budget.
The Pentagon announced this week that the Air Force’s top uniformed officer, Gen. David Allvin, planned to retire two years early.
Hegseth and Trump have been aggressive in dismissing top military officials, often without formal explanation.
The administration has fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the Navy’s top officer, the Air Force’s second highest-ranking officer, and the top lawyers for three military service branches.
In April, Hegseth fired Gen. Tim Haugh as head of the National Security Agency and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who was a senior official at NATO.
No public explanations have been offered by the Pentagon for any of these firings, though some of the officers were believed by the administration to endorse diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Is China unhappy, if not annoyed, with Kabul’s position on groups that it considers detrimental to the interests of the entire region? Does China’s interest in Afghanistan limited to counter-terrorism (CT) only or extends beyond CT? How does its positioning vis a vis the “ETIM threat” define Beijing’s South Asia policy? For how long can the Afghan Taliban expect largess while staying indifferent, if not insensitive, to concerns of friendly countries?
This week took Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, to an unusual trip first to India and then to Islamabad and Kabul. The India leg was an attempt to reconnect with a country that basked in glory as the “strategic partner of the US and Europe” until Donald Trump’s reentry into the White House. India’s “darling of the US” also drew both New Delhi and Beijing apart for several years. After enduring slurs from Trump, the Indian leaders have warmed up again to China.
The best outcome of the thaw with New Delhi probably was Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar’s reiteration that “Taiwan is part of China.” It obviously lent a special flavour to Wang Yi’s re-warming visit — a fence-mending underway.
Though skepticism still surrounds this bonhomie as to whether it will survive after Trump’s exit from the White House in three years from now. And this calls for China to be extremely cautious about the long-term strategic partner of the Western alliances; as a member BRICS and SCO, India may not be a facilitator for these organisations which Donald Trump views as anti-dollar.
We should not, therefore, disregard the deep trust deficit that clouds the thus-far uneasy Sino-India relations too. And that stems from New Delhi’s strategic posturing which smells more like a western geo-strategic potpourri than an organically carved menu. And hence the fog of mistrust which also deepened when the Indian officials issued a clarification on the Taiwan issue and claimed Jaishankar had been misquoted by Chinese officials.
It incensed Beijing, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning hoped that India will earnestly abide by the one-China principle. This clearly underlined the devious nature of the Indian diplomacy aimed at not displeasing the US.
The same looks true for Afghanistan too. Despite the immense goodwill it has enjoyed because of its long sufferings, the country’s leadership apparently lacks the trust even of its long-term partners such as China and Pakistan. This, it is evident, turns Afghanistan in to a formidable roadblock in the way of building up relations beyond CT.
During his visit to Kabul on August 20 for bilateral and the sixth round trilateral dialogues, Wang Yi urged the Taliban government to resume joint patrols along the Wakhan Corridor, the narrow 74-kilometre-long strip that links Afghanistan with China’s Xinjiang region. Beijing is concerned about the possible infiltration of Uyghur militants, particularly from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which it sees as a key terrorist threat.
“China supports the prompt resumption of bilateral patrols in the Wakhan Corridor to maintain peace and stability in the border region,” Wang Yi said during a meeting with the Afghan acting Minister of Interior Affairs, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
While describing Afghanistan as an “indispensable” partner in regional peace and modernisation, the Chinese foreign minister called on the Taliban to step up counterterrorism efforts and not to allow any group to use Afghan soil to threaten China, while emphasising that security cooperation would also enable deeper economic ties.
The absence of a formal joint statement after Wang Yi’s meetings with Afghan officials indicates a troubling reality i.e. Beijing may not be happy with the Afghan Emirate’s position on groups such as TTP and ETIM — constant irritants respectively for Beijing and Islamabad.
A Tolo News report quoted Wais Naseri, an Afghan political analyst, as saying: “Like China, Pakistan is also interested in improving Kabul-Islamabad relations; however, the conditions set by Pakistan are the same as those posed by China to Afghanistan’s current authorities. Therefore, it is necessary to seek solutions to the concerns these countries have about security developments.”
This quote sums up the dilemma that both Pakistan and China face in dealing with Afghanistan’s present rulers. Wais Naseri is essentially urging Kabul to heed requests by friendly countries and act against groups that threaten the security of these two countries.
One would hope that Kabul takes such advice in positive stride. International relations rest on quid pro quo. You cannot expect political and economic support from countries while disregarding their requests about the groups which these countries view as external proxies out to jeopardise internal security and hurt their interests. The Taliban regime, which has brought about considerable stability and peace to their country, should dispel the perception that they are pursuing a cloak and dagger policy.
Famine is taking place in Gaza – just a short drive away from hundreds of trucks of aid sitting idly outside its borders.
How did we get here?
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), backed by the United Nations, is the world’s leading hunger monitor.
Its assessment that half a million people – a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are suffering from famine is shocking for many reasons.
Primary among them is the report’s acknowledgement that this situation is “entirely man-made”, with aid organisations today accusing Israel of the “systematic obstruction” of food entering the Gaza Strip.
The IPC report says that it has found that people living in the Gaza City area are experiencing famine conditions of “starvation, destitution, and death”.
It also finds that starvation is spreading rapidly – with famine expected to be in much of the rest of Gaza in September, on current trends.
The report has reached its conclusion via three key indicators:
Starvation: At least 1 in 5 households face an extreme shortage in their consumption of food
Malnutrition: Roughly 1 in 3 children or more are acutely malnourished
Mortality: At least 2 in every 10,000 people are dying daily because of outright starvation or the combination of malnutrition and disease
When two of these three “thresholds” are met, the IPC recognises that famine is taking place.
The IPC says the “mortality” indicator is not showing in the available data because of a breakdown of monitoring systems. It believes most non-traumatic deaths are not being recorded.
Based on the evidence that does exist, and expert judgement, the IPC has concluded that the “mortality” threshold for famine has been met.
The report was published as Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry recorded two new deaths from malnutrition, bringing the total number to 273 deaths, including 112 children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza and has said that where there is hunger, it is the fault of aid agencies and Hamas.
Israel has accused international aid agencies like the UN of not picking up aid waiting at Gaza’s border, pointing to the hundreds of trucks sitting idle.
‘Entirely man-made’
Reuters
Jana Ayad is being treated for malnutrition at the International Medical Corps field hospital in Deir Al-Balah
After weeks of the world seeing images of starving children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will feel like the signs that a famine was imminent were a long time coming.
The ability of Palestinians to access food has been complicated throughout the nearly two-year war in Gaza.
Israel has long placed restrictions on goods entering Gaza, those restrictions increased after the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel.
However, since March 2025, the situation has deteriorated rapidly after Israel introduced a nearly three-month total blockade on goods entering Gaza.
Under significant international pressure, Israel began allowing a limited amount of goods back into Gaza in late-May.
It also introduced a new system of food distribution operated by a controversial American group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace the previous UN-led system of food distribution.
The GHF has four food distribution sites in militarised zones that Palestinians must walk long distances at risk, replacing the 400 distribution points in the community under the UN’s system.
Finding food has become a deadly endeavour for Palestinians and they have regularly told us that they have to choose between starvation and death, referring to the near-daily shootings of people trying to get aid at GHF distribution sites.
The United Nations has recorded the killing of at least 994 Palestinians in the vicinity of GHF sites, since late May, some of the 1,760 killed trying to access aid.
The UN says the majority killed were shot by Israeli troops, something corroborated by eye-witnesses we have spoken to and medics in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations.
Under this system, overseen by Israel, starvation in Gaza has expanded.
Reuters
Indonesian Hercules aircraft drops humanitarian aid packages over the Gaza Strip
As pressure continued to grow on Israel to allow more food in, in late July it began allowing more trucks of aid into Gaza each day and introducing “tactical pauses” in fighting to allow more aid convoys to move through the territory.
More aid has entered in recent weeks and the astronomical prices of some goods in the markets reduced somewhat – though for many Palestinians, prohibitively expensive. At times the price of flour reached above $85 for a kilo, though that figure began to reduce.
The UN and aid organisations say that despite Israel loosening some of its restrictions on food getting into the Gaza Strip, it still places significant impediments and obstructions in being able to collect and distribute aid.
The organisations say what’s needed is 600 trucks a day bringing goods into Gaza for people to meet their basic needs – currently no more than half of that is being allowed in.
Israel also began allowing airdrops of aid, something criticised as inefficient, dangerous, and ultimately a distraction by humanitarian organisations.
Israel’s accusation that Hamas is responsible for the hunger crisis has also been criticised. Multiple reports, including an internal US government report, found there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by Hamas.
There is indeed widespread looting of trucks entering Gaza – but aid agencies say most of the looting is by crowds of desperate Palestinians and some organised groups trying to make a resale profit.
Ultimately, aid agencies have been repeating for months that in order to avert starvation and famine, Gaza needs to be flooded with aid entering by road and currently Israel still imposes restrictions.
Israel’s response
A number of Israeli government officials have today rejected the IPC’s report.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused the IPC of publishing a “tailor-made fabricated report to fit Hamas’s fake campaign”.
The Israeli army body called Cogat (the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), which is responsible for managing crossing into Gaza, called the IPC report a “False and Biased Report, Based on Partial Data Originating From the Hamas Terrorist Organization”.
Among other criticisms, Israel says that the IPC “changed its own global standard”, halving a threshold of those facing famine from 30% to 15% as well as “totally ignoring its second criterion of death rate”.
The IPC rejected the accusations and said that it has used long-established standards that have been used previously in similar situations.
Israel’s accusation that the IPC has used “Hamas data” appears to reference that some of the reporting about malnutrition in Gaza comes from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health there.
However, the ministry’s data on deaths and injuries has widely been seen as reliable throughout the war.
Responses to the report from UN agencies and international leaders has been strong.
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Israel, as the occupying power, “has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity”.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the famine was the direct result of Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid entering Gaza.
Meanwhile the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage.”
On Friday, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said it was “a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing”.
Gaza City invasion
Israel has this week authorised the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist troops to conduct its controversial invasion and occupation of Gaza City, the area where the IPC has declared famine is taking place.
Netanyahu says a takeover is the best option to defeat Hamas, end the war and to return the Israeli hostages from Gaza.
The invasion would forcibly displace an estimated one million Palestinians living in Gaza City and the areas around it. Israel has already told medics and aid agencies to make preparations to make plans to evacuate the area.
A joint statement from a number of UN organisations including Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization expressed alarm about the planned offensive, saying “it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.
“Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.”
GAZA CITY: The world’s leading authority on food crises said Friday the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it’s likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said famine is happening in Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and could spread south to Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month.
The determination comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israel’s restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza, and its military offensive, were causing starvation among Palestinian civilians, particularly children.
Israel rejected the report, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it an “outright lie.”
The grim milestone — the first time the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East — is sure to ramp up international pressure on Israel, which has been fighting Hamas since the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it plans to seize Gaza City and other Hamas strongholds, an escalation experts say will exacerbate the hunger crisis.
The IPC said hunger has been driven by fighting and the blockade of aid, and magnified by widespread displacement and the collapse of food production in Gaza, pushing hunger to life-threatening levels across the entire territory after 22 months of war.
Gaza City offensive could exacerbate hunger
More than half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of its population, face catastrophic levels of hunger, with many at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, the IPC report said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the findings show a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself” and appealed for an “immediate ceasefire.”Netanyahu denies there’s hunger in Gaza, calling reports of starvation “lies” promoted by Hamas. “The IPC report is an outright lie. Israel does not have a policy of starvation,” his office posted on X.
After the publication of images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of hunger-related deaths, Israel announced measures to let more humanitarian aid in. Yet the United Nations says what’s entering is far below what’s needed.
The Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to the territory, known as COGAT, called the report “false and biased.” It said significant steps had been taken to expand the amount of aid entering the strip in recent weeks.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said more than 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war, including a massive influx in recent weeks. But experts say Gaza is still reeling from the tightening of the blockade from early March until mid-May, when Israel barred the import of all food, medicine and other goods.
“A rapidly increasing number of people, especially young children, are dying preventable deaths from starvation and disease because Israel made starvation a core part of its campaign to control the strip,” said Chris Newton, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.
Netanyahu says more military pressure is needed to achieve Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages held by Hamas and eliminating the militant group altogether.
How a famine is determined
Formal famine determinations are rare. The IPC says a famine exists in an area when all three of the following conditions are confirmed:
At least 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. At least 30 percent of children 6 months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, based on a weight-to-height measurement; or 15 percent of that age group suffer from acute malnutrition based on the circumference of their upper arm. And at least two people, or four children under 5, per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.
The data analyzed between July 1 and Aug. 15 showed clear evidence that thresholds for starvation and acute malnutrition have been reached. Gathering data for mortality has been harder, but the IPC said it is reasonable to conclude from the evidence that the necessary threshold has likely been reached.
The IPC warned that a third of Gaza’s population could face catastrophic levels of hunger by the end of September, and that this is probably an undercount.
Alex de Waal, author of “Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine” and executive director of the World Peace Foundation, said that had Israel allowed the IPC better access to collect data, a famine might have been determined months ago, which would have raised global awareness sooner.
“It seems that it’s necessary for experts to shout ‘famine!’ before the world takes notice, by which time it is too late,” he said.
Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. It says there’s currently no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza. It also pushed ahead with a new US-backed aid delivery system that requires Palestinians to travel long distances and pass through Israeli military lines to get aid.
The traditional, UN-led aid providers say deliveries have been hampered by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of looting, while criminals and hungry crowds overwhelm entering convoys.
Witnesses, health officials and the UN rights office say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid from both providers, while Israel says it has only fired warning shots and that the toll is exaggerated.
A parent in Gaza City watches his children waste away
On the eve of the war, Gaza City was home to some 700,000 people, about the population of Washington.
Throughout the conflict, it has been the focus of regular Israeli bombardment and ground operations. Several neighborhoods have been almost completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands fled under Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war but many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year.
Doctors and nurses in Gaza in recent weeks have seen rising numbers of visibly malnourished patients.
Kirsty Blacka, an Australian emergency nurse who worked in Gaza City’s Al-Quds hospital through June, said emaciated men with no preexisting conditions were coming in looking like teenagers because they were starving.
She said the lack of food has been compounded by contaminated water causing diarrhea and infections, and that diseases are harder to recover from when people are malnourished. Thousands will be too weak to evacuate the city ahead of the planned offensive, said Blacka.
Families in Gaza City say they’re watching their loved ones waste away.
Yousef Sbeteh’s two teenage children were wounded by an Israeli airstrike in June and have spent the last two months in the hospital. While there, they’ve both lost weight because there hasn’t been enough food, he said, adding that he can’t afford to buy more because prices at markets have soared. Doctors say the teenagers had no preexisting conditions.
His 15-year-old daughter, Aya, lost nearly 20 kilograms (44 pounds), or about 30 percent of her body weight, according to her doctors. Her 17-year-old brother Ahmad has lost about 15 kilograms (33 pounds). The lack of nutritional supplements and healthy food is slowing their recovery, doctors say.
“Doctors say she needs protein, meat and fish,” Sbeteh said while sitting beside his frail daughter. “But I can’t provide that now.”
President Donald Trump said Friday he will give Russian President Vladimir Putin “a couple of weeks,” further extending his deadline for potential consequences against Moscow after urging the Russian leader to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart in hopes of ending the war.
Asked by CNN’s Alayna Treene if there’s a possibility he does nothing if Putin doesn’t come to the table, Trump said, “We’ll see. I’ll see whose fault it is.”
“If there are reasons why, I will understand that; I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting, that will be interesting to see, and if they don’t, why didn’t they have a meeting? Because I told them to have a meeting,” Trump said.
“But I’ll know in two weeks what I’m going to do,” Trump added, reprising a timeline he’s repeatedly issued to determine Putin’s willingness to end the war in Ukraine.
His latest comments come as the momentum around peace talks has stalled, with no sign that the bilateral meeting the White House has pushed is happening. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier on Friday that there were no plans for a meeting between the two leaders.
After Trump met with Putin in Alaska last week and hosted Zelensky and European leaders at the White House earlier this week, he’d teased a bilateral meeting, potentially to be followed by a trilateral meeting he would join.
“You understand that I wanted to have a meeting with those two. I could have been at the meeting, but a lot of people think that nothing’s going to come out of that meeting. ‘You have to be there.’ Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s not, but we’re going to see in the meantime, people continue to die,” Trump said Friday.
Trump repeated his two-week timeframe several times. “We’ll see what happens. I think in two weeks, we’ll know which way I’m going, because I’m going to go one way or the other, and they’ll learn which way.”
Trump also pulled out from the Resolute Desk a photo of him and Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, that he said the Russian leader had sent him.
“I was just sent a picture from someone who wants to be there very badly,” Trump said, referring to the World Cup. He’d convened reporters in the Oval Office to announce that the draw would be held at the Kennedy Center in December.
“He’s been very respectful of me and of our country, but not so respectful of others,” Trump said, adding that he was going to sign the photo for Putin, who he suggested could be coming to the US for the World Cup.
“He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens. We have a lot of things happening over the next couple of weeks,” Trump said.
Putin on Friday described his recent meeting with Trump as “very good” and said Russia sought an end to the fighting in Ukraine. However, he made no mention of whether he would attend bilateral talks with Zelensky.
He added that Russian and US agencies were continuing to communicate and that he expects a “full-scale restoration” of their relationship.
CNN’s Nina Subkhanberdina contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Good morning. Israel claims to have launched the first stages of a sweeping military operation to conquer Gaza City – the administrative heart of the strip – warning that a million people could be forced from their homes, sparking a wave of fear among residents.
In the past few nights Palestinians have described relentless bombardments, with thousands already scrambling to escape, while others are too starved or frail to evacuate.
International condemnation has poured in, with disgust at the starvation, destruction and mounting civilian toll – in Israel, hundreds of thousands of protesters have filled the streets demanding a ceasefire. Yet the military is doubling down on attacks.
Officials have made daily announcements about the plan to conquer Gaza City, but it remains unclear whether a full-scale offensive is actually afoot. For today’s newsletter I spoke with senior international reporter Peter Beaumont to get a clearer idea of Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan and how much of what he says can be trusted. That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
UK news | Protesters at the next mass demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action will withhold their details from officers to force en-masse processing at police stations in an effort to make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone.
Ukraine | Moscow threw Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative into disarray on Thursday, insisting it must have a veto over any postwar support for the country as its forces carried out a large-scale overnight missile barrage.
Immigration | Refugee support organisations have been forced to install safe rooms in their premises, relocate to less visible sites and in some cases close their offices in response to the threat of far-right violence, the Guardian can reveal.
US news | A federal judge in Miami late on Thursday ordered the closure of the Trump administration’s notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail within 60 days and ruled that no more detainees were to be brought to the facility while it was being wound down.
Health | Baby food manufacturers have been given 18 months to improve the quality of their products in England amid mounting concerns that leading brands are nutritionally poor.
In depth: ‘Experienced Israeli analysts seem genuinely baffled about what’s going on’
A displaced Palestinian girl stands next to rubble and debris after an Israeli strike on at a camp for internally displaced people in Deir el-Balah. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
In early August, Israel’s political‑security cabinet approved a military plan to take control of Gaza City, which they claim is a Hamas stronghold. The plan involves the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists starting from early September.
Sources from the Gaza municipality say that the situation in Gaza City is “catastrophic”. The population is extremely weak and many are unlikely to have the strength to undergo another displacement. “We were talking to a friend in Gaza yesterday who was saying you won’t recognise me any more, I’ve lost so much weight,” said Peter Beaumont. “Some are leaving Gaza City, but other people say they just can’t do it any more.” The military claims it is displacing the population “to ensure their safety”. It has not said when the mass displacement would begin, but medics have been told to prepare by the Israeli military.
“The IDF hasn’t made preparations to accommodate the displacement of a million people. It just hasn’t. It isn’t effectively feeding and caring for the people who are already displaced,” Peter said.
Five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database suggest. This extreme rate of slaughter has been rarely matched in recent decades of warfare. The UN humanitarian agency has warned the Israeli plan to expand military operations in Gaza City – home to around 500,000 people – would have “a horrific humanitarian impact”.
Truth, lies, and calculated misdirection
Israeli officials have made announcements saying the plan to conquer Gaza City has been “approved”, with preliminary actions already under way. “Everything that’s been said about this operation at the moment has to be taken with a pinch of salt,” said Peter, who wrote yesterday that when dealing with Israeli officials – and Netanyahu in particular – filtering out what is true, what is lies, and what is calculated misdirection is a complicated business.
The talk of a large-scale IDF operation could primarily be intended to put pressure on the militant group in ceasefire talks. “All that’s actually happened is that they’re renewing the availability of reservists. All it means is that they’ve been told to be available for call-up,” said Peter. “One should always be very cautious about what is being said, especially in statements that are clearly fishing for headlines.”
On Thursday evening Netanyahu said on a visit to Israeli soldiers that he would give final approval for taking control of Gaza City, but also said he was looking to restart negotiations with Hamas to end the war on terms acceptable to Israel. “It’s pretty incoherent leadership,” says Peter.
Politically it seems like a strange move from the Israeli PM. “It’s not clear to me how the politics of it plays out,” said Peter. “Experienced Israeli analysts who have been covering security and Netanyahu for years seem genuinely baffled about what’s going on.”
One key point is that the public are against the takeover of Gaza City as they understand it will likely lead to the death of the surviving 20 hostages, with relatives describing it as a “death sentence” for them. Another is that the ceasefire deal Hamas has agreed to is essentially the same as the one Israel signalled its agreement for only weeks ago. Hamas said Israel’s plans to conquer Gaza City showed its “blatant disregard” for efforts to broker a truce.
“Normal people are getting tired,” Peter said. “Netanyahu hasn’t delivered any of the successes he claimed he would, and we’re nearly two years into a war.”
By the end of 2024 – now more than eight months ago – the economic toll of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza had alreadyreached $67.57bn. “The cost of maintaining it is hurting Israel economically. It’s a small country with a relatively small number of soldiers and reservists available to it. People are getting exhausted by the war,” said Peter. There are reports of suicides among soldiers, and complaints that they are not getting treatment for PTSD.
“Israel’s response, as far as I can see, is just simply to be more and more aggressive,” said Peter – perhaps epitomised by a social media post from the Israeli ambassador to Canada at the end of July: “Israel will not bow to the distorted campaign of international pressure against it.”
“It’s very hard to see what victory Netanyahu could wrap himself in, which is presumably why he’s talking about pressing on with the Gaza City plan,” said Peter. “It’s about the sunk cost fallacy: ‘Just one more effort will get us to that other thing’.” Or so he hopes it will.
An impending avalanche
If the operation to conquer Gaza City does go ahead, it will lead to humanitarian disaster, said Peter. “If you think international criticism is bad at the moment, it will be an absolute avalanche,” he explained.
On 8 August, Germany announced it was halting its export of arms to Israel following announcement of the Gaza City plan, indicating a significant shift in Berlin’s staunch support for Israel, with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, just one of a number of European leaders to condemn the decision after Netanyahu first announced his offensive on Gaza City despite intense international pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement.
On the ground in Gaza City, people have spoken of their terror of what is to come following relentless overnight bombardments. “The house shakes with us all night long – the sound of explosions, artillery, warplanes, ambulances, and cries for help is killing us,” one resident, Ahmad al-Shanti, told AFP. “The sound is getting closer, but where would we go?”
And as all of this plays out on the world stage, international outrage is growing – indicating that perhaps world leaders will soon no longer be willing to look away.
“All the old certainties for governments – about having to try and accommodate Israeli aggression – are falling away,” Peter said. “Given where public opinion is and given how privately sick many politicians are of all this now, I think it would be very hard to see Israel avoiding big, meaningful sanctions going forward. And I think even Israelis recognise that.”
What else we’ve been reading
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A Glaswegian teacher’s good-natured rant about Scottish summer weather has sparked a global conversation about history, diaspora and diversity. Tara Russell, newsletters team
There are some amazing human stories wrapped into this piece on Russia’s deliberate attacks on Ukraine’s maternity hospitals which left women terrified of childbirth. Ukraine now has the world’s lowest birthrate, with three deaths for every birth. Phoebe
Ayman Alhussein articulates the reality of being vilified for being an asylum seeker in Britain. As open and explicit racism is on the rise in Britain, Alhussein acutely reminds us that without action, the climate will only deteriorate further. Tara
I loved learning about the work of Raymond Martin who is addressing the UK’s public toilet crisis, which I genuinely think is something we can all get behind. This essential public service was one of the first to go under austerity, and Martin is serious about bringing it back. Phoebe
A social proxy war has broken out after a Turkish TikTok influencer mocked the makeup of the diaspora living in Germany, igniting rifts over gender, class, politics, nationalism and economic power. Tara
Sport
Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates after scoring the only goal. Photograph: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Football | Crystal Palace will head to Norway for the second leg of their Conference League playoff a goal to the good after beating Fredrikstad 1-0 at Selhurst Park.
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Rugby | The Women’s Rugby World Cup begins in Sunderland this evening, with England’s Red Roses looking to follow in the footsteps of football’s Lionesses.
Football | The FA is to trial cooling-off periods in grassroots football in acknowledgment that “more must be done” to contain bad behaviour by players.
The front pages
The Guardian print edition’s top story is “Revealed: 83% of Gaza war dead are civilians, Israeli data suggests”. “Strictly rocked … already!” reports the Mirror (someone from Game of Thrones had to be replaced by someone from Emerdale). The Metro says “111,000 record asylum seekers” and the Mail has “All-time high for asylum claims”. In the i paper it’s “Starmer faces growing unrest over record asylum claims” and the Express takes up the cry: “‘Weak’ Labour’s ‘day of shame’ on migrant figures”. The Times goes with “Hotels for migrants face a wave of protests”. The Telegraph runs with “Britain facing an autumn of discontent” but that’s actually about strikes. The Financial Times brings us “State to take over linchpin of Gupta’s UK steel business” which is about Speciality Steel, part of Liberty Steel.
Something for the weekend
Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now
Thrills and spills … Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy in Hostage. Photograph: Des Willie/PA
TV Hostage | ★★★★☆ Netflix’s new political thriller is a rollicking, propulsive and compulsive yarn that also manages to give two great parts to two women of a certain age (Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy, above) then leaves them to get on with it as characters rather than symbols. Everyone is terrific, with Jones doing her usual sterling work. I do find myself occasionally wishing that she would treat herself and us to a comedy – or something with a comic aspect – more often, but when the dramas are this much fast, furious, intelligent fun, I suppose we shouldn’t ask for more. Lucy Mangan
Music Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens | ★★★★☆ The title Strange Heavens unerringly nails this music. The title track’s whispering, short-phrase melody blossoms amid Oh’s caressing pizzicato and drummer Tyshawn Sorey’s spacey rimshots. Meanwhile, Acapella’s delicately descending passages are embraced by bass flurries and hissing cymbals; and Ambrose Akinmusire (on trumpet) is in his most rhythmically Miles-inspired on the staccato, hip-hoppish Noise Machinery. The guilelessly delicate Paperbirds is a highlight, as is the soaringly rhapsodic Folk Song. John Fordham
Film Meanwhile on Earth | ★★★★☆ Here is a French indie sci-fi in which a woman, Elsa, mourns her brother Franck, who is missing and presumed dead in space, which makes him rather less likely to be found again. One day, Elsa encounters Franck once more – as a voice. It seems that an alien presence may be able to return him to his home planet, if Elsa is prepared to help them out with a little favour … A Hollywood blockbuster would perhaps resolve this dilemma quickly, but here it is the meat of the film, a kind of thought experiment, and Elsa’s plausible wrangling with her decision is what enables a fine performance from Northam. Catherine Bray
Theatre Fat Ham | ★★★★☆ The Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon until 13 Sep If you’ve ever felt Hamlet needs less gore and more glitterball, then tuck into Fat Ham. James Ijames’s play won a Pulitzer prize in 2022; set at a southern back yard barbecue, its sensibility, Black and queer, does more than piggyback on Shakespeare’s tragedy. Audiences seeking Shakespeare references will be in hog heaven: the conscience-catching play becomes a game of charades, and people keep catching Juicy mid-soliloquy and wonder what secrets he’s spilling. Ijames’s writing is full of charm and crackle, and there’s a bravery in his refusal to valorise tragedy or trundle through inherited trauma. David Jays
Today in Focus
Photograph: Posed by models; Westend61/Getty Images
Cringe! Why millennials became so uncool
An intergenerational war has broken out with Gen Z mercilessly mocking millennials as embarrassing and out of touch. Chloë Hamilton reports
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
Illustration: Ben Jennings/The Guardian
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Sun-seekers … people enjoy the Paris cafe culture. Photograph: Olympia de Maismont/AFP via Getty Images
Jean-Charles Levenne has answered prayers across Paris by developing an app that helps people find the sunshine, pinpointing exactly which bistrot terraces guarantee a sun-certified evening apéritif.
The app, Jveuxdusoleil (I want sun) highlights sunny terraces on its map using open-source data from OpenStreetMap, while shady spots disappear. Users are able to feed back when the app is inaccurate, or when certain spots aren’t mentioned.
Jveuxdusoleil reports a steady 1,300 active users per week, with app usage spiking during spring when Parisians are desperate to bask in some light. And despite being predominantly Paris-focused, the app functions worldwide, so there is hope for us all.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until Monday.
Walid Samir al-Sabah was perhaps the youngest martyr of Gaza. She clung to life for just two hours after delivery through emergency caesarean, following the killing of her mother, Salam al-Sabah, in a brutal Israeli bombing. Neither mother nor child belonged to any military organization or criminal group. Walid was the purest of souls– one of over 18,000 children and some 50,000 other unarmed Palestinians in Gaza who have been denied their most basic right: the right to exist.
Gaza today faces one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of recent history— comparable to Bosnia, Sudan, Somalia, and Kashmir. The official death toll now exceeds 61,000 Palestinians, with many estimates placing the figure closer to 80,000 or even 100,000 when indirect deaths and unreported cases are included. Oxfam reports an average of 250 deaths per day in Gaza– higher than any major conflict of the 21st century, surpassing Syria (96.5/day), Sudan (51.6), Ukraine (43.9), Afghanistan (23.8), and Yemen (15.8). Alongside the staggering death toll, Gaza suffers mass displacement, near-total infrastructure destruction, and widespread starvation.
The killing of children is particularly shocking. As of July 31, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 18,500 children killed. Early estimates show over 10,000 children lost in just the first 100 days– an unprecedented rate in modern conflicts. In other genocides, children were tragic collateral victims; in Gaza, they are disproportionately targeted, with entire generations scarred or erased.
The continuously worsening situation in Gaza raises many fundamental questions. As a student of international relations, I ask myself: (1) which theory of international relations legitimizes Israel for deliberate killing of civilians– especially children? (2) Are there binding humanitarian laws that protect Palestinian lives and property? (3) Is the UN Security Council solely responsible for failure to implement its own resolutions– especially given the veto? (4) Above all, how can the world help Palestinians secure their legitimate right to exist as an independent, sovereign state?
The answer to the first query is a resounding no. Even hardline realists, who view war as an inevitable tool of politics, reject Israel’s actions. John Joseph Mearsheimer, founder of Offensive Realism, has called Israel’s Gaza campaign “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide,” declaring it “unacceptable to decent people around the world.” Similarly, Johan Galtung, the father of peace and conflict studies, has long condemned Israel’s structural and direct violence, pointing out that attacks on civilians are rooted in systemic oppression, cultural normalization of force, and a refusal to pursue inclusive, dignified peace.
Contrarily, the answer to the second question is unambiguously yes. Palestinians have an undeniable right to exist under international law. Alongside Kashmir, Palestine is one of the oldest unresolved issues on the UN agenda. The two-state solution was formally proposed in UN General Assembly Resolution 181(II) of 29 November 1947. While the Palestinian question is discussed more frequently at the UN than almost any other territorial dispute, decades of resolutions have gone unimplemented.
Why? There could be a mix of the following reasons: flaws in the UN’s structure, especially the veto power of the Security Council; the nature of the anarchic international system; strategic and economic interests of powerful states; and, great power politics overriding moral imperatives.
Every Palestinian child’s death is a call to the conscience of humanity. The world must act– not just in speeches or resolutions, but through tangible, coordinated measures that uphold justice and restore hope.
The UN’s founding purpose, as set out in Article 1 of its Charter (1945), was to prevent another world war and promote peace, security, and cooperation. Yet in the face of crises like Palestine and Kashmir, the UN stands paralyzed– constrained by structural weaknesses and the political will of member states, especially those directly supporting Israel diplomatically, financially, and militarily.
Who supports Israel? The USA, Germany, the UK, India, and France are among Israel’s strongest backers, providing diplomatic cover, economic integration and military equipment. The USA and Germany are the largest arms suppliers, accounting for roughly 69 percent and 30 percent of Israel’s arms imports, respectively. Many other countries supply components, parts, and technology. Over 100 international organizations– including Human Rights Watch and Oxfam— have called for a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.
Blaming the UN alone is too easy, and not fully justified. Individual states also bear responsibility. If countries cut diplomatic, economic, and military support, they could ease Palestinian sufferings, pressurize Israel to recognize Palestinian statehood and comply with UN resolutions.
Following three levels of action by individual states are essential.
First– Diplomatic: Recognize the State of Palestine. Currently, 147 of the 193 UN member states have done so, but several influential powers in Europe still hold back. Recognition would strengthen Palestine’s political legitimacy and reinforce the two-state solution.
Second– Economic: End financial assistance and reduce trade with Israel. Israel’s trade with the USA (≈$37 billion) and EU (≈$50 billion) is vital to its economy. Since WWII, it has received around $318 billion in military and economic aid from various states. Cutting this support would create real pressure.
Third– Security: Halt military assistance. The USA remains Israel’s principal military sponsor, providing over $3.3 billion in 2023 alone, but European states also play critical roles in supplying arms, technology, and training. Ending this flow would significantly impact Israel’s military capacity.
The following impact are likely: (1) Short term: Israel to suffer a major shock to its military readiness, budgetary stress, and a symbolic diplomatic isolation; (2) Medium term: Israel could impose higher taxes to overcome the budgetary constraints but would face reduced technological edge and diplomatic leverage; and, (3) Long term: it might result into a shift in Middle East power balance, paving the way for Palestinian statehood.
Every Palestinian child’s death is a call to the conscience of humanity. The world must act– not just in speeches or resolutions, but through tangible, coordinated measures that uphold justice and restore hope.
The United Nations chief has described the famine confirmed in Gaza City and its surrounding areas as a “failure of humanity”.
Antonio Gutteres said the situation was a “man-made disaster” after a UN-backed body, which identifies hunger levels around the world, raised its food insecurity status in parts of the territory to Phase 5 – the highest and most severe.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says more than half a million people across Gaza are facing “catastrophic” conditions characterised by “starvation, destitution and death”.
The report was labelled an “outright lie” by Israel, which has denied there is starvation in the territory.
The UN says Israel is continuing to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel also denies.
Its denials are in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, multiple UN bodies, and several of Israel’s allies, including the UK, have said.
The IPC says that an “immediate, at-scale response” is needed or there will be an “unacceptable escalation” in famine-related deaths.
It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
During this period, almost a third of the population – nearly 641,000 people – are expected to face “catastrophic conditions” in IPC Phase 5, while the number of people to face “emergency” conditions in IPC Phase 4 will likely increase to 1.14 million – or 58% of the population.
The report also projects that up to June 2026, malnutrition will threaten the lives of 132,000 children aged under five.
Since the start of the war, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of malnutrition – including 112 children.
Only four previous famines have been classified by the IPC since it was established in 2004, the most recent in Sudan in 2024.
The IPC cannot officially declare famine – that is usually done by governments or the United Nations.
Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, a mother of five from Gaza City, said: “The declaration of famine came too late, but it is still important.
“We haven’t eaten any protein for five months. My youngest child is four years old – he doesn’t know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like.”
Rida Hijjeh, 29, said her five-year-old daughter Lamia’s weight had dropped from 19kg (42lbs) to 10.5kg (23lbs). She said Lamia was healthy before the war began and had no prior illnesses.
“This all happened only because of the famine,” she said. “There is simply nothing for the child to eat. There are no vegetables, no fruits.”
Now, Lamia suffers from swelling in her legs, thinning hair, and nerve problems, she said.
In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel”.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: ‘famine’.”
He described it as “not a mystery,” but rather “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself”.
He added that Israel has “unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population”.
Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: “This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel”.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as “the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government”, which has “unlawfully restricted” the entry of aid.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy said described the famine as a “moral outrage.”
“The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe,” he wrote on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Israel does not have a policy of starvation, Israel has a policy of preventing starvation. Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person.”
In recent months, Israel has come under widespread international condemnation for the aid situation in the Gaza Strip.
Last month, after weeks of mounting pressure, the Israeli military said it had airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza – a move that was criticised at the time by aid agencies as a “grotesque distraction”.
Anadolu via Getty Images
Aid groups say air drops are ineffective and that Israel should allow more aid in through the normal routes
Other aid drops have since taken place – but warnings have been issued about their safety, with reports that civilians were hit and killed by the falling pallets.
Earlier this week, BBC Verify found 10 separate occasions where aid was dropped into an area that the Israeli military has explicitly warned people not to enter.
In addition to airdrops, Israel said it would designate humanitarian corridors for UN convoys. However, on Tuesday the UN warned that the “trickle of aid” entering Gaza was insufficient to “avert widespread starvation”.
Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says roughly 300 aid trucks are entering daily, but the UN says 600 trucks of supplies a day are needed.
The IPC report comes as Israel prepares to launch a new military offensive aimed at occupying Gaza City.
Israel’s military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 62,122 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; and the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed.
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s economy minister said on Friday he had resigned for health reasons, ahead of a widely expected cabinet reshuffle as the government faces domestic challenges including trying to work with an opposition-dominated legislature.
One of the ministry’s key roles is overseeing the crucial semiconductor sector in Taiwan, home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC.
It also enforces controls to ensure sensitive high-tech goods do not end up in countries subject to export curbs such as China or Russia, and oversees energy policy.
Kuo Jyh-huei, previously a senior executive of a TSMC supplier, Topco Scientific, assumed the role in May of last year as President Lai Ching-te’s administration took office.
In a statement issued by his ministry, Kuo said his resignation was based on “health considerations” given the taxing nature of the job.
Kuo has faced criticism from opposition parties for his frequent verbal slip-ups.
“Regarding the criticism and feedback I have received from various sectors during this period, whether directed at policies or at me personally, I sincerely appreciate it and humbly accept it,” he said in his resignation statement.
There was no immediate word from the cabinet on his replacement.
Lai has had to contend with opposition parties, who form a majority in parliament, blocking legislation and passing their own, as well as imposing swingeing budget cuts.
Taiwan media said this week that a cabinet reshuffle this month was very likely, and named Kuo as one of the ministers most at risk of being replaced.
Kuo had also been one of the ministers involved in formulating the government’s response to President Donald Trump’s 20% tariff on goods exported to the United States.
Earlier on Friday, Digital Affairs Minister Yennun Huang said he was also stepping down, to return to academia.
Reuters
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Reuters
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