Category: 2. World

Gaza City has come under intense air attack, the territory’s Hamas-run civil defence agency has said, as Israeli forces prepare to occupy the city.

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman, said the residential areas of Zeitoun and Sabra had for three days been hit by bombs and drone strikes that “cause massive destruction to civilian homes”, with residents unable to recover the dead and injured.

Meanwhile the UK, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan issued a statement saying “famine is unfolding in front of our eyes” and urged action to “reverse starvation”.

They demanded “immediate, permanent and concrete steps” to facilitate the entry of aid to Gaza. Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza.

It has accused UN agencies of not picking up aid at the borders and delivering it.

The joint statement also demanded an end to the use of lethal force near aid distribution sites and lorry convoys, where the UN says more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly by the Israeli military.

Separately, the World Health Organisation on Tuesday appealed to Israel to let it stock medical supplies to deal with a “catastrophic” health situation before it seizes control of Gaza City.

“We all hear about ‘more humanitarian supplies are allowed in’ – well it’s not happening yet, or it’s happening at a way too low a pace,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency’s representative in the Palestinian territories.

“We want to as quickly stock up hospitals,” he added. “We currently cannot do that. We need to be able to get all essential medicines and medical supplies in.”

Israel’s war cabinet voted on Monday to occupy Gaza City, a move condemned at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later that day. On Tuesday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “at the beginning of a new state of combat”.

The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s forces had been instructed to dismantle the “two remaining Hamas strongholds” in Gaza City and a central area around al-Mawasi.

He also outlined a three-step plan to increase aid in Gaza, including designating safe corridors for aid distribution, as well as more air drops by Israeli forces and other partners.

On the ground, however, residents of Gaza City said they had come under unrelenting attack from the air. Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun in Gaza City, told AFP that the attacks had been “extremely intense for two days”.

“With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped,” he said.

“It sounded like the war was restarting,” Amr Salah, 25, told Reuters. “Tanks fired shells at houses, and several houses were hit, and the planes carried out what we call fire rings, whereby several missiles landed on some roads in eastern Gaza.”

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that 100 dead had been brought to hospitals across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 31 people who were killed at aid sites. Five more people had also died of malnutrition, it added.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with UN-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in the besieged territory.

On Tuesday members of an international group of former leaders known as “The Elders” for the first time called the war in Gaza an “unfolding genocide” and blamed Israel for causing famine among its population.

Following a visit to the Gaza border, Helen Clark and Mary Robinson, a former prime minister of New Zealand and a former president of Ireland, said in a joint statement: “What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide.”

The statement mirrors those of leading Israeli rights groups, including B’Tselem, which said it had reached an “unequivocal conclusion” that Israel was attempting to “destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip”.

Israel strongly rejects the accusations, saying its forces target terrorists and never civilians, and that Hamas was responsible for the suffering in Gaza.

On Sunday, the IDF killed five Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted attack on a media tent in Gaza City, sparking widespread international condemnation. It said it had killed well known reporter Anas al-Sharif, whom it alleged “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas”, and made no mention of the others.

Media freedom groups said it had provided little evidence for its claims. Al Jazeera’s managing editor said Israel wanted to “silence the coverage of any channel of reporting from inside Gaza”.

Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel’s response in Gaza has killed at least 61,599 Palestinians, according to the health ministry, whose toll the UN considers reliable.

Israel has stepped up bombing Gaza, killing at least 89 Palestinians in 24 hours, including at least 15 people queueing for food, despite global outcry over the deaths of six journalists in the territory the previous day.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City had intensified in the three days after Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved plans to expand the war in the territory.

Five more people, including two children, were reported to have died of starvation, as the foreign ministers of 24 countries including the UK, Australia, France, Spain and Japan warned that “humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels”. The ministers and the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called on the government of Israel to let in aid shipments immediately and allow essential humanitarian actors to operate in Gaza. “Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation,” they said.

More than 15 people were killed while waiting for food distribution at the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, said Fares Awad, head of the ambulance services in northern Gaza.

In the south of the territory, five people, including a couple and their child, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the city of Khan Younis and four by a strike on a tent encampment in nearby Mawasi, medics said.

The civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra had been hit “with very heavy airstrikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings”.

The bombardment was described by residents as the heaviest in weeks. “It sounded like the war was restarting,” Amr Salah, 25, told Reuters. “Tanks fired shells at houses, and several houses were hit, and the planes carried out what we call fire rings, whereby several missiles landed on some roads in eastern Gaza.”

‘‘There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped,” said Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun.

Eleven bodies were recovered from the rubble of previous Israeli attacks, the ministry said on Telegram, including several casualties caused by strikes on Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports and that its forces took precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Separately, it said that its forces had killed dozens of militants in north Gaza over the past month and destroyed more tunnels used by militants in the area.

There was no sign on the ground of forces moving deeper into Gaza City as part of the newly approved Israeli offensive, which was expected to begin in the coming weeks.

The most recent famine-related deaths brought the total number of hunger-related deaths recorded since 7 October 2023 to 227, including 103 children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Nasser Medical Complex confirmed a six-year-old boy had died of hunger-related illness in the southern city of Khan Younis, while doctors said a 30-year-old man had died of malnutrition.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with UN-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza.

Israel has imposed a blockade and restrictions on aid entering the territory, but in his press conference on Sunday Netanyahu said it was “completely false” that his government was pursuing a “starvation policy”. He acknowledged hunger, and problems with the food distribution system run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but accused the media of “lies” about the scale of the problem.

Twenty-two months into the conflict, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed a total of 61,599 Palestinians and injured 154,088 since 7 October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

An outpouring of condemnation has followed the death of the prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday. The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said they would file a joint complaint to the international criminal court over their killings.

The Israel Defense Forces admitted carrying out the attack, claiming Sharif was the leader of a Hamas cell responsible for rocket attacks against Israel – an allegation that Al Jazeera and Sharif had previously dismissed as baseless.

HRF’s investigation traces the chain of command from Netanyahu to senior Israeli army figures, including air force and intelligence commanders.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, condemned their deaths and his spokesperson called for an independent investigation.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a post on X: “The Israeli Army continues to silence voices reporting atrocities from Gaza.”

“I am horrified by the killing of another 5 journalists in Gaza City. Since the war began, more than 200 Palestinian journalists have been reported killed in total impunity.”

Reuters, AP and AFP contributed to this report.

Leavitt press conference lowers expectations for Alaska summit – againpublished at 19:06 British Summer Time

19:06 BST

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Yesterday, Donald Trump described Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “feel-out meeting”. This
afternoon, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it will be a “listening
session”.

Whatever you call it, the White House is clearly trying to lower
expectations ahead of the first meeting between the two leaders since Trump
returned to office in January.

As Leavitt acknowledged from the press-room lectern, the conflict
in Ukraine is a two-party war, and only one participant will be in
Alaska. Trump may relay a Russian offer to Volodymyr Zelensky, but it is far
from guaranteed that the Ukrainian president would – or even could – accept it.

With Trump, it’s often best to expect the unexpected – but at the
moment there seems slim chances that Friday’s meeting will provide any kind of
substantive breakthrough.

Trump and Leavitt are acting like that’s what they think, too.

Adolfo López plunged his head and hands into his parents’ swimming pool early on Tuesday afternoon, keen to wash off the soot and dirt he had acquired from the gutted house his mother and father had called home for the past 25 years.

The wildfire that would devour 1,000 hectares of land, consume their house, destroy some neighbouring properties and kill a man trying to rescue horses from a local stables was just a column of smoke when López saw it approaching Soto de Viñuelas at 7.45pm on Monday.

Then the smoke gave way to fire and the curiosity turned to panic.

The pharmaceutical researcher, who lives in France and had brought his family to visit his parents half an hour north of Madrid, scooped everyone up and headed to a local hotel.

While they were away, the blaze – the apparent fruit of the current heatwave, Soto’s tinder-dry vegetation and winds of more than 70km/h (45mph) – tore through the area and through the nearby suburbs of Tres Cantos, leading authorities to order the evacuation of 180 people.

When they came back to their homes the following day, some residents found burnt-out wrecks.

“At least it’s just the house,” said López. “We’ll just see what happens now but at least everyone is safe and my parents are OK. You can rebuild a house …”

One of his parents’ neighbours had been luckier. The flames had stopped at the perimeter of his house, cremating shrubs and blackening the wire fence but leaving his home remarkably intact.

As the owner went around dousing the still-hot earth with a hose, his father explained what had happened.

“My son just grabbed his dog when it happened and put it in the car and then went to pick up the neighbours and get out,” he said. “I thought the whole house would have burned but it’s just the perimeter.”

The big worry now, he added, was making sure there was enough water: “They say it’s going to be hot and windy this afternoon and the wind could relight the embers under the ash and start the fire again.”

As planes flew through the grey skies high above a nearby British private school that had had a similarly miraculous escape, a local couple paid tribute to the 55-year-old Romanian man who had died when the fire reached the stables.

“He died trying to save horses in the stables, where 26 horses burned to death,” said José Luis Ramírez, a telecoms engineer who lives up the road.

“He was really great and he worked so hard,” said Ramírez’s wife, Brenda. The dead man, who has yet to be named, suffered burns to 98% of his body and died after being flown to hospital by helicopter.

By 1pm, the residents of Soto and Tres Cantos who had spent the night on mattresses in a local leisure centre had packed up and headed home to inspect the aftermath of the blaze.

Jesús Moreno García, the mayor of Tres Cantos, said firefighters had told him they had never seen a blaze like it. “It spread so quickly because of the strong winds,” he told local TV. “We’ve been through something really shocking.”

The air of unreality and the stink of smoke were compounded by the lingering presence of the many fire engines and vehicles from the military emergencies unit that had helped save the well-heeled neighbourhoods.

“It was all just like a dream and today we’re just checking on the damage,” said Ramírez as he and his wife walked down the road between blackened hills.

Some houses in Soto were evidently beyond saving. The roof of one had collapsed to reveal the still-smoking floor plan beneath.

The garden had fared better: despite the ash-grey pool, the skeleton of a trampoline and the piles of soot and twisted, dead shrubs, a hammock still hung between two untouched pine trees.

Around the corner, Adolfo López’s mother came out of her ruined house, said good afternoon and shook her head. “Esto es lo que hay,” she said. This is how things are.

Getty Images

Reuters

U2’s solidarity statement

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Gaza Civil Defence conducts 45 operations in 24 hours including two firefighting missions, eight rescues, 24 ambulance calls and 11 other tasks.

According to sources from Al Jazeera, operations included transporting a civil defence officer injured in a car accident to al-Shifa Hospital, evacuating several injured civilians from areas in Beit Lahiya and Gaza City, and assisting gunshot victims.

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defence work at the site of an Israeli strike in Gaza City [Reuters]

In Gaza City, crews removed hazards from multiple damaged buildings, retrieved the bodies of three people and evacuated three wounded near the port, and responded to air strikes in the Sabra neighbourhood.

In the central governorate, firefighters extinguished a blaze in an apartment in al-Sawarha, while ambulances transported several patients from homes, schools and refugee camps to hospitals.

In Khan Younis, teams recovered five bodies from areas hit in air strikes, retrieved another body from Salah Shehadeh Street, and transported patients to Nasser Hospital. Also, in Rafah, crews evacuated eight wounded individuals from a strike on displaced people’s tents in the Zourob area, towed a stranded water truck and responded to other medical emergencies.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says Israel’s war in Gaza is growing “more dangerous by the hour” and emphasises that conflict is not the solution.

 

Global protests, UN agencies condemn killing of Gaza journalists

The European Union has condemned Israel’s killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, Kallas says.

“The EU condemns the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an [Israeli military] air strike outside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif,” she stated after EU foreign ministers discussed the war in virtual talks.

Kallas said that while the EU noted Israel’s allegations labelling al-Sharif as belonging to a terrorist cell, “there is a need in these cases to provide clear evidence, in respect of the rule of law, to avoid targeting journalists.”

Senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said Israel’s latest killings of journalists in Gaza add to a “long list of criminality”.

“We at Al Jazeera do not want to be the story; we are forced to be the story because of the criminality of the Israeli government,” he said.

Bishara described Israeli claims that al-Sharif was a Hamas member as lies, adding that several other journalists killed alongside him had not even been accused of such links.

“Why assassinate him when he is among his colleagues? How many more journalists is it acceptable to kill as collateral damage?” he asked, calling the act “particularly psychopathic”.

Bishara said al-Sharif was part of the fabric of Jabalia refugee camp, whose residents have sacrificed their lives for decades. He claimed the timing of the killings was no coincidence, as Netanyahu faced mounting international pressure while planning to seize Gaza City.

Read: Anas al-Sharif, four more Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza

Activists organised demonstrations and vigils in several European capitals to condemn Israel’s assassination of journalists in Gaza.

In Oslo, Norway, a march ended with a vigil in front of the Norwegian Parliament, with protesters carrying pictures of dozens of killed journalists. One journalist set fire to his international press card in protest.

In Stockholm, Sweden, demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and carried banners denouncing the silencing of journalists.

In the United Kingdom, protesters gathered outside the BBC headquarters to denounce the silence on the genocide in Gaza and the targeting of journalists.

Al Jazeera staff members gather at the network’s studios, to remember their colleagues Anas Al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and another colleague, who were killed in Gaza City by an Israeli strike, in Doha, Qatar on August 11, 2025. — Reuters

Israel rejects Australia’s recognition of Palestine

The world is not blind, and more countries have begun recognising Palestine.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he made the announcement partly due to Israel’s decision to “double down on its military solution without a political solution being advanced or forwarded by the Netanyahu government”.

Australia’s Albanese says Netanyahu ‘in denial’ over suffering in Gaza | Reuters

That included Israel’s recent plan “to go in and to occupy Gaza City”, Albanese said.

The foreign ministries of Qatar and Saudi Arabia welcomed the Australian move, as well as New Zealand’s announcement that it was considering taking a similar step.

In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the announcements a “positive step” aligned with global support for Palestinian rights, “enabling them to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their independent state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.

Saudi Arabia said the “current stage requires peace-loving countries to recognise the State of Palestine and support efforts to end the protracted war, particularly in light of the ongoing Israeli violations of international law”.

UNHCR urges action against Gaza killings

Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza was “a clear breach of international humanitarian law” and constituted a “war crime”.

“Any condemnations by member states today need to be followed by action,” Al-Kheetan told Al Jazeera.

Countries with “leverage” must pressure Israel to stop its war on Gaza, he said.

“It is the responsibility of the international community to do all that it can to stop this war,” he added.

“The apparent targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, when combined with the fact that Israel is denying access to foreign journalists, appears to indicate a deliberate attempt by Israel to limit the flow of information from Gaza,” Al-Kheetan said.

He described the targeted killing near the entrance to al-Shifa Hospital as a “catastrophe”.

Read More: Thousands rally in Tel Aviv demanding end to Gaza war

Disarmament conditions

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the ceasefire talks said Hamas was prepared to return to the negotiating table, and the leaders who are visiting Cairo on Tuesday would reaffirm that stance.
“Hamas believes negotiation is the only way to end the war and is open to discuss any ideas that would secure an end to the war,” the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News television said the Hamas delegates have arrived in Egypt “for consultations over ceasefire talks.”
However, the gaps between the sides appear to remain wide on key issues, including the extent of any Israeli military withdrawal and demands for Hamas to disarm.

A Hamas official told Reuters on Tuesday, the group was ready to relinquish Gaza governance on behalf of a non-partisan committee, but it wouldn’t drop its arms before a Palestinian state is established.

Netanyahu, whose far-right ultranationalist coalition allies want an outright Israeli takeover and re-settlement of Gaza, has vowed the war will not end until Hamas is eradicated.

Israel’s war on Gaza

The war, now in its 21st month, has killed more than 61,499 Palestinians and wounded 153,575, according to Gazan health authorities. Most of the victims are reported to be women and children.

A mourner attends the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, according to medics, at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City August 12, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS

Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its conduct in Gaza.