11 h. ago As Netanyahu starves Gaza, there is a whole new battle to be fought in Israel – against complacency | Aluf Benn

Here in Tel Aviv, beaches and restaurants are packed. Amid that distraction, the PM is playing his power games and purging his generalsAluf Benn is editor-in-chief of HaaretzThe extreme heatwave that has hit our region this week does not distinguish between Israelis and Palestinians. But while we Israelis hide in our air-conditioned houses, offices and cars, the besieged residents of Gaza can only add the unbearable hot and humid atmosphere to their struggle to eat, drink and sleep, in constant fear of death. The starvation crisis that has exploded in Gaza this summer, following Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, continues to worsen despite mounting international pressure to allow in more food, medicine and critical supplies. And the killing has never stopped, while Israel is preparing for the next stage of the war to “annihilate Hamas”.Most Israelis are self-immunised to the horrors being endured by Palestinians in Gaza. Told by our government and mainstr...

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14 h. ago Israeli minister posts video online confronting Palestinian detainee in his prison cell – Middle East crisis live

Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir posts video showing him confronting Marwan Barghouti, who has spent more than 20 years in Israeli custodyAt least 16 Palestinian people, including five aid seekers, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing medical sources.Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Gaza: Continue reading...

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20 h. ago Several Palestinian people reported injured in overnight attack by Israeli settlers in West Bank – Middle East crisis live

Settlers attacked Palestinian people in village of Susya, south of Hebron, while separately settlers reportedly attacked village of Atara and set fire to vehiclesHere is some more detail on the controversial plan to significantly expand a settlement near occupied East Jerusalem.The decision from the Supreme Planning Council, which meets next week, is expected to support the plan after rejecting objections by Israeli NGOs.The expected decision in favour will come after Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich – who backs both the plan and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty through the occupied West Bank – gloated that he believed construction on E1 would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”. Continue reading...

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41 h. ago Bezalel Smotrich outlines plan for 3,000 new housing units in controversial West Bank settlement, reports say – Middle East crisis live

Israel’s far-right finance minister announces plan to advance tenders for housing which international community says would split West Bank in half, reports Times of IsraelThe health ministry in Gaza has just issued a statement, saying four more people have died from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.This brings the total to 239 since the start of the war, including 106 children, according to the health ministry. Continue reading...

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42 h. ago Bezalel Smotrich approves 3,000 new housing units in controversial West Bank settlement, reports say – Middle East crisis live

Israel’s far-right finance minister approves tenders for housing which international community says would split West Bank in half, reports Times of IsraelThe health ministry in Gaza has just issued a statement, saying four more people have died from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.This brings the total to 239 since the start of the war, including 106 children, according to the health ministry. Continue reading...

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44 h. ago NGOs call for end to Israel’s ‘weaponisation’ of aid – Middle East crisis live

More than 100 international NGOs sign letter saying more than 60 requests to bring in food, water and items for shelter were denied by authorities in July aloneThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has just issued a warning on X, saying that soaring temperatures in Gaza are now above 40°C, making an already dire humanitarian situation “far worse”.“With very limited water available, dehydration is increasing,” the agency said in a post on X. It added that bombardments and forced displacement continue, while limited electricity and fuel mean there is “no relief from the extreme heat”.Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government.After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best – bui...

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4 d. ago Norway's sovereign wealth fund sells its shares in 11 Israeli companies

Managers of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund say it has sold its shares in 11 Israeli companies, a move that they say reduces its holdings in the country against the backdrop of the “serious humanitarian crisis” in Gaza

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4 d. ago Global outrage mounts as funeral held for five journalists killed by Israel

Last post from Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, one of ‘Gaza’s bravest journalists’, decries failure to stop ‘massacre’Middle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of mourners carried the body of the prominent Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif through the streets of Gaza City on Monday, a day after he and four colleagues were killed in an Israeli airstrike, prompting condemnation from across the world.Sharif, one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable faces in Gaza, was killed while inside a tent for journalists outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday night. Seven people in total were killed in the attack, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and the camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster. Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Gary Lineker and Jeremy Corbyn back Mo Salah after calling out 'Palestinian Pele' tribute

Mohamed Salah has raised a debate around football's reaction to the Gaza crisis after questioning a UEFA social media post about the death of Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid

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6 d. ago UN holds crisis talks over Gaza occupation after Israel's plan for complete military takeover of Gaza sparks international backlash

The UN Security Council is to hold emergency talks today after Israel's plan for a complete military takeover of Gaza sparked international condemnation.

Events

6 d. ago London protests live: Police arrest more than 450 people as hundreds rally in support of Palestine Action

Separately, thousands took part in Palestine Solidarity march through London to protest against humanitarian crisis in Gaza

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6 d. ago Israeli plan to seize Gaza City an ‘unprecedented provocation’, Palestinian Authority says – Middle East crisis live

On Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans to launch major operations to seize Gaza CityIran’s judiciary said Saturday it was investigating the cases of 20 people arrested over their suspected links with Israel following the 12-day war between the two arch-foes.“These cases were immediately filed under the supervision of the esteemed investigators and are being investigated,” Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters in Tehran, adding that further information would be shared as it became available. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Six killed and dozens wounded by Israeli army while collecting aid, says Gaza civil defence – Middle East crisis live

Israeli troops reported to have targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central GazaThe US and UK have “disagreements” on Gaza including over whether to recognise a Palestinian state, JD Vance has suggested as he arrived in England for his summer holiday.The US vice-president was speaking before a bilateral meeting with David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, at his 17th-century grace-and-favour country house, Chevening. Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel security cabinet approves plan to take over Gaza City amid reports of disagreements with military

The announcement comes after Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to take full control of Gaza and hand over the territory’s governance to friendly Arab forcesThe Axios reporter Barak Ravid has cited an Israeli official as saying Israel’s occupation of Gaza City is to involve besieging Hamas fighters there while carrying out a ground offensive.Ravid’s post on X says:Senior Israeli official tells me: The operation that the IDF is currently preparing for is only in Gaza City. The goal is to evacuate all Palestinian civilians from Gaza City to the central camps and other areas by October 7. A siege will be imposed on the Hamas militants who remain in Gaza City, and at the same time, a ground offensive will be carried out in Gaza City. The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister have been authorized to approve the IDF’s final operational plan1. Disarming Hamas of its weapons.2. Return of all hostages – both the living and the deceased. Continue reading...

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8 d. ago Médecins Sans Frontières calls for immediate closure of US and Israelibacked aid group in Gaza – Middle East crisis live

MSF says it has rarely ‘seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians’ as it has at GHF aid sitesThe medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called for the immediate closure of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the US- and Israeli-backed aid organisation operating in Gaza, describing GHF-run food distribution sites in Gaza as having become sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanisation”.In a social media post on Thursday, MSF wrote:“In MSF’s nearly 54 years of operations, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians.”The GHF-run food distributions in Gaza, Palestine, have become sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanisation”, not humanitarian aid.During those seven weeks, our teams treated 71 children for gunshot wounds, 25 of whom were under the age of 15. Faced with no alternatives to find food, starved families frequently send teenage boys into this lethal environment, as they are often the only males in the ...

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9 d. ago Egyptian minister calls West's response to Gaza suffering shameful

Egypt's foreign minister has criticized the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and called it shameful

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1 week ago Haunting image of skeletal girl, 9, shows Gaza's 'catastrophic' hunger crisis

WARNING UPSETTING: Nine-year-old Maryam Duvvas looks agonisingly thin while receiving treatment at a hospital in Gaza for severe malnutrition as the UN warns of "catastrophic hunger" in Palestine

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1 week ago Gaza's 'living skeletons': New shocking photo claims to show young Palestinian girl Maryam, 9, reduced to skin and bone

The disturbing images show the sickly thin nine-year-old Maryam Duvvas, who is currently receiving treatment at Patient Friends Association Hospital in Gaza City.

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1 week ago Gaza's living skeleton: Young Palestinian girl is reduced to skin and bone amid food crisis

The disturbing images show the sickly thin nine-year-old Maryam Duvvas, who is currently receiving treatment at Patient Friends Association Hospital in Gaza City.

Events

1 week ago Family of Israeli hostage held in Gaza accuses Hamas of starving him

Relatives call for aid to be allowed to reach Evyatar David after video is released showing him emaciated and weakMiddle East crisis live: latest updatesThe family of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza said that Hamas is starving him after the release of a video in which he appeared emaciated and weak.The footage, released on Saturday, shows Evyatar David speaking in what appeared to be a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. In scenes that have caused outrage and dismay in Israel, he is shown digging what he says could be his own grave. In comments made under duress, he urges the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to agree to a ceasefire. Continue reading...

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