A summary of today’s developments
UN warns Gaza faces ‘starvation, pure and simple’ as child deaths mount. The body’s humanitarian office OCHA said 98 children had died from acute malnutrition since the start of the conflict in October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since July, according to Gaza’s authorities. (see post 18.46)
The US defends Israel at security council meeting, saying it has the right to decide what’s best for its security. It called allegations of genocide in Gaza false.The US has veto power at the council and can block proposed actions there. (see post 17.23)
Chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis criticises UK decision to recognise Palestine at a march in central London calling for release of Israeli hostages.
Meanwhile, at least 61,430 Palestinian people have been killed and 153,213 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. At least 61 Palestinian people were killed and 363 others injured in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said.
“The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,” Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero. Senior Israeli military officers and former senior commanders have warned that Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City risks further international isolation of Israel.
Gaza’s Government Media Office say only 14% of the aid Gaza’s population needs entered the Strip over the last fortnight.
Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants a ‘civilian administration’ to be established in Gaza after Hamas is defeated.
The Israeli prime minister defended his Gaza city plan and said on Sunday he was talking to the US about ‘additional aid measures’ and claims he has ‘directed’ the military to bring in foreign reporters to Gaza.
The UN security council debated the seizure of Gaza in a rare emergency meeting, you can watch the video below:
Helena Smith is the Guardian’s Athens-based correspondent
Back to those protests in Greece where demonstrators far and wide have kicked off a “day of rage” with more than 100 “stop the war” rallies planned nationwide this evening.
In remote Astypalaia in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, a motley group of protesters, including tourists and locals unfurled banners and placards proclaiming “free Palestine, stop the genocide, not in our name” and “victory to Palestine” at the foot of the island’s fortress-topped town.
The mass rallies – the biggest coordinated wave of protest seen in Greece since the onset of the Gaza war – come on the back of rising anger over the increasingly close ties Athens enjoys with Tel Aviv. Tessa Charta joined the mass rally outside the Greek parliament this evening in Athens’ Syntagma square.
We are disgusted with our government’s blind support for a country so obviously violating every human right. Other countries with close ties have criticised Israel and have promised to recognise Palestine but not Greece. That is why the slogan tonight is not in our name. We don’t want to be complicit
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UN’s humanitarian office OCHA describe situation in Gaza as ‘starvation’
AFP reports that the UN’s humanitarian office OCHA said 98 children had died from acute malnutrition since the start of the conflict in October 2023, with 37 of those deaths since July, according to Gaza’s authorities.
OCHA’s coordination director Ramesh Rajasingham said the situation in Gaza had developed into full blown starvation.
This is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple
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Family of victims accuse government of rewarding Hamas with plan to recognise a Palestinian state
Ayelet Svatitzky, whose brothers Roi and Nadav Popplewell were murdered, told demonstrators at the march in London that recognising the state of Palestine before the return of all of the hostages is a “prize” to Hamas.
Speaking close to Downing Street, she said:
This week I joined a meeting with the UK government to continue to press our case that the hostages must be freed before the UK government can recognise the state of Palestine.
As I said to the government, to recognise the state without the return of all of the hostages is a prize to Hamas for the murder of my two brothers.”
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US defends Israel at security council
The UN security council meeting on Gaza is still going on and there is a video feed at the top of this blog.
Associated Press reports that the US defended Israel, saying it has the right to decide what’s best for its security. It called allegations of genocide in Gaza false.
The US has veto power at the council and can block proposed actions there.
Other council members, and UN officials, expressed alarm. China called the “collective punishment” of people in Gaza unacceptable. Russia warned against a “reckless intensification of hostilities”.
“This is no longer a looming hunger crisis; this is starvation,” said Ramesh Rajasingham with the UN humanitarian office told the AP. “Humanitarian conditions are beyond horrific. We have frankly run out of words to describe it.”
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Chief rabbi criticises UK decision to recognise Palestine at hostage march
The UK’s chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has addressed the London march calling for the hostages’ release and has attacked an announcement by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, that the country was set to recognise Palestine as a state next month.
Addressing the crowd close to Starmer’s London residence in Downing Street, Mirvis said:
To our government we turn and we say ‘how would you ever be able to live with the fact that you would have recognised a Palestinian state, at the head of which is a terrorist organisation, with a stated intention of destroying the state of Israel and harming Jews right around the world and all this at a time when the hostages are still languishing in the tunnels of Gaza?
The Labour party, both in opposition and now in government has had a mantra, they have continuously been saying ‘don’t judge us by our words, judge us by our deeds’.
And to our government we say right now this is the time for responsible action, it is not too late.”
He added: “We will continue to do whatever we can for the sake of each and every one of the hostages.”
Updated
A man has been arrested at the “national march for the hostages” in central London, the Metropolitan police have said.
The force said the individual, who was not part of the march, was held for common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence after the march briefly paused just past Charing Cross.
The march was ending with an assembly in Whitehall.
In the UK, a man has been carried away by police officers after a scuffle broke out close to the gates of Downing Street, the prime minister’s London residence.
The man was seen throwing water over a demonstrator who was part of a protest calling for the release of the hostages (see post at 12.43BST). He then charged at him and a scuffle broke out as the man then put his hand around the demonstrator’s neck.
Police officers then intervened and the man was seen being carried away.
Updated
Helena Smith is the Guardian’s Athens-based correspondent
Meanwhile, in Greece, pro-Palestinian protestors are braced to take to the streets in more than 100 locations nationwide, triggering a rare warning from the Israeli foreign ministry to tourists visiting the country.
Stop the war campaigners say the ‘day of rage’ rallies have been organised in major urban centres, towns, villages and islands with the sole purpose of calling for an end “to the genocide in Gaza” and Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest takeover plans.
Graffiti deploring Israel and its actions have proliferated in areas popular with tourists, starting with Plaka, the ancient Athenian neighbourhood of narrow alleys beneath the Acropolis.
“Wherever we are, in every village, every square, every island, every alley, on every street in every town and on every mountain we will call for justice for Palestine,” said a statement released by protest organisers ahead of this evening’s demonstrations.
“We will not put up with those in our country and on our islands who support genocide, we will not tolerate genocide in our name. The whole world will learn that the Greek government is alone,” it added, castigating the centre- right administration of Kyriakos Mitsotakis for standing by the “murderous” Netanyahu.
In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry warned Israelis to “stay away from areas of demonstrations, avoid public debates and expressing political positions in public spaces, and minimize visible signs of identification (such as [Israeli] flags, shirts with Hebrew writing, IDF symbols.”
Fury over the war in Gaza has mounted in Greece putting diplomatic ties between the two countries under unexpected strain.
Last week, the Israeli ambassador to Greece Noam Katz lashed out at the mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, for failing to clean up anti-Israel graffiti that was, he said “(making) Israeli tourists feel uncomfortable.”
Infuriated by his remarks, Doukas hit back saying:
We Greeks do not take lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children standing in line for food, from those responsible for the daily deaths of dozens of Gazans from bombs, hunger and thirst.
Updated
James Kariuki, the UK’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, called Israel’s decision to take Gaza City over “wrong” and said it would displace nearly one million (more) Palestinians.
“Expanding military operations will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict. It will not secure the release of the hostages. It will only deepen the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” Kariuki was quoted by Al Jazeera as having said.
“This inhumanity cannot be justified”, he said, referring to the continuing restrictions on aid imposed by Israel (and its recent total aid blockade which caused widespread starvation). “The partial aid access Israel granted in late July has proven woefully inadequate. We have a clear message for Israel. Urgently and permanently lift all restrictions on aid delivery.”
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UN security council debates Gaza City seizure plan
Let’s give you some lines from today’s UN security council meeting convened after Israel said its military would “take control” of Gaza City.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction,” UN assistant secretary Miroslav Jenca told the UN security council.
Slovenia’s ambassador to the UN Samuel Zbogar, speaking on behalf of the five European members of the security council (France, the UK, Slovenia, Greece and Denmark) ahead of the meeting, said “this decision by the Israeli government will do nothing to secure the return of the hostages and risk further endangering their lives”.
“It will also worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and risk further death and mass displacement of Palestinian civilians.”
Updated
Netanyahu says he wants to get all remaining hostages out alive and recover the remains of those who have died in Hamas captivity.
“If we don’t do anything, we are not going to get them out,” Netanyahu said.
“The move I’m talking about has the possibility of getting them out,” he added, without elaborating on tactics but said there are “creative” approaches under consideration.
Protesters, including relatives of 50 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are reported to be alive, fear Netanyahu’s Gaza City takeover plan puts the lives of hostages at risk.
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Netanyahu claims he has 'directed' military to bring in foreign reporters to Gaza
Netanyahu says he has “directed” the Israeli military to bring in foreign journalists to Gaza, but stressed the importance of assuring the safety of reporters.
“The directive has been since two days ago,” he said, adding “I think you should see it (the Gaza Strip)”.
Netanyahu said:
One of the things you are going to see is precisely our efforts to bring in food to Gaza, you will see the trucks that have entered Gaza and are still waiting to be distributed.
You’ll see Gazans who are fighting Hamas. We haven’t seen it since the beginning of the war. And that is a reflection of the fact that they know we are approaching the end stage.
With international reporters barred by Israel from entering the strip, Palestinian journalists have been the only ones able to report from the ground in the war zone. More than 170 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 2023, with some estimates putting the toll as high as 206. It is the deadliest conflict for media workers in recent history.
Updated
Netanyahu is now taking questions from the media. He has been asked by a journalist for a timeline on when he expects to conclude the expansion of his new assault on the territory. Netanyahu does not put a date on it, but said it should be done “fairly quickly”.
“The timeline that we set for the action is fairly quickly. I mean we want to first of all enable safe zones to be established, facilities to be brought so that the civilian population in Gaza City can move out, as they moved out in Rafah.”
Netanyahu claims he wants to bring the war to an end as soon as possible.
Updated
Netanyahu says Israel is talking to US about 'additional aid measures'
Netanyahu says he is talking to the US about “additional measures” to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza (which is experiencing famine because of the Israeli aid blockade and ongoing restrictions).
The Israeli leader said that in the meantime:
What we are doing, as I said, is designate safe quarters, expand the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution points and they are trying to bring in more resources, hope to recruit some international organisations, maybe – god willing – the UN if they ever decide to actually do something for the Palestinian people that does not go through Hamas.
Netanyahu adds that he wants to increase airdrops into Gaza, though he says these are not the most important form of aid delivery (compared to “ground routes”).
Updated
Netanyahu says that hostages are being 'deliberately starved'
Netanyahu says the only people who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are hostages, not Palestinian civilians.
He claims the media has distorted the facts on the ground around starvation by relying on Hamas’ statistics and claims. Netanyahu points to images of “fake starving children”, including a cover photo from the New York Times.
Netanyahu turns to antisemitism, saying that “every massacre of the Jewish people was proceeded by massive vilification”.
Netanyahu says his Gaza City takeover plan is the 'speediest' way to end the war
Netanyahu says Hamas is refusing to lay down its weapons. “Given Hamas’ refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas,” the Israeli prime minister tells journalists at the conference. He says about 70-75% of Gaza is under Israeli military control – but says there are two “remaining strongholds” where Hamas militants apparently are: Gaza City and the “central camps in Al Mawasi”.
Netanyahu further defends his government’s plan to take over Gaza City, which has been widely condemned on the international stage, including by western allies, with the below comments:
Contrary to false claims this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily. We will do so by first enabling the civilian population to safely the leave combat areas to designated safe zones and these safe zones they will be given ample food, water and medical care, as we have done before.
And again contrary to false claims, our policy throughout the war has been to prevent a humanitarian crisis while Hamas’ policy has been to create it.
Since the beginning of the war, Israel has let in close to two million tonnes of aid. I know of no other army that has enabled such aid to go to the civilian population in enemy territory. Now, if we had a starvation policy no one in Gaza would have survived after two years of war. But our policy has been the exact opposite.
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Netanyahu says he wants a 'civilian administration' to be established in Gaza after Hamas is defeated
Netanyahu says Israel’s goal is not to occupy Gaza but to free it from “Hamas terrorists”. The Israel leader, who describes Hamas as a “genocidal organisation”, continued:
The war can end continue if Gaza, or rather, Hamas lays down its arms and releases all the remaining hostages.
Gaza will be demilitarised, Israel will have overriding security responsibility, a security zone will be established on Gaza’s border with Israel to prevent future terrorist incursions, a civilian administration will be established in Gaza that will seek to live in peace with Israel.
That is our plan for the day after Hamas.
Updated
Netanyahu says Hamas still has thousands of armed terrorists in Gaza and said the Palestinian militant group has vowed to repeat the “savagery of the attack” on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
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Netanyahu says he will 'puncture lies' during press conference
Netanyahu has started speaking. He said this press conference is an opportunity to “puncture the lies”.
Updated
Another quick reminder: the UN security council is set to hold a rare weekend session in about half an hour from now to discuss Israel’s plan to takeover Gaza City (see post at 09.21 for more details). We will also bring you the latest lines from this.
Updated
As a reminder, we are expecting to hear Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, speak at an international news conference at 14:30 BST (13:30 GMT). We will have a live feed at the top of the page up shortly you can watch along to.
Lisa O’Carroll is a senior correspondent for the Guardian
Spain, Norway and Ireland are among nine European countries which have penned a letter saying they “strongly condemn the recent announcement of the intensification of the occupation and the military offensive, including in Gaza City.”
The letter also signed by the foreign ministers of Malta, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Portugal said any territorial changes would be regarded as a “flagrant violation of international law” and a “serious obstacle” to a two-date solution.
“The Gaza Strip must be an integral part of the State of Palestine, along with the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The recognition of both Palestine and Israel is the best security guarantee for both and will ensure stability for the whole region,” it said.
The letter comes as global outcry over Israel’s plans grows and just days after the German chancellor indicated a significant shift in Berlin’s staunch support for Israel.
The letter, signed by the foreign ministers of the nine countries, stated Hamas “cannot have a role in the future government and security operations in Gaza and must be disarmed” but said Israel’s military intentions would just “deepen” the crisis and “further endanger the remaining hostages” and lead to an “unacceptable high toll of deaths” and the displacement of nearly 1m civilians.
Updated
Officials say only 14% of the aid Gaza's population needs entered the Strip over the last fortnight
Gaza’s Government Media Office said only 1,210 aid trucks entered Gaza over the past two weeks, amounting to only 14% of what the territory needed over this time period (8,400 trucks). Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis. The daily breakdown provided by Gaza’s Government Media Office was:
27 July 2025: 73 trucks
28 July 2025: 87 trucks
29 July 2025: 109 trucks
30 July 2025: 112 trucks
31 July 2025: 104 trucks
1 August 2025: 73 trucks
2 August 2025: 36 trucks
3 August 2025: 80 trucks
4 August 2025: 95 trucks
5 August 2025: 84 trucks
6 August 2025: 92 trucks
7 August 2025: 87 trucks
8 August 2025: 83 trucks
9 August 2025: 95 trucks
In a post on Telegram, the media office wrote:
The total number of trucks that entered the Gaza Strip was only 1,210 aid trucks out of a supposed 8,400 trucks, equivalent to 14% of the actual needs, and most of them were subjected to looting and robbery in light of the fabricated security chaos pursued by the Israeli occupation as part of a systematic policy of “engineering starvation and chaos,” with the aim of breaking the will of our Palestinian people and striking their steadfastness.
Invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers, Italy's foreign minister says
“The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,” Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.
Senior Israeli military officers and former senior commanders have warned that Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City would endanger the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages, risk further international isolation of Israel and require its soldiers to administer a population in which Hamas fighters were still present.
My colleague Lorenzo Tondo has written more on the divisions between the PM and the military:
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A group of Dutch activists have been blocking access to the grounds of the Microsoft datacentre in Middenmeer, north of Amsterdam, following revelations from the Guardian that the Israeli military had undertaken an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on the company’s servers.
Several activists climbed the roof and lit flares. The group, Geef Tegengas (Push Back), is demanding that all data from Israeli intelligence services be removed from the site and is calling for a boycott of Microsoft products.
Updated
Police in London are braced for another day of demonstrations as protesters demanding the immediate release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza plan to march through central London to the prime minister’s residence at No 10 Downing Street.
The march on Sunday comes a day after police arrested 474 people at a protest in support of Palestine Action, which is proscribed in the UK.
The Associated Press reports that among those expected to attend Sunday’s rally is Noga Guttman, a cousin of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David. Last week Hamas released a video showing an emaciated David who said that he is digging his own grave inside a tunnel in Gaza.
Hamas-led militants kidnapped 251 people when they attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. Some 50 of the hostages still haven’t been released, of whom 20 are thought to be alive.
“We are united in one clear and urgent demand: the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Stop the Hate, a coalition of groups organising the march, said in a statement. “Regardless of our diverse political views, this is not a political issue – it is a human one.”
Updated
The far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to take over Gaza City, describing it as half hearted.
Smotrich said:
The prime minister and the cabinet gave in to weakness. Emotion overcame reason, and they once again chose to do more of the same – launching a military operation whose goal is not decisive victory, but rather to apply limited pressure on Hamas in order to bring about a partial hostage deal.
They decided once again to repeat the same approach, embarking on a military operation that does not aim for a decisive resolution.
The far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, told Kan radio on Sunday: “It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonisation. This plan will not endanger the troops.”
Netanyahu’s fragile right-wing coalition is extremely reliant on Smotrich and Ben Gvir. The Israeli leader is on trial for corruption and fending off calls for an official inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks, and is also keen to avoid early elections.
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Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reaches 61,430, says health ministry
At least 61,430 Palestinian people have been killed and 153,213 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
At least 61 Palestinian people were killed and 363 others injured in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said.
Details about Israel's plan to take over Gaza City
Here are some details about Israel’s Gaza City takeover plan, which could be the first phase of a full scale takeover of the Strip (you can read the full story by my colleagues, Lorenzo Tondo and Julian Borger, here):
The proposal is reported to have opened a deep rift between Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) leadership but has not been opposed by the Trump administration, Israel’s most important backer…
Before the security cabinet meeting, which began on Thursday and ran through the night, the Israeli prime minister had said Israel planned to take control of the entire territory and eventually hand it to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.
The plans announced on Friday morning stop short of that goal, perhaps reflecting the opposition of the IDF chief of general staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, who told Netanyahu on Tuesday he was “walking into a trap” according to Israeli press reports, warning it would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel’s army after nearly two years of regional wars.
However, in a meeting with the leadership of the IDF southern command on Friday, Zamir vowed to carry out the government’s orders…
Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids in its devastated streets, returning to different neighbourhoods again and again as militants regrouped. It is one of the few areas of Gaza that has not been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.
The Netanyahu plan would mean sending ground troops into the few areas of the territory that have not been totally destroyed, making up about 25% of the Gaza Strip. It would force approximately 1 million Palestinians in Gaza City and surrounding areas into evacuation zones in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Sources familiar with details of the meeting said the evacuation of the city was scheduled to be completed by 7 October.
Benjamin Netanyahu to hold press conference with international media this afternoon
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold a press conference with international media in Jerusalem at 4:30pm local time (13:30 GMT; 14:30 BST).
He will likely be asked about the security cabinet’s controversial decision on Friday to expand its assault on Gaza and take control of Gaza City.
The decision saw Netanyahu ignore the advice of the Israeli military and warnings that expanding the war could endanger the hostages being held there and kill even more Palestinian civilians. Hamas warned of “fierce resistance” to the move.
Updated
The Israeli military has just posted to X to say that two projectiles were “likely” launched from Gaza and crossed into Israel.
It wrote:
Following the alerts activated in the Gaza Envelope, it is likely that two launches from the Gaza Strip crossed into the country’s territory, interception attempts were made, and their results are under review.
Here are some of the latest images coming out of the newswires from Gaza:
Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, is reporting that earlier today the al-Awda hospital received the bodies of five people killed by the Israeli military near an aid distribution point in the central Gaza Strip. Three other people brought to the hospital were also targeted near the aid distribution point (on Salah al-Din street) and are being treated for injuries, according to Wafa.
One person was killed and several others waiting for aid were injured in the al-Shakoush area, northwest of the southern city of Rafah, Wafa reported. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.
Israel has been widely accused of using food as a political weapon and of flagrantly breaking international law by collectively punishing the civilian population of Gaza by its aid blockade.
Aid organisations were bringing somewhere between 500 and 600 aid trucks a day into Gaza during the ceasefire earlier this year, but now Israeli restrictions mean much less aid is being allowed into the territory.
The Guardian’s chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, has broken down in great detail how Israel has deliberately caused a famine in Gaza. Here is an extract from her piece:
The mathematics of famine are simple in Gaza. Palestinians cannot leave, war has ended farming and Israel has banned fishing, so practically every calorie its population eats must be brought in from outside.
Israel knows how much food is needed. It has been calibrating hunger in Gaza for decades, initially calculating shipments to exert pressure while avoiding starvation.
“The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,” a senior adviser to the then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said in 2006…
Data compiled and published by Israel’s own government makes clear that it has been starving Gaza. Between March and June, Israel allowed just 56,000 tonnes of food to enter the territory, Cogat records show, less than a quarter of Gaza’s minimum needs for that period.
Even if every bag of UN flour had been collected and handed out, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had developed safe systems for equitable distribution, starvation was inevitable. Palestinians did not have enough to eat.
Updated
Israel imposed a total aid blockade for 11 weeks starting in March (ostensibly to put pressure on Hamas to release hostages), and the trickle of food, fuel and medical supplies allowed in since May has not relieved extreme hunger.
Aid groups have said Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip is the principal cause of the starvation crisis.
When Israel allowed aid back in, it did so mostly under a contentious new aid delivery system – run by the Israeli-backed logistics group the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Israel says the new distribution system stops aid going to Hamas.
At least 1,400 people have been killed while seeking aid since 27 May 2025, most of whom were killed near GHF sites, while other Palestinian people were killed along the routes of aid convoys, the UN has said.
Responding to a global outcry provoked by images of widespread starvation and malnutrition in Gaza, along with the regular killings of aid seekers by Israeli forces, the Israeli military increased the scale of aid allowed into the Strip at the end of last month.
But the amount of aid Israel allowed in is still totally inadequate for the humanitarian needs of Gaza’s two million population that is now experiencing catastrophic levels of famine, according to aid and human rights organisations.
Letting in small numbers of trucks and airdropping supplies (which is costly, dangerous and inefficient) is nowhere near enough to reverse the famine trend.
Updated
At least 100 children in Gaza have died from famine and malnutrition, health ministry says
Over the past 24 hours, hospitals in the Gaza Strip recorded five new deaths due to famine and malnutrition, including two children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
This brings the total number of Palestinian people who have died from famine and malnutrition to 217, including 100 children.
The request for the UN security council was reportedly endorsed by all members of the security council except Panama, which is its current chair, and the US, Israel’s most powerful ally and biggest arms supplier.
The security council is the UN’s most powerful body; it has the authority to issue legally binding resolutions that can be backed up by sanctions and peacekeepers.
There are five permanent members of the council (China, the Russian Federation, France, the UK and the US). They can vote against, and effectively veto, any proposal put forward by the council.
The ten non-permanent members are currently Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Somalia.
UN security council to meet over Israel’s Gaza City takeover plan
The UN security council will shortly hold an emergency session to discuss Israel’s plan to capture and occupy Gaza City, which if carried out would give Israel control of about 85% of the strip (the Israeli military currently controls about 75% of the territory).
The meeting, requested by Denmark, France, Greece, the UK and Slovenia, is scheduled to start at 10am (14:00 GMT) in New York and will see UN rapporteurs outline the likely disastrous consequences of seizing Gaza’s main city.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was among foreign leaders urging Israel to reconsider its decision to advance into Gaza City.
Regional power Saudi Arabia, which has said it could not normalise ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, condemned any move to occupy Gaza.
Germany, Israel’s second-biggest arms supplier and strongest backer in Europe, on Friday suspended the delivery of weaponry that could be used in Gaza.
Foreign ministers from the UK, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Australia released a joint statement rejecting the plan on the same day, saying it would “aggravate” the already “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.
“Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law,” they added.
Tens of thousands protest in Israel over plan to escalate war on Gaza
Welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to oppose Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to escalate his war on Gaza.
The plan lists five so-called “principles” for ending the war: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, taking security control of Gaza, and setting up “an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.
The demonstration against the plan, estimated to have attracted more than 100,000 protesters by organisers, saw calls for an immediate end to the military assault and for the release of hostages.
Authorities did not provide an official estimate for the size of the crowd, though it dwarfed other recent anti-war rallies.
Public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Israelis favour an immediate end to the war to secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza. Israeli officials believe about 20 hostages are still alive.
In other developments:
The Israeli government has faced sharp criticism at home and abroad, including from some of its closest European allies, over the announcement that the military would expand the war to seize Gaza City. The full cabinet is expected to give its approval as soon as Sunday.
The Palestinian Authority on Saturday lambasted the Israeli government’s decision to expand its assault in Gaza, as it called on the international community to push for the entry of aid into the strip. According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the PA’s presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Israeli government’s moves were “an unprecedented challenge and provocation to the international will to achieve peace and stability”.
Several Arab and Muslim countries on Saturday condemned as a “dangerous escalation” Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City. About 20 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, said the plan constituted “a flagrant violation of international law, and an attempt to entrench the illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli... in contravention of international legitimacy”. Muslim nations must work in total unison and work to mobilise the international community against Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday after talks in Egypt. Speaking at a joint press conference in El Alamein with his Egyptian counterpart after meeting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Fidan also said the Organisation of Islamic cooperation had been called to an emergency meeting.
More than 450 people were arrested in central London on Saturday at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation. On Saturday night, police said that as of 9pm, 466 people had been arrested for showing support for Palestine Action. There were a further eight arrests for other offences including five assaults on officers. Police said the total of 474 was the most arrests it had made related to a single operation in at least the past decade.
The UK announced another £8.5m for UN aid to Gaza after Israel unveiled plans to expand its military operations in the territory. Development minister Baroness Jenny Chapman said the money would “help address urgent need” in Gaza, but only if Israel allowed the region to be “flooded with aid”.
Five Lebanese soldiers were killed in a blast on Saturday while removing munitions from a Hezbollah military facility in south Lebanon, a military source told AFP.
Iran’s judiciary said Saturday it was investigating the cases of 20 people arrested over their suspected links with Israel after the 12-day war between the two arch-foes.
