LIVE UPDATES: Hamas says ‘war of attrition’ in Gaza as more Israeli soldiers killed

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Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 15 July 2025:

• More than 70 people are killed across Gaza including Palestinians gathered near an aid distribution centre run by the controversial Israel-US-backed GHF.
• Two prominent Israeli politicians have criticised plans by the Netanyahu government to set up a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, saying it would amount to interning Palestinians in a “concentration camp”.
• Israeli media reports say there’s been an ambush in Gaza City with a tank hit by rocket fire and later attacked with small arms with helicopters seen evacuating casualties.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,386 people and wounded 139,077, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 taken captive.

EU’s Kallas sees some good signs on Gaza aid but more needed

There are signs of more trucks and supplies getting into Gaza but the European Union needs to see much more, according to its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

The EU reached an agreement with Israel last week to improve the humanitarian situation in the devastated Gaza Strip, including increasing aid trucks and opening crossing points.

“We see some good signs of more trucks getting in, more supplies to the people of Gaza. But of course we know this is not enough, and we need to push more that the implementation of what we have agreed also happens on the ground,” Kallas told reporters.

She made the remarks ahead of a meeting with senior Middle Eastern and EU officials in Brussels.

Israel’s military achievements ‘being erased’ in Gaza

Military analyst Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group, says tactical gains Israeli forces have made militarily in Gaza “are being erased with what we are seeing on a daily basis”.

“One can only wonder what the strategy is by the Israelis,” Clarke told Al Jazeera from Pittsburgh in the United States.

Clarke stressed “the essence of effective counter-insurgency is to win the hearts and minds of the population”.

“We see day after day that is not what is happening and that is not what the Israelis are attempting.”

Clarke underlined the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza is “counterproductive”.

“These images are going to live with us and they are having a radicalising effect all over the world including the West,” he said.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threaten to resign from Netanyahu gov’t

Lawmakers from Degel HaTorah – a key faction in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party – say they’ll resign from the Israeli government over a long-running dispute on military conscription for Haredi men.

Spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “failing to fulfil obligations” to protect yeshiva (religious seminary) students from being drafted into the army, and said continued participation in the coalition is no longer acceptable.

Degel HaTorah said yeshiva students should be exempt from military service so they can dedicate their lives to Torah study.

While Degel HaTorah alone cannot topple Netanyahu’s government, its withdrawal could destabilise the fragile coalition, especially if the other ultra-Orthodox parties follow suit.

Israeli army: 3 soldiers killed in fighting in northern Gaza

Three Israeli troops have been killed and an officer seriously wounded during fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The soldiers all served with the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion, the military said.

“According to an initial Israeli army probe, the soldiers were in a tank that was likely hit by anti-tank fire. Other causes of the explosion are being investigated,” it said in a statement.

The military identified the slain troops as: Staff Sergeant Shoham Menahem, 21, Sergeant Shlomo Yakir Shrem, 20, and Sergeant Yuliy Faktor, 19.

Israel PM under increasing pressure to end Gaza war

Prime Minister Netanyahu has said he’s ready to enter talks for a more lasting ceasefire once a deal for a temporary truce is agreed – but only when Hamas lays down its arms.

He is under pressure to quickly wrap up the war with military casualties rising and with public frustration mounting at both the continued captivity of the Israelis taken on October 7, 2023, and a perceived lack of progress in the conflict.

Politically, his fragile governing coalition is holding for now, but Netanyahu is seen as beholden to a minority of far-right ministers in prolonging an increasingly unpopular conflict.

He also faces a backlash over the feasibility, cost, and ethics of a plan to build a “humanitarian city” from scratch in southern Gaza to house hundreds of thousands of Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has described the proposed facility as a “concentration camp” and Israel’s security establishment is reported to be unhappy at the plan.

German police dismantle pro-Palestinian protest near chancellor’s office

Police in Berlin have dismantled a protest camp near the German chancellor’s office – a move activists say violated their democratic rights.

Several hundred officers surrounded the site, preventing more people from joining before ordering protesters to take down tents and leave.

“We’re completely surrounded. Despite being a legal and registered protest, people are prevented from coming to the camp,” a protester named Jara told Anadolu news agency.

“This is a complete restriction of our right to assembly and protest.”

She said police claimed the demonstration was disturbing the chancellor’s office, a justification she dismissed as meaningless. “A protest can be disturbing and should be disturbing.”

Activists plan to relocate to Washington Square near Berlin’s main station.

Qassam Brigades claims attack on Israeli forces in Khan Younis

The armed wing of Hamas says it carried out an attack on Israeli troops in the city in southern Gaza.

Mortar fire targeted a group of soldiers around the Murtaja Junction in the Ma’an area in the south of Khan Younis, a statement on Telegram said without reporting any casualties.

UK media watchdog investigates BBC over Gaza documentary

Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s media regulator, says it will investigate the BBC over a documentary about life under Israeli bombardment in Gaza, after the broadcaster admitted it breached its own editorial guidelines.

The film, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was pulled from BBC iPlayer in February after it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Ofcom said it would investigate whether the documentary broke its broadcasting code, which states factual programmes must not “materially mislead the audience”.

In a separate incident, the UK government blocked the broadcast of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, citing “perceived partiality” – only for the programme to later be aired by TV rival, Channel 4.

Death toll hits 72 killed in Gaza since dawn

Israeli bombardment has killed at least 72 people since the early hours in the war-battered Gaza Strip, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera.

Attacks on the Palestinian territory since October 2023 have now killed 58,386 people in Gaza, with 139,077 wounded.

Israel says Syria strikes ‘a clear warning to Syrian regime’

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a warning to Damascus after the Israeli military attacked several tanks in southern Syria.

The army said the strikes were launched to prevent the tanks from reaching a Druze village near the scene of sectarian clashes.

The Israeli attacks were “a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria. Israel will not stand idly by,” said Katz.

Israeli opposition leader calls Gaza relocation a ‘crazy idea’

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has again criticised government plans to build a “humanitarian city” in Gaza, calling it a “crazy idea even by the standards of this government”.

“Will its residents be allowed to leave it? If not, how will they prevent them from leaving? Will there be a fence around it? Will it be an ordinary fence or an electric one? How many soldiers will guard the fence? What will the soldiers do if children try to leave the city?” Lapid asked at a press conference.

“Who will provide the residents with food, water, and electricity? What will happen if epidemics and diseases break out there? Who will treat them? And the most important question for the citizens of Israel: How much will it cost us?”

Lapid said the plan would cost at least 15 billion shekels ($4.5bn), with some estimates reaching 20 billion shekels  ($6bn) or more.

“This city in Gaza will not be established … it is a very crazy idea,” he said, accusing the government of wasting public funds on a “delusion”.

Earlier, Lapid told Israeli Army Radio the project was “a bad idea from every possible perspective – security, political, economic, logistical”.

Egypt, Qatar officials intensify truce talks on Gaza

Gaza ceasefire mediators are ramping up efforts to overcome obstacles hindering indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, an Egyptian media report says.

The state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel, citing unnamed sources, said Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as part of Egypt’s broader push to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

The timing and location of the meeting were not disclosed. Rashad has held a series of discussions with both Palestinian and Israeli negotiators, the sources added.

‘Nothing has changed’ since Israel-EU deal on Gaza aid: Egypt

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says “nothing has changed” since an agreement between Israel and the European Union on the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He made the statement to reporters ahead of the EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels.

The EU reached an agreement with Israel last week to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-devastated Gaza Strip, including increasing aid trucks and opening crossing points.

Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in early March, restricting food, water, medicine and fuel.

Israel’s government moves forward plan to split West Bank: Reports

Israel is resuming plans to build in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank – a move that would sever the north from the south, according to a report by news outlet Haaretz.

The Higher Planning Committee in the Civil Administration is scheduled to discuss the project on August 6, marking the first time the proposal has advanced since 2021.

Opponents – including Palestinians living in the area and groups such as Peace Now, Ir Amim, and the Association of Environmental Justice – were summoned last week to present their objections.

The construction threatens remaining land reserves around Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, critics said.

According to Haaretz, the plan involves the construction of 3,412 housing units across 12 square kilometres (4.6 square miles), north and west of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, which is illegal under international law.

Israel welcomes Syria’s participation in EU-Middle East meeting

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has welcomed the presence of his Syrian counterpart in Brussels. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani is attending the gathering.

“We welcome the participation of the Syrian minister. We will be together in the same meeting. Let’s see what will happen,” Saar said.

The comments come hours after the Israeli army said it attacked tanks in southern Syria.

Israeli military kills Palestinian in occupied West Bank

Israeli soldiers have shot and killed an armed Palestinian in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement posted on X, the military said: “A short time ago, an [Israeli army] force identified an armed terrorist near Maoz Zvi in the Menashe Brigade. The force engaged, fired at the terrorist, and eliminated him. There are no casualties.”

Maoz Zvi is an illegal Israeli settlement in the northern part of the West Bank.

Trump says could have Gaza update ‘fairly soon’

US President Donald Trump has expressed optimism about a deal to halt Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

“We’re doing pretty well on Gaza, Steve Witkoff is here, and I think we could have something fairly soon to talk about,” Trump told a news conference at the White House.

Trump said in late June that Israel agreed to the conditions for a 60-day ceasefire, and negotiations have been ongoing in Qatar to carve out a path to finally end Israel’s 21-month war on Gaza.

Hamas reportedly wants a US guarantee that Israeli air attacks and ground assaults, which have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, will not resume even if a ceasefire ends without a permanent end to the war.

Hamas: Netanyahu’s ‘absolute victory’ vow is a ‘major illusion’

Hamas released the following statement on Gaza ceasefire talks being held in Doha, and said:

• [Prime Minister Benjamin ] Netanyahu is adept at thwarting one round of negotiations after another, and he does not want to reach any agreement.
• Our resistance fighters are waging a war of attrition that surprises the enemy daily with innovative field tactics, causing it to lose the initiative and confuse its calculations, despite its superior firepower and air superiority.
• The longer the war continues, the more the occupation army sinks into the shifting sands of Gaza and becomes more vulnerable to the resistance’s qualitative strikes.
• The criminal Netanyahu is plunging his army and his entity into a futile war with no prospects. Its continuation not only threatens the lives of prisoners and soldiers, but also portends a strategic catastrophe for his entity.
• The “absolute victory” that Netanyahu is promoting is a major illusion intended to cover up a resounding defeat on the ground [in Gaza] and in politics.
  Hamas fighters stand guard ahead of a captive release in Deir el-Balah in February 

Gaza death toll rises, 120 killed in 24 hours

Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that at least 120 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours.

In its daily report, the ministry said 557 people were wounded over the past day.

At least 58,386 Palestinians have been killed and 139,077 wounded by Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023.

Since March 18, when Israel broke the ceasefire reached with Hamas, at least 7,568 Palestinians have been killed and 27,036 wounded, the ministry said.

UN warns lifelines in Gaza will ‘vanish’ without fuel

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has issued a stark warning that fuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and on a consistent basis to keep life-saving humanitarian operations running.

“Without fuel, the lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people in Gaza,” the agency said on X.

“Without adequate fuel, UN agencies responding to this crisis will likely be forced to stop their operations entirely, directly impacting all essential services in Gaza. This means no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid.”

The warning comes after the UN said it was allowed to deliver the first fuel shipment to Gaza in 130 days on Thursday.

It was not enough to meet even a single day’s needs, leaving hospitals, water facilities and aid operations on the verge of collapse, it said.

Israel strikes tanks in Syria’s Sweida, scene of Bedouin-Druze clashes

Israel’s military says it hit several tanks in the Sweida province of southern Syria, where dozens have been killed in clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.

“Earlier today, several tanks were identified in the area between al-Sijin and al-Sima, moving towards al-Sweida in southern Syria,” the army said, adding the vehicles were attacked “to disrupt their arrival in the area”.

The statement said the army “will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it”.

MSF calls for ‘clear and predictable medical evacuation system’ in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says the system should be implemented without family separations and ensure Palestinians’ right to return to Gaza after treatment.

It “must be urgently established”, a statement on X said.

About 12,000 people need to be evacuated from Gaza to receive vital medical care, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Know their names: West Bank Palestinians killed by Israelis this week

As Israel’s unrelenting war on Gaza continues, deadly attacks by Israeli army and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have also soared to near-daily killings.

According to Shireen.ps, a database compiled by Palestinian journalists, 177 Palestinians have been killed there this year.

On Friday, Israeli settlers beat to death 20-year-old American Palestinian Sayfollah Musallet, his family stating that the mob surrounded him for three hours during the assault and attacked medics attempting to reach him.

Eight other Palestinians, including a child, were also slain this past week as a result of settler attacks, as well as targeted assassinations and raids conducted by Israeli troops.

The bodies of four of those killed have been held back by Israeli authorities.

Read more here.

Israel targets eastern Gaza City after reported ambush

Israeli media reports suggest there’s been an ambush in Gaza City. They say a tank has been struck by rocket fire and later attacked by small arms.

A number of Israeli helicopters were seen evacuating casualties from the eastern part of Gaza City.

Witnesses on the ground say Israel’s military responded with massive air strikes in the vicinity of Tuffah and Shujayea neighbourhoods, levelling residential buildings.

The skyline is covered with thick black smoke.

If you’re just joining us

Here’s a look at the latest developments:

• The Israeli army has killed at least 47 Palestinians across Gaza today, mostly in Gaza City.
• Israeli opposition politicians, including Yair Lapid, have criticised the Netanyahu government’s plan to build a large concentration camp on the ruins of Rafah.
• Israeli settlers and soldiers launched several more attacks across the occupied West Bank, including in Bethlehem, where settlers uprooted hundreds of olive trees and Israeli authorities demolished a four-storey residential building.
• The father of an Israeli captive held in Gaza says there is a “reality of stagnation” surrounding the ceasefire talks to bring back captives from the enclave.

Israeli attacks kill more than 50 people across Gaza

Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 51 people since dawn, medical sources told our colleagues on the ground.

Among those, nine Palestinians, most of them children, were killed during an air strike on tents sheltering displaced people in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

In Belgium, a mother fears for her children under Israel’s bombs in Gaza

Every nook and corner of Rawan Alkatari’s home in Aalst, a city in Belgium, is filled with pictures that remind her of her family in Gaza.

“People who come to visit my home say it is beautiful. But I’ll see it as beautiful when it is filled with the sound of my children,” she said.

The 30-year-old came to Belgium shortly before Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, having been granted asylum.

But her husband Osama and three children – Lujayn, Lama and Omar, aged 14, 12 and eight, respectively – have been unable to join her, despite Belgium having approved their family reunification visas.

“My husband and children got their family reunification visas approved on October 1, 2024, but remain stuck in Gaza. Their visas also expire in October this year,” she told Al Jazeera.

Read our full story here. 

More arrests in occupied West Bank as thousands remain imprisoned

Israeli forces have arrested more Palestinians during raids across the occupied West Bank today, adding to a total of at least 3,850 that the Prisoners’ Media Office says are in military detention centres.

There are about 400 children and 125 women among those currently behind bars, according to the latest figures by the Palestinian monitor.

Most arrests took place in besieged Jenin with 920 recorded cases, and in Tulkarem with 455 cases. At 800 cases, Israeli forces made the largest number of arrests in a month in March 2025.

Since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the monitor has recorded 2,464 arrests of Palestinians from the city of Jerusalem, including a large number of children. Palestinian children from Jerusalem have had 161 house arrest orders issued against them in that time as well.

West Bank church leaders appeal for help over settler attacks

The 5th century Church of St George was attacked by Israeli settlers in Taybeh. Church leaders have been calling this a “systemic and targeted attack” against Christians.

About 50,000 of them live in the occupied West Bank, a small but very proud minority, and they also consider themselves under attack, not just because they’re Christians but because they’re Palestinians.

But still, this is something the church is very worried about. It’s been trying for years to enhance the steadfastness of the Christian community in Palestine and get them to stay as long as possible, but these acts of settler attacks are not helping.

We’ve been seeing how Israeli settlers have been pushing them out of their lands, out of their homes.

That’s why we’ve seen members of the community, priests as well as heads of churches in Jerusalem, deliver statements to the European Union, to these representatives of 20 countries, that they should intervene to do something when it comes to holding settlers accountable.

Israel claims Hamas intelligence figure killed in Gaza strikes

The Israeli army says it killed a member of Hamas in air strikes on Gaza City.

It said in a statement that the person worked in the military intelligence unit of the al-Furqan Battalion of the armed wing of Hamas. The man was also allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks and held captive Emily Damari in his home at the start of the war.

The Israeli-British Damari was freed in January 2025.

Al-Quds Brigades claims attack on Israeli forces in Khan Younis

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says its fighters have destroyed an Israeli military vehicle with an explosive device before clashing with troops.

The group said on Telegram that the Israeli force suffered casualties in the ambush that took place in the Abasan al-Kabira area, east of Khan Younis, last Wednesday.

Israeli rescue teams using helicopters arrived in the area to evacuate the dead and wounded soldiers, it said.