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Here’s where things stand on Saturday 19 July 2025:
- The Health Ministry in Gaza says an “unprecedented” number of starving Palestinians are pouring into hospitals across the besieged territory.
- As the daily death toll in Gaza continues to mount, with at least 41 people killed in Israeli attacks today, Hamas’s military wing says its fighters are ready for a lengthy battle.
- Fighting has resumed between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda, a day after Syrian troops pulled out of the area.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,667 people and wounded 139,974, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Syrian presidency says deploying troops to ‘de-escalate clashes’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s office says it is working to deploy forces to resolve days of sectarian violence in southern Syria “through political and security measures aimed at restoring stability and preventing the return of chaos as quickly as possible”.
In a statement, the presidency reiterated a pledge to uphold the rule of law, stressing that Syria “is a state for all its sons and daughters, regardless of their backgrounds or affiliations” amid days of sectarian violence.
“Attacks on families, terrorizing children, and violating the sanctity and dignity of people in their homes are categorically rejected and condemned under all ethical, legal, and humanitarian standards. No justification or excuse can be accepted for such actions,” it said.
“There is no place for armed groups or militias beyond the reach of the state. National responsibility requires that everyone be united under the roof of the homeland, with one reference point — the rule of law.”
Israel has repeatedly threatened attacks on Syria’s interim government should it redeploy forces south of Damascus.
Humanitarian situation in Syria’s Suwayda ‘rapidly deteriorating’: Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that violence in the southern Syrian city has caused “dire shortages of food, clean water, electricity and medical care”.
“People are running out of everything. Hospitals are increasingly struggling to treat the wounded and the sick, and families are unable to bury their loved ones in dignity,” Stephan Sakalian, the head of ICRC’s delegation in Syria, said in a statement.
“After sleepless nights gripped by fear, anxiety and grief, people are yearning for the end of violence to restart moving freely, attend their most basic needs and check on loved ones.”
The ICRC called on all parties to protect residents and urged the “immediate, safe and unhindered” humanitarian access.
“Every hour lost means more suffering for families and patients waiting for critical aid. They cannot wait any longer. For them and for us – every minute counts,” Sakalian said.
Hundreds of Palestinians face ‘imminent death’, doctor warns
Dr Sohaib al-Hums, director of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, has warned that the medical facility is “witnessing an unprecedented influx of displaced persons”.
“We are receiving cases suffering from extreme exhaustion and complete fatigue, in addition to severe emaciation and acute malnutrition due to prolonged lack of food,” he said in a statement.
“We warn that hundreds whose bodies have completely wasted away are now facing imminent death, as their physical endurance has been surpassed.”
Nearly 1 in 3 Palestinians in Gaza not eating for days at a time: WFP
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has raised alarm as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are on the “verge of catastrophic hunger”.
“Food aid is the only real way for people to eat,” the agency wrote on X.
Palestinians forced to eat expired food as starvation crisis worsens
Dr Ahmed Alfarra, director of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, says the hunger crisis in the enclave is the worst he’s seen since Israel’s bombardment began nearly two years ago.
Alfarra said Palestinian families have come to the hospital suffering from serious health problems, including facial paralysis and respiratory failure, linked to consuming spoiled food.
“I asked the father and the mother, ‘Didn’t you smell the [foul] odour of the can [of food that you ate]?’ He said, ‘Doctor, what can we do? This is all we have,’” Alfarra told Al Jazeera.
Alfarra added that the US- and Israeli-backed GHF food distribution scheme, where hundreds of Palestinian aid seekers have been killed in the past weeks, has worsened an already dire situation.
“I will not send my son [to GHF-run aid sites]; I am afraid that he will go there and he will come back as a [dead] body. The GHF is a [trap] for killing, not for distributing food,” he said.
Yemeni missile intercepted: Israeli army
The missile fired from Yemen has been intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the army says.
Sirens had been activated in several parts of the country once the launch was detected.
Israeli army says missile launched from Yemen
The military says Israeli defence systems are working to intercept the missile.
Yemen’s Houthis have regularly fired missiles towards Israel in what they say is a push to pressure the country to end its war on Palestinians in Gaza.
Deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza City continue
In Israel’s latest attacks, a home and a school sheltering displaced people were bombed, killing at least three people.
A child was among those killed, sources at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera.
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed on the latest developments:
- The death toll in Gaza since dawn today has risen to 41, health officials tell Al Jazeera, as Israel continues to bombard the enclave.
- Hamas’s armed wing says it is ready for “a long battle of attrition”, accusing Israel of rejecting a proposal that would have included the release all the Gaza captives at once in exchange for a comprehensive ceasefire deal.
- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu tells Pope Leo XIV that Israel regrets “the tragic incident in which stray ammunition accidentally” struck the Holy Family Church in Gaza, killing three people.
- The Syrian Network for Human Rights says 321 people have been killed in sectarian violence around the southern Syrian city of Suwayda since Sunday.
UK condemns Israel’s renewed E1 settlement plans as a violation of international law
The UK strongly opposes the announcement by Israel of its intention to renew plans for construction in the E1 area in the occupied West Bank, a move that would split the Palestinian territory.
“The UK strongly opposes the announcement by the central planning bureau of Israel’s Civil Administration to reintroduce the E1 settlement plan, frozen since 2021,” said a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson.
The plan would include the construction of more than 3,000 houses to the east of Jerusalem, dividing a future Palestinian state in two, read the statement, and “marking a flagrant breach of international law.”
Infectious diseases spreading due to lack of clean water, food
Watch Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum speak with Dr Khalil al-Degran, spokesperson of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, to hear his comments on how the dire health situation in the Strip, exacerbated by Israel’s refusal to allow in aid, is causing a rise in the spread of infectious disease.
Lebanon’s Jumblatt calls for ceasefire in Suwayda, condemns violence by Druze and Bedouin fighters
A ceasefire must be implemented in Suwayda and Bedouin tribes must be prevented from entering the southern city in Syria, veteran Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt tells Al Jazeera, adding that crimes against civilians have been committed by Druze and Bedouin fighters in the fighting over the last few days.
Jumblatt also said that government forces can stop the Bedouin clans and that continuing with the violence would result in strengthening the positions of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, another influential Druze leader who has pledged to continue fighting until Suwayda was “entirely liberated”.
Jumblatt said he rejects “any international protection and any Israeli interference in Syria’s affairs”. His comments come after Israel bombed several locations in the country this week, including in the capital Damascus, saying it wants to protect the Syrian Druze community and rid Syrian territory south of Damascus of all Syrian security presence.
Israeli spy chief visits US: Report
The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited Washington this week as Israel seeks the Trump administration’s help in moving Palestinians out of Gaza, US news outlet Axios reports, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
Both Trump and Netanyahu have suggested removing Palestinians from the Strip in the past, comments that drew widespread international condemnation and charges of ethnic cleansing.
Currently, Israel plans to create what the UN has termed a “concentration camp” in south Gaza’s Rafah, in which roughly 600,000 Palestinians would be forced to enter without permission to leave.
US lawmakers call on Israel to abandon West Bank demolition plans
Democratic Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, and Bernie Sanders have issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s longstanding plan to destroy and force out Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank’s South Hebron Hills.
“We are deeply alarmed by the Israeli Higher Planning Council’s decision to reject all planning and zoning requests in Masafer Yatta that do not align” with the Israeli forces’ training needs, the US lawmakers said, according to a Vermont Business Magazine report.
Israel has said it plans to turn the Masafer Yatta area into an “open fire” zone for its military – a plan that local Palestinian community members have been fighting for years. Residents face frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and troops in the area.
For more on the fight in the South Hebron Hills, check out our story here.
CAIR urges probe into Israel’s use of ‘drone missiles packed with nails’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging the UN and the International Criminal Court to launch an immediate war crimes investigation into our earlier reporting that Israeli forces have used “drone missiles packed with nails” in their attacks on Gaza.
“The intentional targeting of civilians with weapons designed to maximize injuries and death is not only morally indefensible, but it is also a clear violation of international humanitarian law,” CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported earlier today that Palestinian children had been transported to hospital with injuries caused by flying shrapnel.
“These drone missiles are packed with nails, and when they explode, pieces of metal fly at a very high speed, piercing bodies, causing internal injuries that lead to severe bleeding, which causes the majority of deaths among those attacked by drone missiles,” Mahmoud said.
Today’s death toll in Gaza tops 40
The number of casualties in the Strip continues to rise as Israeli attacks continue.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 41 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Strip since dawn today, including 10 aid seekers.
Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces near Jenin
Amr Ali Qabha was killed after Israeli forces opened fire in Ya’bad, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli troops fired live ammunition at the 13-year-old as he was walking down the street and prevented ambulances from reaching him to provide medical treatment.
Qabha’s father also tried to reach him, but he was severely beaten and detained by Israeli forces, Wafa said.
The child was pronounced dead at the hospital after an ambulance was finally able to bring him in.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Of that, at least 204 were children.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian rally in Yemen’s capital
Tens of thousands of demonstrators, predominantly Houthi supporters, took to the streets of Sanaa in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Similar rallies have been held in the Yemeni capital on a nearly weekly basis since the start of Israel’s war on the besieged territory.
UN says fuel deliveries still falling far short of need in Gaza
Farhan Haq, the UN secretary-general’s deputy spokesman, says despite allowing limited supplies of fuel into Gaza, Israel continues to block the amounts needed to sustain healthcare, water, and other services for Palestinians in the territory.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Haq said the UN has sent about 600,000 litres of diesel to the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing into Gaza since limited fuel entries were authorised on July 9. Yesterday, the UN also sent 35,000 litres of petrol.
“The volumes are limited because the Israeli authorities have allowed only 14 trucks over the past two weeks. This is on average 55,000 litres per day, including the weekends when the crossing is closed,” Haq said.
“As we’ve said before, to sustain life-saving operations, we need hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel every single day.”
Netanyahu tells pope ‘stray ammunition accidentally’ struck Gaza church
In a phone call to Pope Leo XIV, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed Israel’s regret “for the tragic incident in which stray ammunition accidentally” struck the Holy Family Church in Gaza. Three people were killed and 10 were wounded in the attack.
Israel has repeatedly attacked churches and the displaced Palestinians sheltering inside them since it began its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu sent Israel’s condolences to the families of those hurt in the incident, read a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The Israeli leader also gave the pontiff an update on efforts to secure a deal for the captives and a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza – “efforts that have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas,” a statement claimed.
A short while ago, a Hamas spokesperson said that Israel had rejected a deal that would have seen the release of all captives held by Palestinian groups in Gaza.