LIVE UPDATES: 104 Palestinians killed as Israel targets aid sites in Gaza again

Mazzaltov World News provides you with the latest live coverage of Current Affairs, Sports, Health, Weather, Entertainment, Business and Travel News from around the world.

Here’s where things stand on Saturday 19 July 2025:

• Two more Palestinians, including a weeks-old baby, have succumbed to starvation, director of Al-Shifa Hospital tells Al Jazeera, as UN says thousands in Gaza on the “verge of catastrophic hunger”.
• At least 104 Palestinians, including 37 people near food aid sites in Rafah, killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today.
• Syria president announces “immediate ceasefire” in Suwayda province.
• Hamas said Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal that would have seen the release of all remaining captives held in Gaza, and pledged it was prepared for a lengthy war if there is no deal.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

Families demand return of Israeli captives ahead of planned rallies

Tens of thousands of Israelis are once again expected to rally in Tel Aviv tonight to demand a “comprehensive” deal that would end the war in Gaza, framing it as the only way to bring back all 50 captives still held in the besieged enclave.

Organisers are calling for a march to the US Embassy branch office in the city.

Einav Zangauker, whose soldier son Matan Zangauker is held by Hamas, told crowds during an address before the weekly demonstrations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying signing an agreement to maintain his grip on power.

“We see the pressure that Trump is exerting to bring about a comprehensive agreement and end the war,” she said, according to the Times of Israel.

Israeli attacks on Syria ‘a mistake’ as government trying to rebuild

Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Israel’s attacks on the Syrian Defence Ministry headquarters, as well as near the presidential palace in Damascus, this week were “a mistake”.

“Israel ultimately has a chance to work with this government, and in fact, has had back-channel conversations with the Syrian government. This use of force is going to scuttle that for now,” Kupchan told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

Kupchan said part of what has been happening this week relates to a tension between Israel’s short-term and long-term goals in the region.

“Short term, Israel wants to make sure that weapons don’t fall into the hands of groups that are hostile to Israel. Long term, Israel has the same interest the United States does in a Syria that comes together and functions as an effective state.”

He added that the violence that continues to unfold in southern Syria is a “distraction” for the Syrian government of interim President al-Sharaa as it tries to rebuild the country.

“What we need now is an effort by the Israelis, the United States, others in the region, to turn this new government in Damascus into a success story.”

Trump insists US strikes ‘obliterated’ Iranian nuclear sites amid renewed scrutiny

President Trump has doubled down on claims again that US military strikes last month “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, in the wake of media reports citing intelligence assessments that only one of the three sites had been destroyed.

“All three nuclear sites in Iran were completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED,” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“It would take years to bring them back into service and, if Iran wanted to do so, they would be much better off starting anew, in three different locations, prior to those sites being obliterated, should they decide to do so.”

Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – last month, joining Israel’s bombardment of Iran over its nuclear programme.

Trump has insisted that the US strikes were a “spectacular” success. But US media reported that US officials were saying that only Fordow had been destroyed. A report also raised questions about whether the centrifuges used for uranium enrichment at the deepest level of Fordow were destroyed, or moved prior to the attack.

Palestinian infant, only weeks old, dies of malnutrition in Gaza

We’ve heard from the director of al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, who just announced that in the past few minutes, two more cases of [patients with] malnutrition were pronounced dead inside the hospital.

One of them was a 35-day-old newborn baby who died of malnutrition.

Many of the [patients] are picked up from the streets; people are fainting in the streets.

Meanwhile, inside the hospitals, there isn’t much that can be done to help people. Resources are not available. The hospital is under resourced, it doesn’t have enough capacity because it has been dealing with the huge influx of injuries for the past months.

This engineered suffering and structured harm against Palestinians started when the Israeli military imposed a full blockade on the crossings, preventing aid from coming in [and] leaving close to 2 million people without access to food.

Hamas welcomes Hague Group steps to hold Israel accountable

Hamas has welcomed measures taken by the Hague Group coalition of “Global South” countries in the Colombian capital of Bogota earlier this week to pursue accountability for Israeli abuses in Gaza, including by stopping arms transfers.

The group said in a statement that the move represents a clear “expression of the free global conscience, rejecting war crimes and brutal violations” committed in the enclave, where a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding.

“We call on all countries of the world to take urgent action to form the widest international front to isolate the occupation, expose its crimes, and impose further punitive measures on it that will lead to the cessation of its aggression and crimes against innocent civilians, and enduring the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas also asked demonstrators around the world to hold protests and form another “international solidarity movement” on Sunday.

Photos: Children among the wounded as Israeli strikes pound Gaza

Huckabee visits Palestinian Christian town after settler attack

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has visited Taybeh, a Palestinian Christian town near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, following a recent attack by Israeli settlers that damaged an ancient church site.

“What has happened here is an absolute travesty, and it’s my desire to do everything possible to let the people of this peaceful village know that we will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh – or anywhere – be found and be prosecuted,” Huckabee said in a statement that does not contain the word “settler” or “Israel”.

“Not just reprimanded, that’s not enough. People need to pay a price for doing something that destroys that which belongs, not just to other people, but that which belongs to God.”

Huckabee – an evangelical Christian who has previously said there is no such thing as the West Bank – is one of the most pro-Israel members of the Trump administration.

But he mirrored growing criticism of the Israeli government this week, particularly after Israeli settlers killed a 20-year-old American citizen in the West Bank. “There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote on social media about the killing of Sayfollah Musallet.

Separately, Israeli media outlets reported that Huckabee wrote a letter to the Israeli Interior Ministry threatening to impose visa curbs on Israelis seeking to visit the US in response to alleged restrictions on American evangelical Christian groups trying to come to Israel.

Today’s Gaza death toll rises again

At least 104 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Strip since dawn today, hospital sources now tell Al Jazeera.

That includes 37 aid seekers in the blockaded territory, the sources said.

Photos: Dozens arrested at London demonstration in support of banned Palestine Action

US inaction on Syria shows ‘weakness’ in foreign policy

The US is showing “weakness” in its foreign policy when dealing with Israel’s actions in Syria, Harlan Ullman, chairman of Killowen Group and an adviser to leaders of government and businesses, told Al Jazeera.

Ullman said there was a “huge amount of divergence” on Syrian policy between Netanyahu and the Trump administration.

“Trump has lifted sanctions and believes it can live with a new leader. Israel has been given a free hand in Gaza, where it’s committed many excessive uses of force. The question is whether Trump is going to try to make some kind of inroads in the Syrian issue or if he’s just going to rest on his ability to deal with Gaza,” he said.

“There’s no way that Israel is going to be able to control Syria, even though it would like to do that. In a certain province, Israel can relay what Syria does there, but that’s a very small part of Syria,” he added.

Israel bombs Khan Younis displacement tent

A source at Nasser Hospital tells our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that an Israeli drone strike has hit a tent housing displaced Palestinians in the city in southern Gaza.

At least one person was killed and 15 others wounded, according to the source at the hospital.

NGO head calls for ‘real access’ in Gaza, end to militarised schemes

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has rejected recent comments by the EU’s foreign policy chief, who said the bloc has noted “some good signs” regarding aid distribution in Gaza.

Kaja Kallas told reporters this week that those “good signs” included “more trucks going in” to the bombarded enclave.

“But for NRC and many others, no relief has entered for 142 days. Not one truck. Not one delivery,” Egeland wrote on X, noting that 85 percent of aid trucks never reach their destination amid looting or other issues fuelled by the Gaza starvation crisis.

He added that Palestinian families are surviving on a single “poor-quality meal” per day, if that, while the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid scheme has turned assistance into a dangerous and deadly scenario.

“Calling this ‘good signs’ is not just misleading, it undermines the reality aid workers and civilians face every day. Donors and diplomats must demand real access: security guarantees, full-scale entry, and an end to militarised distributions,” Egeland said.

“This isn’t progress. It’s failure, rebranded.”

Five killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza City

Five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent has told Al Jazeera.

The attack took place in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, in the southwestern part of the city.

If you’re just joining us

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• At least 70 people have been killed in Gaza since dawn, including 36 who were seeking aid.
• A witness to the shooting incidents at a GHF distribution site has said the shots were “meant to kill”.
• UNRWA said it has “enough food for the entire population of Gaza” unable to enter Gaza through Egypt due to Israeli blockade.
• The Israeli army said Israeli Druze crossed the border into Syria amid a “violent gathering” near the border fence in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight.
• Syria’s President al-Sharaa announced an “immediate and comprehensive” ceasefire, calling on warring factions to put aside their differences in the name of national unity.
• Syria’s Health Ministry said 260 people have been killed in the fighting in Suwayda.
• London Police have arrested 55 people under anti-terrorism laws at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

Israel says member of Hezbollah’s Radwan force killed in Lebanon

The Israeli military reports that it launched an air strike to kill a “terrorist” from the elite Radwan force of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Khiam.

It claimed in a short statement that the unidentified man was “attempting to rehabilitate the organisation’s terror infrastructure” in the area in a “violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.

As we reported earlier, Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed that one person was killed after a drone strike on Khiam, very near to Lebanon’s border with Israel.

‘No one should have to risk their life to get basic assistance’

Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has again warned that Palestinians in Gaza face “an acute risk of famine” – and the situation is getting worse.

“Basic food supplies are no longer available in markets or distribution points,” Chapagain said in a post on X.

“The cost of remaining essentials, such as flour, has skyrocketed, with 1 kilogram now reaching as much as $20, making it impossible for two million people to meet their minimum daily nutritional needs.”

He also reiterated a call “for full and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance” to Gaza, which remains under an Israeli blockade.

Syrian gov’t faces ‘mammoth’ challenges in Suwayda

Inside Suwayda itself, the fighting is still ongoing.

This is while the forces of the Interior Ministry are deploying their elements in some of the villages that are under the control of the Bedouin tribal forces, and they are trying to reach some of the parts of the city of Suwayda where that fighting is taking place, but it is a very risky job.

It’s going to be a huge task for the state, particularly that, right now, there is still no access to the victims inside Suwayda. There is destroyed infrastructure in terms of water, electricity and homes and deserted neighbourhoods.

There are about 80,000 people who fled, according to the International Organization of Migration. They have to be taken care of. You have people who fled into Deraa and other parts of the desert around Suwayda.

To go and reach all those people with aid and with the facilities they need to survive is a huge task, particularly when the fighting is still ongoing. You have so many victims, you have so many people who have been displaced, and so many people who are wounded – just to reach everyone is a mammoth task at the moment.

London police arrest 55 for supporting banned Palestine Action group

London’s Metropolitan Police say they have arrested 55 people under “anti-terrorism laws” at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action in the British capital.

Protesters had gathered in central London for a third Saturday in a row to protest the pro-Palestinian group’s proscription under “anti-terrorism laws”, making it a crime to support the organisation, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

In a repeat of scenes from the previous weeks, police hauled away protesters carrying placards declaring: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.

Last Saturday, police arrested 41 people at the demonstration for supporting the banned group, and the week before that, they arrested 29.

Witness says shooting at GFH distribution site ‘meant to kill’

Mohammed al-Khalidi was at a GHF aid distribution site in Rafah today when live bullets were fired, killing at least 36 people.

“We reached the area where there are cement blocks at the first entrance, the tanks started moving towards us, we thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Suddenly, we saw the jeeps coming from one side and the tanks from the other, and they started shooting at us,” he continued. “It wasn’t shots that were to scare us or to organise us, it was shots that were targeted to kill us.”

“If they wanted to organise us, they would have, but they meant to kill us,” he added.

The Health Ministry says almost 900 Palestinians have been killed near GHF food sites since May.

Death toll in Gaza rises

At least 90 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn, sources in the territory’s hospitals tell Al Jazeera.

Among the victims were 36 people who were seeking aid, they said.

EU welcomes Israel-Syria ceasefire

The EU has welcomed a US-brokered ceasefire between Syria and Israel, saying it “must now be respected”.

“Now is the time for dialogue and for advancing a truly inclusive transition. Syria’s transitional authorities, together with local authorities, bear the responsibility to protect all Syrians without distinction,” the EU’s diplomatic service said in a statement.

“We are appalled by the hundreds of victims of the last days’ violence, and especially by the violence reportedly perpetrated by several armed groups against unarmed civilians,” it said, before calling for all perpetrators behind “grave violations” of international law to be held accountable.

Bedouin fighter says he plans to fight Druze over Israeli support

As Syria’s President al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire in the sectarian fighting in Suwayda, Bedouin fighters in Damascus were preparing to travel to the Druze-majority city to support Bedouin fighters there.

Taher al-Ahmad, one of the fighters, told Al Jazeera that their quarrel was with the forces loyal to Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, due to Israel’s support for the Druze faction.

“Our plan is not to enter Suwayda to destroy or attack locals. Our issue is with those who support the Druze leader who is aligned with the Israeli occupation,” he said.

“We will show people our mercy before we demonstrate our strength against those who belong to the al-Hijri group, those who receive support from the Israelis and others who want to destroy Syria.”

Earlier in the week, Bedouin tribal leader Abdul Moneim al-Naseef had issued a call to fighters from across Syria to come to Suwayda and “save our people”.

Israeli attacks on Syria reflect ‘short-sighted’, militaristic approach

Israel’s actions in hitting Damascus this week were works of a government that did not consider anything other than military approaches to reach its objectives, says Yossi Mekelberg, senior consulting fellow at Chatham House.

Mekelberg added that Israel may have had legitimate concerns about the Syrian government’s failure to prevent sectarian conflict that has drawn in the Druze community in the country’s south, but the Netanyahu government appeared incapable of pursuing any approach other than its favoured “modus operandi of using excessive force and taking over more territory”.

“Israel, for many years, but especially after October 7, is working on the premise that using force will provide it with security,” he said. “It’s a very short-sighted view.”

He said the “radical” changes that had taken place in post-Assad Syria presented risks but also potential opportunities for Israel, including the possibility of security arrangements or even normalisation with the new Syrian government.

“The current government in Israel is incapable of seeing that,” he said. “It doesn’t look at any diplomatic [efforts] or any political change that can take place beyond using military force.”

Police arrest demonstrators at London protest

Police in London say they have begun making arrests at a demonstration in support of the banned direct action group Palestine Action.

In a repeat of scenes that played out the previous two Saturdays, officers from London’s Metropolitan police detained protesters in Parliament Square who were against the ban put on the group.

As in previous demonstrations calling for the ban on the group to be overturned, protesters held placards reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” PA Media reported.

Palestine Action was proscribed under UK “anti-terrorism” laws earlier this month, making expressing support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

Israeli drone kills one in Gaza City

An Israeli drone has killed one person in Gaza City, sources at the al-Ahli Hospital told Al Jazeera.

The attack took place in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

Hungry children in Gaza pick through rubbish in search of food

Footage shared online, and verified by Al Jazeera, shows children in Gaza sifting through rubbish in search of food, amid soaring levels of hunger due to an Israeli blockade.

One video shows three young boys standing and eating amid a pile of rubbish on the street, picking scraps from the refuse.

Another clip showed a child opening a bag of rubbish on the street, rummaging through it in search of anything to eat.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned that unprecedented numbers of starving people are presenting at hospital emergency wards in the territory, with many at risk of dying of starvation. Health officials say 17,000 children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Gaza death toll rises

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485 since October 7, 2023, the Health Ministry said.

The death toll since a ceasefire broke down on March 18 has risen to 7,938 killed and 28,444 wounded.

The ministry also said 98 people have been killed and 511 injured in Israeli attacks in the past 48 hours.

UNRWA says food for Gaza’s ‘entire population’ waiting at border

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said it has “enough food for the entire population of Gaza” waiting at the border crossing in Egypt.

Israel has imposed a total siege on the Strip since March 2, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies into Gaza.

“Open the gates, lift the siege and allow UNRWA to do its work,” the organisation said on X.

Israel has banned UNRWA from operating in its territory, including in occupied East Jerusalem, and contact with Israeli authorities is forbidden.

Child and infant among 9 killed in Nuseirat

Nine Palestinians have been killed by an Israeli air attack on an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to al-Awda Hospital.

A child and an infant were among the victims.

Israel’s foreign minister accuses Syria’s president after speech

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has accused Syria’s President al-Sharaa of “blaming the victims” after the latter’s speech commented on the recent sectarian clashes in Suwayda, as well as Israeli attacks on the country.

Gideon Saar accused al-Sharaa of spreading “conspiracy theories and accusations” against Israel, in an indication that tensions between the two countries remain high.

Al-Sharaa earlier delivered a televised speech calling on Syrians to shun division and act in a spirit of reconciliation, following the announcement of an “immediate and comprehensive” ceasefire in response to sectarian violence around Druze-majority Suwayda.

Gaza students sit exams for first time since October 2023

Hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza are taking a crucial end-of-secondary-school exam, organised by the besieged enclave’s Ministry of Education, in the hope of entering university.

Earlier this month, the ministry announced Saturday’s exam, which will be the first since Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October 2023.

Some students are sitting the online exam at home, while others are taking it at venues depending on the region they are in, with safety considerations in mind, given the daily Israeli bombardment.

Read our story here.

At least 70 Palestinians killed in Gaza since dawn

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn has risen to 70, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera, including 36 who were seeking aid.

Civilian killed by Israeli drone in southern Lebanon 

A civilian has been killed by an Israeli drone attack while working on repairing the plumbing network on the roof of a house in the eastern outskirts of Khiam, in southern Lebanon, state news agency NNA has reported.

The incident took place in the Matal al-Jabal neighbourhood.

Israeli army says 90 attacks launched on Gaza in one day

The Israeli army said its air force launched 90 strikes over the past day across the besieged Gaza Strip, which is just 365sq km (140sq miles) in size.

It claimed it hit what it called military compounds and underground infrastructure, without providing evidence or details of the locations.

In recent days, Israeli forces have hit tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi after ordering Palestinians to move there, as well as Gaza’s only Catholic church in Gaza City.

Death toll in Gaza rises

At least 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn, hospital sources have told Al Jazeera.

Among the victims are 35 people who were seeking aid.

Four bodies have been recovered from the site of Israeli strikes on Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, sources at the Nasser Medical Complex said.

Meanwhile, a source at Al-Ahli Hospital said three people had been killed and many injured in two Israeli air attacks on the Zeitoun neighbourhood, in the south of Gaza City.

Israel attempting to project hegemony through rhetoric on Syria

Israel’s statement that it would “allow” Syrian security forces to enter the Suwayda governorate for 48 hours shows it is seeking to cast itself as the hegemonic force in the region, analysts say.

“Israel wants this reality to be backed up by a rhetoric that solidifies its hegemony and power to enforce certain strategic objectives and red lines,” Gamal Mansour, who lectures at the University of Toronto, told Al Jazeera.

“As long as Syria remains outside of Iran’s axis, which Syria wants for its own reasons… I don’t think Israel is invested in Syria [as a whole],” he added.

While the US has voiced its displeasure over Israel’s bombing of Damascus, Mansour said the Trump administration did not put its foot down to avoid further attacks.

“The situation in Syria for the US is still contained and under control, and as long as Israel doesn’t hurt the [government of Ahmed al-Sharaa] or shake its foundations, it’s fine,” he said.

Is the international community finally speaking up about Israel?

International public opinion continues to turn against Israel for its war on Gaza, with more governments slowly beginning to reflect those voices and increase their own condemnation of the country.

In the last few weeks, Israeli government ministers have been sanctioned by several Western countries, with the UK, France and Canada issuing a joint statement condemning the “intolerable” level of “human suffering” in Gaza.

Across the world, and in increasing numbers, the public, politicians and, following an Israeli strike on a Catholic church in Gaza, religious leaders are speaking out against Israel’s killings in Gaza.

So, are world powers getting any closer to putting enough pressure on Israel for it to stop? Read more here.

Israeli army disperses gathering of Druze at border with Syria

The Israeli army said that Israeli Druze crossed the border into Syria amid a “violent gathering” near the border fence in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight.

In a statement on Telegram, the Israeli army said its forces, working with a border guard unit, had dispersed a demonstration by dozens of Israeli Druze in the Majdal Shams area of the occupied Golan Heights.

It said a number had crossed into Syria. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that those who crossed the border had returned within two hours.

Amid violent clashes around the Druze-majority Syrian city of Suwayda in recent days, Israeli Druze have gathered in chaotic scenes at the Syrian border. Some have crossed into Syria in an apparent attempt to support their fellow Druze in the sectarian clashes, while Syrian Druze have also crossed into the occupied Golan Heights.

The incidents have led Netanyahu to appeal directly to Israel’s Druze community not to cross the border.

If you’re just joining us

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• At least 50 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli force across Gaza since dawn, including 32 aid seekers killed near a GHF food aid site north of Rafah.
• Syria’s President al-Sharaa announced an “immediate and comprehensive” ceasefire, and that government forces are being deployed to the Druze-majority city of Suwayda to quell sectarian fighting there.
• He has also given a televised speech to the nation, calling on warring factions to put aside their differences in the name of national unity.
• Syria’s Health Ministry said 260 people have been killed in the fighting in Suwayda.
• The Israeli army says there were violent clashes at a demonstration by a group of Druze in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights overnight, with some of the demonstrators crossing into Syrian territory.
• President Trump said 10 Israeli captives will be released from Gaza shortly, but did not provide any details.
• Germany’s Chancellor Merz voiced a rare criticism of Israel for its actions in Gaza, calling them “no longer acceptable”.