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 Sunday 20 July 2025:
- The Israeli military killed at least 116 Palestinians across Gaza, including dozens of aid seekers, as its ground forces continued to destroy infrastructure and blow up buildings.
- The spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Syria said tribal fighters were pushed out of Suwayda, and armed clashes within the southern city have come to a halt.
- The Israeli army killed two more people in separate drone attacks on southern Lebanon, and said they were Hezbollah “terrorists” trying to revitalise the group’s infrastructure.
- Tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv and directly appealed to US President Donald Trump to reach a deal to end the war and bring back all 50 living and dead captives from Gaza.
- Israeli soldiers arrested more Palestinians during raids across the occupied West Bank, and settlers launched more violent attacks, including in Ramallah’s al-Mughayyir.
- Right-wing Israelis attacked the car carrying a member of the Knesset, Ayman Odeh, and chanted “Death to Arabs”, prompting strong criticism from opposition leaders.
Who is Handala, the inspiration behind latest Gaza flotilla ship?
Handala is the name of the new Freedom Flotilla vessel carrying activists and humanitarian aid to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Protesters at US embassy in Tel Aviv appeal directly to Trump for deal
The huge crowds in Israel who are calling for a comprehensive deal that would end the war and bring back all 50 living and dead captives held in Gaza have used Donald Trump’s language to appeal to him.
“We know the outlines of a deal exist. What’s missing is the final push – the kind of resolve only President Trump can bring. We ask President Trump: lean in. Use your power. Show the world that freedom matters,” said Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, whose remains are held in Gaza.
Protesters displayed banners urging Trump to strike another “big, beautiful deal”. Nadav Rudaeff, whose father Lior Rudaeff’s remains are held in Gaza, directly thanked Trump and said his efforts are not taken for granted.
“Please do everything you can to pressure all the parties to reach an agreement,” he said.
Demonstrators chant for Palestinians, Gaza in Jordan’s Amman
Videos circulating online that have been verified by Al Jazeera show a large march in the al-Tafaylah district of the Jordanian capital, Amman, in support of Gaza.
Hundreds of participants roamed the streets, chanting slogans in solidarity with Gaza and condemning Israeli starvation policies and the continuing aggression against the enclave.
‘How many more forcibly-starved men, women and children have to be murdered?’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the international community for failing to act as starvation grips Gaza.
“The international community, with the complicity of our own government, has not only tolerated but effectively normalized the daily massacre of Palestinian civilians by the far-right government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu,” CAIR said in a statement.
“These are not accidents. These are not isolated incidents. These are the predictable consequences of a system of brutality and impunity backed by billions in US taxpayer-supplied weapons and aid,” the group said.
“We demand immediate action to end all US support for Israel’s genocidal assault. Silence is complicity with genocide, and normalization of slaughter is a betrayal of humanity.”
The US provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually. Since the Israeli war on Gaza began, it has also provided billions more in assistance and blocked UN Security Council resolutions seeking to pressure Israel to end its assault.
Palestinians rally in West Bank cities to back Gaza, intercepted by police
Footage circulating online verified by Al Jazeera shows Palestinians demonstrated in several cities in the occupied West Bank in support of Gaza.
Groups of people were documented protesting in the streets of Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah, while local platforms reported that security forces with the Palestinian Authorities prevented and dispersed several demonstrations, and arrested multiple participants.
More settler attacks reported in occupied West Bank
The Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that dozens of people in al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, suffered from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces stormed the village following a settler attack.
Residents had confronted the settlers, who attempted to enter the village, Wafa said.
Separately, in the village of Nilin, also near Ramallah, a Palestinian man was injured after settlers attacked a home that was under construction.
The settlers fired live ammunition at residents who attempted to stop their attack, but no additional injuries were reported, Wafa said.
Palestinians have faced a surge in Israeli military and settler violence across the occupied West Bank amid the war on Gaza.
‘Starvation is killing my nieces and I cannot do anything to save them’
My heart is tearing apart when I talk with my sisters and hear about their pain and the hunger that is ravaging their children.
Malnutrition is not just a severe loss of weight. It is a devastating condition that damages the body’s vital internal organs, such as the liver, kidneys, and stomach.
It affects the growth and development of children and results in higher predisposition to disease, learning difficulties, cognitive impairment and psychological issues.
By starving Palestinian children, depriving them of education and health care, the occupier aims to achieve one goal: creating a fragile generation, weak in mind and constitution, unable to think, and with no horizon other than searching for food, drink, and shelter.
This means a generation that is unable to defend the right to its land and stand up to the occupier. A generation that does not understand the existential struggle of its people.
Read more of this column here.
Tribal fighters pushed out of Suwayda: Syrian Interior Ministry
Noureddine al-Baba, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Syria, also says clashes in the southern city have come to a halt.
The announcement, shared by Syria’s official SANA news agency, comes after the government deployed forces in the Suwayda governorate to try to quell days of sectarian violence.
We’ll bring you more on the situation when we can.
More details on Israel’s killing of Palestinian child near Jenin
Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) has released more information on the Israeli military’s killing of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy yesterday near Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
DCIP said Israeli forces opened fire on Amr Ali Qabha after he unknowingly approached the army, which had taken up positions in the village of Yabad.
Qabha was hit by seven bullets – three in the back, one in the neck, one in the abdomen, one in the upper thigh and one in the groin – from a distance of 10m (33 feet), the rights group said.
Israeli soldiers then beat and detained the boy’s father, who had managed to reach his son, and prevented ambulances from reaching Qabha to provide medical treatment.
“Systemic impunity creates an ultra permissive context where Israeli forces know no bounds and routinely shoot to kill Palestinian children in circumstances where there is no imminent threat to life,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, DCIP’s accountability programme director, said in a statement.
“Unlawful killings of Palestinian children have become the norm as Israeli forces become increasingly empowered to use intentional lethal force in situations that are not justified. In short, these are war crimes with no consequence.”
Israel says another Hezbollah member assassinated in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military has released aerial footage of a second strike targeting a man travelling on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon.
It said the target was a Hezbollah “terrorist” who was responsible for the Yohmor area in Nabatieh, and alleged he was involved in efforts to revitalise the armed Lebanese group’s infrastructure in the area.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed people at the site of the attack and an ambulance present, while the Ministry of Health confirmed the death of one person as a result of the air raid.
Jordan hosts trilateral meeting on situation in Syria
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has hosted his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shibani and US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barak in Amman today.
“They discussed the situation in Syria and efforts to consolidate the ceasefire reached around Suwayda Governorate to prevent bloodshed and preserve the safety of civilians,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a readout of the talks.
The three officials agreed on “practical steps” to support the ceasefire that was announced in southern Suwayda, including the release of detainees held by all parties, Syrian security force deployments and community reconciliation efforts.
Safadi, the Jordanian foreign minister, also welcomed the Syrian government’s “commitment to holding accountable all those responsible for violations against Syrian citizens” in the Suwayda area, the ministry said.
Israel’s opposition leaders slam attack on Arab member of Knesset
Leading opposition figures Yair Lapid and Yair Golan have strongly condemned the attack on lawmaker Ayman Odeh that we reported on earlier.
“I condemn the violence against Knesset member Odeh and call on the police to find those responsible and bring them to justice. There is no place for political violence in a democratic state,” Lapid wrote in a post on X.
Golan wrote that the attack is a direct result of “prolonged political incitement” and attempts to vote in the Knesset to earlier this week to expel Odeh because he has spoken about the mass killings in Gaza.
“This is an attack on the entire Arab minority in Israel,” he said, adding that the opposition will continue to try to oust the government and “will not surrender to the hatred and racism coming directly” from Prime Minister Benjamin and his far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
