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Here’s where things stand on Sunday 20 July 2025:
- At least 84 people, including 73 aid seekers, killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza. More than 200 people wounded.
- Two more Palestinians, including a 35-day-old infant, have died of malnutrition at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
- Tens of thousands of people marched in Tel Aviv, urging US President Donald Trump to reach a deal to end the war and bring back about 50 captives remaining in Gaza.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,895 people and wounded 140,980. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Qassam, Quds Brigades report joint operation against Israeli forces in Gaza
The armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have reported several attacks on invading Israeli forces in Gaza today, some of which concern operations carried out earlier this month.
The Qassam Brigades and Quds Brigades said their fighters have now reported after returning from combat that, on July 7 in the besieged Shujayea neighbourhood of northern Gaza, they targeted three Israeli Merkava tanks using two roadside bombs and a shell.
The Qassam Brigades said its fighters also sniped an Israeli soldier who was atop a tank in Shujayea.
The Quds Brigades said it launched mortar shells at an Israeli command centre north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. It added that its fighters also hit an armoured vehicle on Saturday in an area southeast of Khan Younis.
More than 100 killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza
Israeli forces have killed at least 104 people in raids across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Among the dead, 78 aid seekers were killed and more than 200 were injured, including at least 67 killed northwest of Gaza and 13 north of Rafah, southern Gaza.
Gaza civil defence spokesperson launches hunger strike to protest ‘catastrophic famine’
Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, has announced he is going on a full hunger strike starting today in protest of the “catastrophic famine” unfolding in the besieged enclave.
In a statement addressed “to the conscience of the world,” Basal said he, like more than 2 million Palestinians, is surviving on scraps of food due to the total absence of basic supplies. He warned that Gaza is not facing a crisis, but a “documented crime” where children are dying of hunger and aid is being deliberately withheld for political reasons.
“Using starvation as a weapon of war is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” he said, calling on world leaders, parliaments, the UN, academics, and influencers to take urgent action. He urged the immediate opening of safe humanitarian corridors, the lifting of Israel’s siege, an international investigation into the use of starvation as a weapon, and a global pressure campaign to end what he called the slow extermination of Gaza’s population.
“My hunger strike is not symbolic. It is an act of peaceful resistance against slow-motion genocide,” Basal said.
Photos: Palestinians gather at a charity kitchen in Nuseirat
US envoy says ceasefire in effect in Syria
US Ambassador to Turkiye and special Syria envoy Tom Barrack says as of 5pm Damascus time (14:00 GMT), all parties in Syria “have navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities”.
“The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion, and lasting de-escalation, is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process,” he wrote on X.
We reported earlier that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is “heavily involved” in the Syria talks.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital warns of imminent shutdown due to fuel shortage
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza has warned it could cease operations within hours as its fuel supplies have been completely exhausted, with no deliveries in recent days.
The hospital said the shutdown would put the lives of hundreds of patients at risk, especially children, premature babies, ICU and kidney patients, and others in critical care units. It would also cut off healthcare access for nearly half a million people in the central governorate.
Israel has imposed a ban on the entry of fuel into Gaza for months, severely crippling hospitals and essential services across the enclave.
Israeli forces issue demolition orders for 7 Palestinian homes in Bethlehem
Seven Palestinian homes have been given demolition notices in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
The Wafa news agency reported that the Umm Rokba area of the town, which has been increasingly targeted by Israeli authorities, is surrounded by several illegal outposts that aim to expand Israel’s Gush Etzion settlement.
Israeli forces also bulldozed large areas of Palestinian-owned land in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron. The affected land is reportedly located at the main entrance to the town.
Palestinians in Gaza facing ‘compounded massacres’
Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said Palestinians in Gaza are facing “compounded massacres caused by starvation and ongoing bombardment”.
The Israeli army is “taking advantage of people’s hunger and need for food, luring them towards the [GHF] death traps, only to kill them”, al-Bursh said, commenting on the rising number of aid seekers killed.
At least 86 people, mostly children, have died due to hunger and malnutrition in Gaza, he told Al Jazeera. Those who are dying as a result of Israel’s crippling siege are “far more” than those who are being killed directly due to bombardment, he said.
Deadly attack on central Gaza raises today’s death toll
A source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reported that a Palestinian woman was killed and others were wounded in an Israeli attack that targeted a house in the south of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s hospitals report that today’s death toll now stands at 87 people killed, including 73 aid seekers.
In West Bank, Palestinians have no control over ‘one drop of water’
Jad Isaac, director of the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), a Palestinian environmental NGO based in Bethlehem, said the Palestinian water authority has no authority over “one drop of water”.
“All the water in the West Bank and Gaza is under the control of the Israeli army, and this has been going on since 1967,” Isaac told Al Jazeera.
“We are not allowed to dig wells or install a water pipe without permission from the Israelis. The quotas allocated to us by the Israeli army is hardly enough to meet the needs of the Palestinians.”
His comments come as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say attacks by Israelis from illegal settlements on water supplies are making it harder to stay in their villages.
Isaac said when the Zionist movement began in 1948, “They clearly started preparing for the division of Palestine based on hydrological grounds and not ideological or historic grounds.”
So far, there have been more than 45 attacks on Palestinian springs, Isaac said.
Hunger, malnutrition led to deaths of 86 people in Gaza
At least 86 people in Gaza, including 76 children and 10 adults, died due to hunger and malnutrition following Israel’s blockade on the enclave, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
On Telegram, the Health Ministry said the level of hunger and malnutrition in the enclave was leading to a “silent massacre”.
“The Ministry of Health holds the [Israeli] occupation and the international community responsible. We demand the immediate opening of crossings to allow food and medicine in,” the ministry said.
In the last 24 hours, 18 people died in Gaza due to famine, it found.
Israeli evacuation orders leave Palestinians risking death in designated ‘safe zones’
We are face to face with another Israeli misleading and largely contradictory enforced evacuation order. People are told, in order to avoid being bombed, to move to the al-Mawasi area that has been designated as a safe zone.
But since day one of the designation of this area, Palestinians have been killed, and maimed, and bombed there. This is not a safe zone, in fact, there is no safe zone in a warzone.
This is very misleading.
The Israeli army ordered the forced evacuation of the central part of Gaza (in Deir el-Balah) that has somehow remained intact. Many residential buildings, facilities, UNRWA schools, hospitals where people can take shelter properly, are still intact but are now at risk of being destroyed.
Since the evacuation order, the Israeli military bombed the area close to eight times, spreading fear among the residents who are still hesitant to leave the area.
They know that walking into al-Mawasi is like walking into a death trap where they are going to be killed within days, weeks, hours. It highlights the vulnerability of displaced people who have been displaced multiple times since the start of the war to the point that they have no other options other than staying in their homes in the central areas.
Time for a recap
- Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 84 people, including 73 waiting for aid, were killed across Gaza in Israeli attacks since dawn.
- Israeli army says another soldier has died by suicide, the fourth to do so in the past two weeks.
- Pope Leo has reiterated a call for the end of the “barbarity of war” during a service on Sunday as he spoke of his hurt after an Israeli attack on Gaza’s only Catholic church on Thursday.
- Seven Palestinian homes have been given demolition notices in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
- An aid ship heading to Gaza aiming to break Israel’s siege has departed the southern Italian port of Gallipoli, in what organisers called a “mission … for the children of Gaza”.
- Iran has replaced air defences damaged by Israeli attacks last month.
Hamas calls situation in Gaza ‘systematic ethnic cleansing’
Hamas says Israel’s actions across Gaza are “systematic ethnic cleansing in which killing, starvation and thirst are used as tools of genocide”.
In a statement, Hamas said the deaths of more than 70 children from malnutrition were a “stain on humanity” and the silence from the international community was an “additional crime”.
“Thousands of tons of aid are stuck behind the Rafah crossing as Gazans die of hunger, thirst, and disease. We hold the occupation and the US administration fully responsible for the massacres at aid points and the systematic killing mechanism in Gaza,” the Palestinian group said.
Hamas called for an urgent investigation into the GHF at whose sites more than 900 people have been killed while seeking life-saving aid.
Starvation is killing my nieces and I can’t do anything to save them
I have a big Palestinian family. I grew up in a household full of children.
We are eight brothers and sisters. As my older siblings got married and had children, our family grew bigger. Every weekend, our family home would fill up with children’s laughter.
I used to wait impatiently for Thursday to come, the day my married sisters would come to visit us with their children. My father would be out shopping, my mother would be busy cooking her daughters’ favourite dishes, and I would be playing with the kids.
I have nine nieces and nephews, and I have beautiful memories playing with and cuddling each one of them. They are the treasure of my family because a home without children is like a tree without leaves.
I do not have children of my own, but I feel the excruciating pain of my sisters when they face the cries of their hungry children.
Read the full opinion piece here.
Aid ship for Gaza departs southern Italy
An aid ship heading to Gaza aiming to break Israel’s siege has departed the southern Italian port of Gallipoli, in what organisers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, called a “mission … for the children of Gaza”.
“In the face of genocide and deliberate starvation, every act of solidarity matters. As long as Israel enjoys impunity, violence will continue,” the organisers said.
On board the vessel, named the Handala, a repurposed 1968 Norwegian fishing trawler, are medical supplies, food and aid equipment for Palestinian children.
The ship is crewed by about 20 international participants, including European lawmakers, human rights activists, and journalists. It is expected to travel for approximately one week across the Mediterranean.
Member of European Parliament Emma Fourreau, who is on board the vessel, said they were “fully aware of the risks”.
“But they are nothing compared to what children in Gaza endure every day. We stand for peace and international law,” Fourreau said in statements before departure.
The latest voyage comes a few weeks after the Madleen vessel, which was intercepted by Israeli naval forces before it reached Gaza.
Another Israeli soldier dies by suicide
The Israeli army says another soldier has died by suicide, the fourth to do so in the past two weeks.
An army statement said Dan Phillipson, a soldier in training originally from Norway, shot himself on Tuesday at a training base in southern Israel. He died of his injuries in hospital.
According to Israeli media, 19 soldiers have died by suicide since the start of the year and 42 since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israeli army destroys three homes near Deir el-Balah
At least three homes were destroyed by Israeli air strikes south of Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the Israeli army announced its latest forced displacement threats in Deir el-Balah, calling on residents from seven blocs in the area in advance of a military operation.
At least 73 aid seekers killed
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza is now reporting that at least 73 people waiting for aid have been killed across Gaza in Israeli attacks.
Since May, more than 900 people seeking food aid have been killed in Gaza.
Pope Leo calls for end of ‘barbarity’ during Gaza war
Pope Leo has reiterated a call for the end of the “barbarity of war” during a service on Sunday as he spoke of his hurt after an Israeli attack on Gaza’s only Catholic church on Thursday.
After his Angelus prayer, Leo read out the names of the three people killed in the attacks and appealed to the international community to “observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians”.
“As well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population,” he added.
Following widespread condemnation, Israel issued several statements, including from the army and Netanyahu, expressing “deep regret” for the attack, in a rare move.
Israeli forces bulldoze Palestinian land in Idhna, west of Hebron
Israeli forces bulldozed large areas of Palestinian-owned land in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.
Wafa reported, citing local sources, that the land was located at the main entrance to the town and belongs to Jihad Tmeizi.
Israeli forces claimed that the bulldozing was done under the pretext of searching for water pipelines linked to the Israeli water company, Mekorot.
However, the bulldozers destroyed grape and lemon trees, damaged barbed wire fences, and levelled additional plots in the same area.
Death toll in Gaza rises
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 130 people have been killed and 495 wounded by Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours.
That brings the death toll since the start of Israel’s war to 58,895, with 140,980 people wounded.
‘Israel now has a plan for ethnic cleansing’
Israeli political analyst Gideon Levy has accused the government of planning ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
“Someone conceived it, there were discussions of pros and cons, alternatives were suggested, options of total cleansing vs. stages, and all done in air-conditioned conference rooms with minutes taken and decisions made,” Levy wrote in an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“For the first time since the war of revenge in Gaza began, it’s clear that Israel has a plan – and it’s a far-reaching one.
“This is no longer a rolling war. One can no longer accuse Benjamin Netanyahu of waging a war with no purpose. There is a purpose to this war, and it’s a criminal one. One can no longer tell army commanders that their troops are dying for no reason: They are dying in a war of ethnic cleansing.”
The article refers to the Israeli army’s plan to forcibly transfer Gaza’s entire population to a concentration zone in the south.
Photos: Palestinians gather to receive aid in Beit Lahiya
Will Israel ever get blowback for bombing its neighbours?
In the last two years, as well as its war on Gaza and increasingly violent occupation of the West Bank, Israel has launched attacks on Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
The most recent attacks on Syria were launched this week, going so far as to hit the country’s Ministry of Defence.
Of course, the Israelis point to their justifications for the attacks on Syria – principally, in Israel’s telling, to defend the Syrian Druze minority. In Lebanon, Israel claimed it wanted to stop the threat posed by Hezbollah.
The attacks on Iran, it said, were to end that country’s attempt to build a nuclear bomb. And in Yemen, Israel’s bombing was a response to attacks from the country’s Houthi rebels.
Explanations aside, the question becomes whether the Israelis can continue to act in a manner that has many around the world, and particularly in the Middle East, seeing them as the aggressor.
Read the full story here.
Iran says air defences damaged by Israeli attacks replaced
Iran has replaced air defences damaged by Israeli attacks last month, Defah Press news agency reported, quoting Mahmoud Mousavi, the regular army’s deputy for operations.
“Some of our air defences were damaged, this is not something we can hide, but our colleagues have used domestic resources and replaced them with prearranged systems that were stored in suitable locations in order to keep the airspace secure,” Mousavi said.
Israel killing aid seekers
As we’ve been reporting, Israeli attacks on aid seekers have continued across Gaza.
One of those attacks took place at Zikim crossing in northern Gaza. Moath al-Kahlout, our colleague on the ground, reported seeing at least 30 people – killed or wounded – from that attack brought to al-Shifa Hospital.
“Out of all those who went to the Zikim area seeking aid, only one person returned with a bag of flour. Approximately 30 others were brought back on animal-drawn carts, either dead or severely wounded.
“The scene is devastating.”
Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 54, including 51 aid seekers
Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed 54 people, including 51 aid seekers, since dawn, medical sources told our colleagues on the ground.
Nine people were killed and 55 wounded by Israeli fire near an aid centre in northern Gaza.
Five Palestinians were killed near an aid centre north of Rafah, southern Gaza.
Three WHO trucks to enter Gaza with medical supplies: Health Ministry
Gaza’s Health Ministry says three World Health Organization (WHO) trucks carrying medical supplies are scheduled to enter the enclave today.
The ministry said in a statement that the trucks, which contain no food, are of “great importance and [an] urgent” support to the enclave’s medical facilities in continuing to provide life-saving care during the war.
“The Ministry of Health urges the honourable citizens, all dignitaries, families, and concerned parties to make every effort to protect the convoy by not approaching the trucks, and to enable their safe arrival at the hospitals to save the lives of patients and the wounded,” the statement added.
In case you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed with the latest developments:
- Israeli attacks have killed at least 25 people, including 19 aid seekers, across Gaza since dawn.
- Razan Abu Zaher, a four-year-old Palestinian, has died of complications from malnutrition and hunger in Gaza.
- The Israeli army has dropped leaflets over a residential area in Deir el-Balah warning residents to leave the area.
- Families of Israeli captives have expressed concern and anxiety over the Israeli army’s expansion of its ground operation in Deir el-Balah.
- In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli settler attacks on water supplies are making it harder to stay in their villages.