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Here’s where things stand on Sunday 27 July 2025:
- Israel began “tactical pauses” in fighting for “humanitarian purposes” from 10am to 8pm (07:00-17:00 GMT) in al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City, starting on Sunday.
- Despite the pauses, Israeli forces have killed at least 53 Palestinians in attacks on Gaza since the early hours of Sunday, as six more Palestinians starve to death.
- They have seized the Freedom Flotilla’s Handala ship, detaining its 21 crew members, as they attempted to break the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 59,733 people and wounded 144,477. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Handala vessel brought to Ashdod port: Report
The Freedom Flotilla’s Handala vessel has been brought to the port of Ashdod by Israeli forces, a day after they seized the boat in international waters and detained the crew.
The Israeli legal rights centre Adalah told the AFP news agency that its lawyers were in Ashdod, trying to speak with the detained 21-member crew, which includes two French parliamentarians and two Al Jazeera journalists.
“After 12 hours at sea, following the unlawful interception of the Handala, Israeli authorities confirmed the vessel’s arrival at Ashdod port,” Adalah said.
“Despite repeated demands, Israeli authorities have refused to allow Adalah’s lawyers access to the detained activists to provide legal consultation,” it continued.
“Adalah reiterates that the activists aboard the Handala were part of a peaceful civilian mission to break through Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza. The vessel was intercepted in international waters and their detention constitutes a clear violation of international law.”
Hamas condemns aid airdrops as Israeli propaganda
Hamas says the airdrops of aid that Israel is allowing in Gaza are a “deceptive move” to avoid addressing calls to lift its siege of aid deliveries and “whitewash its image”.
“The occupation’s plan to control aid through airdrops and corridors represents a form of starvation management that puts the lives of civilians at risk.
“Ending the crime of starvation requires stopping the aggression, breaking the siege, and opening land crossings for the flow of aid under UN supervision,” Hamas said in a statement.
The group added that Israel’s control of aid deliveries in Gaza through the US- and Israel-backed GHF has led to the deaths of “more than 1,000 people and the wounding of nearly 6,000 others, in a clear war crime”.
“We stress the importance of continuing international and popular pressure to break the siege and stop the genocide, and we warn against being deceived by the occupation’s propaganda,” Hamas added.
UN teams will do all they can to reach Gaza’s starving people, aid chief says
Reacting to Israel’s announcement of pauses in fighting in some areas of Gaza and secure routes for the entry of humanitarian aid, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher says the UN’s teams on the ground will use the opportunity to reach those in need.
“In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,” Fletcher wrote in a social media post.
Israeli air strikes hit humanitarian safe zones in Gaza
There was an air strike on Gaza City, and this is one of the areas that was designated as a safe area and where the Israeli forces are going to halt their military operations.
According to Palestinians in that area, they said that a bakery where Palestinians were baking food was targeted.
There have also been reports that a number of Palestinians have been killed and others have been injured.
Health Ministry in Gaza says humanitarian pauses are opportunity to save lives
The director general of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, Munir al-Bursh, says the humanitarian pauses in fighting are a time “to save those still alive”.
“Amid a temporary truce suffocated by hesitation and international silence, the wounded are crying out for help, children are starving, and mothers are collapsing over the ruins of what remains of life,” al-Bursh said in a statement on Telegram.
In a series of demands, al-Bursh called for the urgent evacuation of those with serious injuries, including those who need complex surgeries and patients at risk of death if not transferred.
He reiterated the call for the urgent entry of medical and food supplies, including milk for children and infants; high-protein, high-calorie nutritional supplements; antibiotics; glucose solutions; and protein sources like meat, eggs and sugar.
Israel kills 43 in Gaza attacks since dawn on Sunday
That’s despite the pauses in fighting in some areas announced by Israel.
Medical sources said 43 people were killed, including 29 Palestinians who had been waiting for aid.
Six more Palestinians die of starvation
Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded six more deaths over the past 24 hours due to famine and malnutrition, including two children.
This brings the total number of starvation deaths to 133, including 87 children.
Activist confronts Israeli navy before soldiers raid Handala aid ship
Moments before Israeli soldiers raided the Handala aid ship, activist Huwaida Arraf urged them to stand down.
Speaking over the radio, she denounced the Israeli blockade of Gaza as a war crime, accused Israel of deliberately starving civilians and explained that Freedom Flotilla vessels carry only humanitarian supplies.
Why is Israel changing its tune on humanitarian aid in Gaza?
As we reported, the Israeli army has announced a daily 10-hour pause in fighting in three areas in Gaza and the establishment of “safe routes” for aid deliveries.
This comes as Israel faces mounting international pressure over the desperate conditions of Palestinians in Gaza as images of emaciated children make headlines around the world.
Doctors and humanitarian organisations in Gaza have emphasised the growing number of starving people reaching hospitals as extreme hunger affects all aspects of life.
In the past weeks, deaths from starvation have steadily increased with the death toll from malnutrition since the start of the war now at 127.
On Wednesday, more than 100 aid and human rights groups called on governments to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Several countries – including France, Germany and the United Kingdom – have demanded that Israel remove restrictions on aid deliveries into Gaza.
Near-daily reports of killings near or at aid sites run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) continue with authorities in Gaza saying more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food, mostly at GHF centres.
The hunger crisis has developed since Israel imposed a punishing blockade on Gaza for months.
Israel on its way to becoming a pariah state: Israeli MP
Ram Ben-Barak, a member of parliament representing the Yesh Atid party and former deputy director of Israel’s Mossad, has told the Maariv newspaper that his country is “not North Korea and we do not want to become a pariah state in front of the entire world, but we are heading in this direction”.
“We won this war about a year ago, excellently, much better than we expected, and every day that passes, we undermine this achievement,” Ben-Barak said.
“If we do not take real steps, we will soon need visas to enter Europe – and they will not grant them to us either,” he added. “Whoever wants to live this way, let them support this government.”
Aid workers ‘playing catch-up’ to save malnourished children: Medical Aid for Palestinians
Here’s more from Liz Allcock of Medical Aid for Palestinians, who spoke to Al Jazeera earlier from Gaza City.
Reacting to the news that Israel would allow for secure routes for aid deliveries, Allcock said humanitarian organisations would “have to play catch-up” to help Palestinians suffering from starvation.
“The rate at which we may be able to bring in nutritional supplements to treat these young infants is going to be outpaced at this point by the number of children who are going to die as a result of complications directly resulting from malnutrition,” Allcock said.
“If we aren’t able to scale up to the extent which we were able to during the ceasefire earlier this year, then we’re in a real battle against time,” she added.
Gaza death toll rises to 19 since dawn
Across Gaza, Israeli attacks have killed at least 19 people, including eight aid workers, medical sources tell our colleagues.
As we reported earlier, a humanitarian pause in fighting has been announced by the Israeli military from 10am to 8pm (07:00 to 17:00 GMT) in al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City to allow for a scale-up of aid deliveries amid a worsening hunger crisis.
What did Israel announce this morning?
A reminder here of the latest breaking news. The Israeli army announced two major developments:
- It halted military activity from 10am (07:00 GMT) to 8pm (17:00 GMT) in three areas where Israeli troops are not operating on the ground. These are al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City. This will go on every day until further notice.
- The military designated “secure routes” from 6am (03:00 GMT) to 11pm (20:00 GMT) to allow the movement of UN and other humanitarian organisations’ convoys.
According to Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary, on the ground in Deir el-Balah, the news came as a surprise to Palestinians in Gaza. But, Khoudary added, it was not yet clear how the aid trucks were going to be secured.
Freedom Flotilla says Handala crew detained for 8 hours
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says the Handala crew has been “illegally detained by Israel for over 8 hours following their kidnapping in international waters”.
“According to our information, the crew was detained and taken by force to an Israeli port,” the FFC said in a post on social media.
As we reported earlier, the FFC said it lost all communications with the Handala after Israeli forces cut the cameras on board the ship at 11:43pm local time (20:43 GMT) on Saturday.
Pause’ in Israeli attacks in al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah, Gaza City begins
The Israeli-announced pause began a few minutes ago, at 10am local time (07:00 GMT), and will last until 8pm (17:00 GMT).
We’ll have more details on any developments as they happen.
‘Fundamentals’ of Israel’s Gaza policy is the problem, says ex-Sweden PM
Prominent former Swedish politician Carl Bildt, who is currently the co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, says Israel is “adjusting its policies” in Gaza in reaction to world outrage.
However, Bildt said, “it’s not the details in the policies that’s the question – it’s the fundamentals since breaking the agreed ceasefire”, referring to the deal to stop the fighting that Israel unilaterally broke in March.
Bildt was commenting on a social media post by Phil Gordon, former NSA to then-US Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The Israeli government’s decision in March to break the ceasefire, blockade Gaza, and escalate militarily will prove to have been catastrophic,” Gordon wrote. “It made no real difference against Hamas, led to immeasurable additional suffering in Gaza, failed to free any hostages, further divided Israeli society, and took a huge and undoubtedly lasting toll on Israel’s reputation.”
Israeli forces kill child near aid site in southern Gaza
A Palestinian child was killed, and several other people were injured, when Israeli forces opened fire near an aid centre in Khan Younis, a source at Nasser Medical Complex told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
Israeli army says 2 soldiers killed in Gaza
The military identified the two as Amir Saad, 22, and Inon Nuriel Vana, 20.
They were killed in southern Gaza on Saturday, it said.
According to The Times of Israel, they were inside an armoured personnel carrier that was hit by an explosive device while operating in Khan Younis.
At least 898 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the war on Gaza. The figure includes those killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Relief supplies from Jordan move towards Gaza
The Jordanian Public Security Directorate has shared footage of what it said were Jordanian relief convoys moving towards Gaza.
The footage shows trucks loaded with goods moving on one of the roads.
Egypt sends aid trucks to Gaza as Israel announces humanitarian corridors for UN convoys
The Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News reports that trucks have started moving towards Gaza from Egypt.
Footage on social media shows what appears to be a convoy of aid trucks from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.
This comes after the Israeli army announced that “humanitarian corridors” would be established for the safe movement of UN convoys delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza and that “humanitarian pauses” would be implemented in densely populated areas.
Israeli president welcomes military pauses in Gaza
Isaac Herzog made the comments in a statement on X.
“I welcome the major steps announced by the Israeli leadership and military to strengthen and upgrade the humanitarian response in Gaza — particularly the decision to implement humanitarian pauses to protect civilian lives and allow the safe delivery of aid,” he wrote.
The Israeli president also called on the UN to do its part, suggesting inefficiency by the global body and aid diversions by Hamas were to blame for the food shortages in Gaza.
UN agencies have rejected those claims, noting that Israel – which controls all crossings into Gaza – continues to deny most of its requests to bring aid into the besieged enclave.
They also say there is no evidence of large-scale diversion of aid by Hamas.
Photos: Australians in Sydney protest against Israel’s siege of Gaza
