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Here’s where things stand on Wednesday 30 July 2025:
- Relentless Israeli attacks continue with more than 80 Palestinians, including 71 aid seekers, killed since dawn across the Gaza Strip.
- Gaza hospitals record seven new deaths from “famine and malnutrition” raising the total hunger-related death toll to 154 since October 2023.
- Belgian prosecutors refer a war crimes complaint against two Israeli soldiers to the International Criminal Court following allegations they participated in atrocities in Gaza.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 60,138 people and wounded 146,269 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and more than 200 taken captive.
More than 80 Palestinians killed in Gaza since dawn
Hospital sources tell Al Jazeera at least 83 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the early hours throughout Gaza, despite the army claiming to be following “tactical pauses”.
Of the dead on Wednesday, at least 71 were people desperately searching for food.
Israeli forces have routinely opened fire on aid seekers since the US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation took over food distribution from UN-led agencies in May.
Drone fired from Yemen intercepted, says Israel
The Israeli army says an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launched from Yemen has been intercepted. In a post on Telegram, the army said air raid sirens were sounded.
Yemen’s Houthis say their attacks on Israel are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza who are under Israeli attack.
The group has fired hundreds of missiles at Israel and launched more than 100 attacks on commercial vessels in the vital Red Sea corridor since Israel’s war on Gaza began in 2023.
Egyptian FM, US’s Witkoff to discuss Gaza ceasefire efforts
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and US special envoy Steve Witkoff have discussed intensifying pressure to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza in a phone call as talks stall.
According to US officials speaking anonymously to news agencies, Witkoff will visit Israel on Thursday to “discuss next steps” on Gaza.
Witkoff has said a deal would initially see the release of 10 living Israeli captives and the bodies of others for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has repeatedly said a permanent troop withdrawal and end to the war must be part of any agreement – something Israel has refused to agree to.
UAE begins pipeline project to ease Gaza water shortage
The United Arab Emirates has begun construction on a major pipeline to carry desalinated water from Egypt to southern Gaza, a news report says.
Technical teams sent by the UAE have started transporting equipment needed for the project, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
Earlier this week, COGAT – the Israeli defence ministry body overseeing the occupied Palestinian territory – said construction of the pipeline would begin in the coming days and is expected to take weeks.
The project would link a desalination plant in Egypt to the al-Mawasi area along Gaza’s coast and could supply about 600,000 people daily, COGAT said.
Access to clean drinking water is extremely limited across Gaza, forcing its 2.3 million residents to rely on salty, often undrinkable water.
More than 80 percent of Gaza’s water infrastructure has been damaged during Israel’s war on Gaza.
After Israeli supply cuts, most people rely on polluted wells or sporadic NGO water deliveries, hindered by limited aid access.
“The water crisis in Gaza continues to deteriorate rapidly amid a severe fuel shortage, extensive infrastructure damage, and inaccessible water sources,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Israel to present Hamas with ultimatum – accept deal or Gaza annexation: Report
Israeli news outlet Channel 13 reports the government will present Hamas with an ultimatum: agree to its ceasefire terms or Israel will begin annexing Gaza.
Citing unnamed officials, it said the perimeter that Israel is pushing to be annexed is an area adjacent to the fence and could reach up to a “kilometre into the Strip”.
The threat comes after Israeli media reported Israel submitted a document to truce mediators – including the US, Qatar and Egypt – in response to Hamas’s response to a ceasefire proposal last week.
According to Channel 12, Israel told the mediators it’s prepared to significantly withdraw forces from Gaza during a 60-day ceasefire, but not end the war.
Palestinian statehood ‘not a bargaining chip’: NGO
A humanitarian organisation says the UK government’s proposal to tie recognition of a Palestinian state to negotiations aimed at easing Israel’s assault on Gaza is “unacceptable and dangerous”.
“This approach risks legitimising the ongoing genocide and delaying meaningful action while lives are lost,” Action For Humanity said in a statement.
“Recognition of Palestinian statehood is welcome, but only as an immediate, unconditional act in line with international law, not as a bargaining chip in the midst of mass atrocity.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday his country will recognise the state of Palestine by September unless Israel takes “substantive steps” to end its war on Gaza.
Action For Humanity said a survey in June showed more than half of Britons oppose Israel’s war on Gaza with 45 percent “recognising it as genocide”.
Former British-Israeli captive slams UK announcement of Palestine recognition
Former captive Emily Damari has criticised as “deeply saddening” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement to recognise a Palestinian state by September unless Israel changes the dire situation in Gaza.
Damari, who said she survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, noted the move would not advance peace and risks “rewarding terror”, sharing a similar sentiment to comments by the Israeli government.
“It sends a dangerous message: that violence earns legitimacy. By legitimising a state entity while Hamas still controls Gaza and continues its campaign of terror, you are not promoting a solution, you are prolonging the conflict,” Damari wrote on X.
“Recognition under these conditions emboldens extremists and undermines any hope for genuine peace. Shame on you.”
Gaza death toll rises to 75 since dawn
The death toll in Gaza has once again risen despite Israeli “tactical pauses” in fighting in areas of the enclave to deliver crucial humanitarian aid.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that 75 people were killed in Israeli attacks since dawn, including 63 aid seekers.
Among those, Ambulance and Emergency Services said 37 aid seekers were killed and more than 270 were injured in northern Gaza.
Hezbollah says calls to disarm serve ‘Israeli project’
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has said in a televised address that those demanding the group disarm are “serving the Israeli project”.
Marking the first anniversary of Israel’s killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, Qassem accused “anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage” of supporting Israel.
The Hezbollah leader accused US envoy Tom Barrack of using “intimidation and threats” with the aim of “aiding Israel”.
Qassem’s comments dealt a potential blow to Barrack’s efforts last month to secure a deal between Lebanon and Israel that would involve disarmament of the Lebanese armed group.
Israel says Palestine state recognition ‘encouraging’ Hamas
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz joined a chorus of Israeli condemnation over growing announcements of the recognition of a Palestinian state, calling the move “encouragement” for Hamas to “harden its stance” during ceasefire negotiations.
“We are making tremendous efforts to bring about the release of the hostages while exerting heavy pressure on Hamas in Gaza,” Katz wrote on X.
If Hamas does not announce the release of captives held in the enclave soon it would pay a “very heavy price”, he added.
Katz’s comments come after reports US special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Israel today and meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials.
Ceasefire negotiations remain at a standstill after Israel and Hamas withdrew their negotiating teams from Qatar where talks were taking place.
‘Walking disaster’: Israel’s Lapid condemns far-right minister’s comments
Israel’s main opposition leader has called for the dismissal of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu who earlier said returning captives should not be the primary goal of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“After proposing to drop an atomic bomb on Gaza and wipe it out, Amichay Eliyahu now suggests abandoning the hostages to their deaths,” said Yair Lapid in a post on X.
“This is a walking disaster – for security, for international relations, for the mutual responsibility of the people of Israel. If he is not fired today, then the Israeli government is admitting that it has abandoned the hostages.”
Eliyahu said the focus of the war should be “victory over Hamas”.
About 20 living captives are believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, along with the bodies of 30 others.
Netanyahu welcomes countries joining aid drops to Gaza, blames Hamas for lack of food
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on more nations to airdrop aid into Gaza after claiming Hamas “stole food from its own people”.
In a post on X, the prime minister’s office said it “secured the skies, secured the drops, and made sure the food got through”.
“Any country that truly wants to help is welcome to join us,” it added.
Aid agencies and countries involved in the drops, including France and Belgium, have called on Israel to open land crossings into Gaza to fully flood the enclave with desperately needed food.
According to the UN, to feed Gaza’s population, at least 500 to 600 trucks must enter the enclave daily.
Photos: Desperate scenes as Palestinians in Gaza seek flour, soup
Gaza death toll rises to 52 since dawn
Since dawn, at least 52 people have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Among those killed, 40 were starving Palestinians desperately looking for food.
“In Gaza, women and girls are facing the impossible choice of starving to death at their shelters or venturing out in search of food and water at extreme risk of being killed,” said Sofia Calltorp, director of the UN Women agency.
Thirteen sick children from Gaza to be evacuated for medical treatment: Spain
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles says 13 sick children and their families from Gaza will be flown from Jordan to Spain for medical care.
Robles said an A400 military transport aircraft was being fitted with medical equipment and is scheduled to depart later today for Amman.
“The situation in Gaza is absolutely terrible. The level of cruelty shown by [Benjamin] Netanyahu is absolutely unacceptable, and I believe the international community must respond,” Robles said, referring to Israel’s prime minister.
Since the war started in October 2023, Spain has repeatedly taken in sick children from Gaza. On Monday, the Spanish government said it would airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza to help alleviate the ongoing starvation crisis.
Hardline Israeli ministers ‘make Netanyahu look reasonable’
Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar says what the far-right ministers in the government are saying publicly about annexing Gaza is what “Netanyahu is doing on the ground”.
“What Israel is doing is ethnic cleansing. For the Palestinians who stay alive – after what’s happening with the starvation – they’ll have nowhere to go,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Israel is actually destroying what’s left of Gaza while we are talking. These people make Netanyahu look reasonable.”
Eldar said the Israeli prime minister sided with far-right coalition partners despite the fact that he could have kept a government going with opposition parties.
“There are some people in the government, sitting in the inner cabinet, who believe what happened on this terrible day [October 7, 2023] opened the gate back to Gaza.”