LIVE UPDATES: Israel kills starving Palestinians as US envoy set to visit aid sites

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Here’s where things stand on Friday 1 August 2025:

• At least two people were killed and more than 70 injured while waiting for food supplies near the Morag Corridor south of Khan Younis on Friday morning, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
• US envoy Steve Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, are set to visit aid distribution sites in Gaza as deaths from starvation continue to mount in the Palestinian territory.
• Medics in Gaza report that two more babies and a young man have died of hunger under Israeli-imposed restrictions on humanitarian aid. Hunger-related deaths in Gaza now stand at 154, including 89 children.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 60,249 people and wounded 147,089 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, and more than 200 were taken captive.

Israeli attacks across Gaza kill 10 Palestinians since dawn

We have been reporting on the Israeli military’s attacks across Gaza over recent hours, including an assault on aid seekers near the Morag Corridor south of Khan Younis which killed at least two people and injured more than 70.

Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues, citing sources at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, now report that Israeli attacks have killed at least 10 people since dawn, including two aid seekers.

US envoy Witkoff to visit ‘notorious’ GHF aid site in Gaza

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Israel to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

There are several things on the agenda, especially growing outrage around the world and in the United States over Israel’s policy of genocide by starvation in Gaza.

Domestically, Netanyahu is also facing pressure from the families of Israeli captives. They don’t want a temporary ceasefire. They want a deal that would end the war and secure the return of all the captives – those who are alive and those who are not.

There is news that Steve Witkoff will visit one of the sites of the notorious US and Israeli-backed GHF in Gaza.

There is growing concern, even in the US Senate, that US nationals may be found liable for the deaths of more than 1,000 Palestinians, who have died while trying to get aid at one of those sites.

There is a lot of pressure and insistence in Israel that those sites must continue to operate even if Israel allows more aid into Gaza.

This organisation was set up to bypass the United Nations, and Israel is not ready to let it go, despite the resistance from the international community to engage with it in any way, because it is accused of violating humanitarian principles.

Israeli settlers torch vehicle, attack homes in West Bank attack

Israeli settlers have torched a vehicle belonging to foreign activists in the occupied West Bank village of Susiya, south of Hebron, the Wafa news agency reports.

The settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in the village – located in the Masafer Yatta area – including one that housed a group of foreign activists, Wafa said.

Trump calls Netanyahu ‘competent’, hopes Israel will make sure ‘people get fed’

President Trump described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a competent person”, as he said he hoped Israel would manage to feed starving Palestinians and prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

“We want to make sure people get fed,” Trump told US news outlet NBC, adding that “good management” will prevent the theft of aid.

“Hopefully, the Israelis will provide that,” he said.

Israeli military carries out deadly overnight attacks across Gaza

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli military killed at least two and injured more than 70 Palestinians waiting for aid in the early hours of Friday morning near the Morag Corridor south of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Israeli forces have carried out more deadly attacks over recent hours, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report, including:

• Four people were killed and others injured when Israeli drones opened fire on tents housing displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.
• In Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, four people were killed and 10 wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle.
• Several displaced Palestinians were injured in an Israeli military bombardment of the Jawazat area, west of Gaza City, in northern Gaza.

We will bring you updates when we have them.

Warning shots, desperation and chaos as UN delivers aid in Gaza

UN aid convoys are delayed for hours at checkpoints, then swarmed by desperate crowds of famished people as soon as they pass, amid the Israeli-imposed starvation crisis in Gaza.

Footage taken by a UN worker shows Israeli forces firing warning shots inches away from civilians, including children, who are waiting for food.

A recap of recent developments

Here’s what you need to know:

• The Israeli military killed at least 51 people in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including at least 23 people while seeking aid.
• Israel’s assault continued into the early hours of Friday morning, with at least two people killed and more than 70 injured while waiting for aid supplies near the Morag Corridor south of Khan Younis, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
• Gaza’s starvation crisis shows no signs of abating, with at least two more babies and one young man dying of hunger under Israeli-imposed starvation, medics said. The hunger-related death toll since the start of the war on Gaza now stands at 154, including 89 children.
• US envoy Steve Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are set to visit food distribution sites in Gaza on Friday, the White House said.
• Slovenia became the first European Union country to ban imports and exports of arms to Israel, and promised it will take more measures over the crisis in Gaza.

Welcome to our coverage

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Stay with us for the latest news, reactions and analyses.

You can find all our updates from Thursday, July 31, here.