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Here’s where things stand on Wednesday 23 July 2025:
- At least 10 Palestinians have died of forced starvation in the past 24 hours in Gaza, bringing the death toll from hunger to 111, including at least 80 children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
- Israeli forces continue bombarding Gaza as 109 aid groups call for action against Israel, warning that “mass starvation is spreading” across the enclave.
- The EU has warned Israel of action over the worsening starvation crisis in Gaza, as the US said Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, will head to Europe for ceasefire talks and an aid “corridor”.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 59,219 people and wounded 143,045. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Every US dollar to Israel ‘tightens the noose around Gaza’s neck’: Advocacy group
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on US lawmakers to take action to end Israel’s deadly bombardment and blockade of Gaza.
“Demand an end to US weapons transfers. Demand an end to Israel’s blockade. Demand that Israel accept an immediate permanent, and comprehensive ceasefire that ends the genocide for good and frees all captives. Demand immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access through border crossings. Demand justice for the dead and the dying,” CAIR wrote on X.
“We are imploring you. Do not wait until there is no one left to starve or kill. Do not wait until history or God Almighty judges us,” the group said.
“The time to stop this horror and save these starving men, women and children is now.”
The US provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually. It has sent billions more since the Gaza war began, as well as shielded Israel from criticism at the UN and other international bodies.
Brazil joining South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at ICJ
Brazil says it’s in the final stages of formally joining South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The decision “is based on the duty of States to comply with their obligations under international law and international humanitarian law, given the plausibility that the rights of Palestinians to protection against acts of genocide are being irreversibly impaired”, the Brazilian foreign ministry said.
South Africa brought the case to the ICJ in late 2023, accusing the Israeli government of carrying out “genocidal acts” in Gaza and urging the UN’s top court to take action to prevent further such actions from taking place.
The ICJ has since issued several provisional orders seeking to get Israel to halt its offensive and to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But the Israeli government has continued the war on the enclave.
In its statement, the Brazilian foreign ministry said “the international community cannot remain inactive in the face of ongoing atrocities”.
“Brazil believes there is no longer room for moral ambiguity or political omission. Impunity undermines international legality and undermines the credibility of the multilateral system,” it said.
‘Unforgivable’ that Gaza crisis continues as world watches: UNRWA official
We’ve been speaking with Sam Rose, acting director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, about the crisis unfolding in the enclave.
“The deprivation, the hunger, the exhaustion, the bombardment, the stress that people are under is on a level that we’ve not seen through more than 20 months of absolutely brutal conflict. And it will be worse tomorrow if the situation doesn’t change,” he told Al Jazeera.
Rose said UNRWA staff members in Gaza – from teachers to nurses, doctors and sanitation workers – are “carrying on because they have no choice”.
“Many of the staff that I spoke to earlier this week have yet again been displaced as a result of the evacuation orders in central Gaza but were then going back to work. And all of them are hungry,” Rose said.
“People are going for days without proper meals. Their children are not eating … We have staff who are fainting, who are collapsing, who are really at their wits’ end. What they are being asked to do is beyond what anyone should have to do,” he said.
“It’s unacceptable and it’s unforgivable that this continues and the world knows about it.”
‘Western leaders continue to think they can support Israel with impunity’
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says that, despite growing global protests against Israel’s assault and blockade on Gaza, the Israeli government appears unfazed – and is continuing with its policies.
That’s because there is a disconnect between public opinion and governments, said Bishara.
He added that, in many countries, pro-Israel groups hold influence among Western politicians and media outlets that would otherwise be able to exert political pressure on Israel.
“Even when there is widespread solidarity with Palestine [and] major support among the publics for Palestine, it doesn’t add up to political pressure because Western leaders continue to think they can support Israel with impunity,” Bishara explained.
“There isn’t enough pressure building up yet against them, for them to be paying a price for supporting genocide and starvation in Gaza.”
Activists protest Gaza ‘censorship’ at Israeli public broadcaster
Israeli activists gathered at the offices of the country’s national broadcaster to protest what they called the “censorship” of the war in Gaza.
Activists chanted and held signs condemning the Israeli media’s disregard of the atrocities in Gaza, asking the broadcasting station, “What is the media hiding?”
The “Standing Together” movement launched a public petition calling for an end to the “concealment” of the situation in Gaza and calling for balanced and transparent coverage of the war.
In the petition, the group said it wanted to directly challenge the dominance of the far-right discourse in Israeli media, calling for news agencies to report on the killing of 100 children in one week and the erasure of entire cities in Gaza.
Gaza death toll rises again today
At least 77 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn, including 25 people killed seeking aid, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.
Ex-British diplomats, UN officials urge Starmer to recognise Palestinian state
More than 50 former British diplomats and UN officials have signed an open letter calling on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state amid “an unprecedented level of threat” to Palestinians in the occupied territory.
The signatories pointed to Israel’s war on Gaza and increased violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, stressing that the “enormity of the situation” requires a strong response from the UK.
“Recognising a Palestinian state would be a foundational first step towards breaking the deadly status quo. A coordinated multilateral approach is the only credible way forward, and will be supported by many countries in Europe, the Middle East, and the wider world,” they wrote.
“By joining the 147 states that have already recognised the State of Palestine and exerting its influence as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the UK will reaffirm the broad international consensus that Palestinian self-determination and statehood are not only non-negotiable but essential elements in practice for any viable and just peace process.”
Israeli forces kill eight people, wound 57 in attack in central Gaza
Eight people have been killed, including aid seekers, and 57 others were injured in an attack by Israeli forces near the Netzarim Corridor, central Gaza, sources at al-Awda Hospital have told Al Jazeera Arabic.
We’ll bring you more details on this as they come in.
Earlier, medical sources reported that Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 61 people since dawn.
At least 61 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn
Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed at least 61 people, including 12 aid seekers, since dawn on Wednesday, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.
Earlier today, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that there have been 10 deaths from starvation in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours amid Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza.
The ministry said this marks the 111th death from hunger in Gaza since October 7.
WFP says hunger crisis in Gaza reaching ‘astonishing levels of desperation’
The World Food Programme (WFP) has urged for increased food aid to Gaza as the hunger crisis plaguing the enclave has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation”.
In a post on X, the WFP wrote that in Gaza, nearly one in three people is not eating for “days”.
“90,000 women & children need urgent malnutrition treatment. Food assistance is the only solution to stop starvation in its tracks. There’s no time to lose,” the organisation added.
This morning, more than 100 aid organisations warned that “mass starvation” was spreading across the Gaza Strip due to an Israeli siege on the number of aid trucks entering the enclave.
Israeli president visits Gaza as army chief signals offensive at ‘pivotal point’
The Israeli prime minister and his defence minister have made multiple visits to Gaza throughout the course of the war but this is the first time Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, has gone inside the Gaza Strip to meet Israeli troops there.
What Herzog was telling soldiers there is that Israel is acting in accordance with international law and distributing aid in accordance with those same international norms.
However, we know that is, of course, false. The way Israel has been operating within the last 21 months within the Gaza Strip has been condemned by many rights organisations, by many countries, given how many civilians have been killed and now given the starvation that Israel has caused among the Palestinian people.
[The visit] comes as the Israeli army chief of staff has said they are now at a pivotal point with how they are going to proceed in this war, saying that Israel is operating on multiple fronts … but saying the primary focus is Gaza.