Main events on August 22nd
- Top UN officials, a number of states and international organisations condemned Israel after a globally accepted UN monitor officially declared famine in Gaza as a result of Israel’s policy of starvation, something that could amount to war crimes.
- The Israeli army killed dozens more Palestinians across Gaza as it keeps pushing civilians, doctors and journalists out of Gaza City in the north, blowing up its neighbourhoods.
- Yemen’s Houthis said they launched a ballistic missile and two drones towards Tel Aviv and Ashkelon, disrupting operations at Ben Gurion airport, with Israel saying one drone was intercepted and missile fragments fell over Tel Aviv after the projectile disintegrated.
- Israeli soldiers initiated raids across the occupied West Bank, including in Jenin and the al-Mughayyir village northeast of Ramallah, while settlers launched more armed attacks on Palestinians.
- Protesters blocked off routes in Tel Aviv and demonstrated in Jerusalem to demand a deal to bring back all captives held in Gaza from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Dutch acting Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned after he was opposed by ministers and lawmakers in trying to push for more sanctions against Israel.
Israeli soldiers raid across occupied West Bank, back violent settler attacks
Local Palestinian outlets, including Wafa news agency, have reported a series of attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers across the occupied West Bank in recent hours:
- Israeli authorities issued a military order to uproot hundreds of trees from the Palestinian lands of the al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah.
- Soldiers stormed the city of el-Bireh, deploying military vehicles to several neighbourhoods and firing live ammunition and tear gas around the municipality building.
- Another incursion took place in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.
- Settlers once again stormed the village of Shallalat al-Auja, north of Jericho, trying to intimidate the Bedouin community there into leaving their lands.
- In Atara, located northwest of Ramallah, settlers gathered near the entrance to the town and set up tents with the aim of growing an illegal outpost.
Israeli captives’ families dismayed at Trump’s comments, demand deal
The families of Israeli captives held in Gaza have released a statement directed at Donald Trump after the US president made unclear comments about the fate of the captives.
At the White House, Trump said in reference to the living captives held by Hamas, “So now they have 20, but the 20 is actually probably not 20 because a couple of them are not around any longer”.
“Mr President, 50 hostages remain in the hands of Hamas in Gaza. For us, each and every one of them is an entire world,” the families said in a statement released in English.
They said if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer knew otherwise, the families should have been the first to be informed.
“Our sacred duty is to prevent the sacrifice of these 50 hostages and to bring them all home immediately,” they wrote. Israeli media reported that a Hebrew version of the statement also included an accusation against Dermer that he “only speaks with the Americans”.
Gal Hirsch, the Israeli government’s point man on the captives, told the families that there was no change in information about the status of the captives. Israel believes 20 are alive, there are “grave concerns” for the lives of two, and 28 are believed to be dead, he said.
Israelis rally outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, August 22
