Israeli forces storm occupied West Bank towns

Israeli forces have conducted several raids across the occupied Palestinian territory and made several arrests, Wafa news agency is reporting:

Netanyahu gov’t will fall apart without Gaza operation: Israeli media

Without the military operation in Gaza, Netanyahu has no ability to hold the government together, Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported, citing a military source.

Maariv also quoted its source as saying that Netanyahu does not intend to stop the military operation “until the end”, in parallel with future negotiations outlined by Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Now that Hamas has agreed to all of Netanyahu’s demands, including the return of 10 living captives, the Israeli PM is making new demands, the report said, adding that it is for that reason that the Israeli military “is seriously preparing for the fighting” and possible mobilisation of reservists by September 2.

Israeli protesters accuse far-right minister Ben-Gvir of obstructing captives deal

Israeli protesters confronted far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with his family in the village of Kiryat Malachi in central Israel, and accused him of being responsible for the deaths of captives held in Gaza due to his stance against a ceasefire deal.

During the small demonstration, protesters raised pictures of the captives and accused Ben-Gvir of obstructing deals to return those held in the enclave. In turn, the minister accused the protesters of dodging draft orders to join the army.

הבוקר בכפר מלל פעילים עקבו אחרי בן גביר עד לבית הכנסת בזמן קריאת שמות החטופים הוא לא התאפק ויצא החוצה כדי לקרוא להם משתמטים pic.twitter.com/H32hsQsxhw

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 23, 2025

Famine is officially declared in Gaza

Famine has been declared in Gaza City for the first time by the international body responsible for monitoring world hunger.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has stated that famine is taking place in the “Gaza Governorate”. The area includes Gaza City, which is home to around 500,000 people, surrounding towns and various refugee camps.

Rejecting the findings of the UN-backed reports, Israel refuted existence of a famine in Gaza and claimed it was "Hamas lies". It has also said Gaza will be destroyed if Hamas does not agree to disarm and release all hostages.

In response Jan Egeland, secretary council of the Norwegian Refugee Council, disputed Israel's famine denial and said it had been "lying" about the situation in Gaza. "It's the global authority on famine that is declared this now in Gaza. It is the truth, as it has also been verified by British and other Aid workers and doctors inside Gaza," he said.

Matt Frei is joined by ActionAid Palestine's Riham Jafari, who outlines the situation in Gaza.

"LBC are complicit in this for repeating the false claim that Israel has a right to defend itself against people they illegally occupy in lands they illegally occupy, which they do not."

"People talks about the Israelis hostage's who happens to be all solder by now, but thy are ignoring the thousand of Palestinians hostages in Israeli concentration camps run by the terrorist itamar bengver. @LBC , you need to do better'

Exposing the DISTURBING ISRAELI Lobby inside Australia | Ex-Foreign Minister Bob Carr

In this exclusive interview, former Australian Foreign Minister, the Hon. Bob Carr reveals the deep underlying influence of the Israeli lobby in Australian politics – and how it has long shaped Canberra’s stance on Israel–Palestine.

Once a co-founder of the Labor Friends of Israel with Bob Hawke in 1977, Carr has undergone a dramatic transformation – from being hailed in Tel Aviv as an “honourable gentile” to now becoming one of the loudest critics of Israel’s brutality in Gaza.

UN famine report ‘very late’ as dire hunger spreads across Gaza

Dozens of Palestinians, especially children, are at risk of losing their lives due to the ongoing malnutrition and starvation that are imposed on them.

I have been standing here for months reporting how Palestinian parents are splitting breadcrumbs among the family, and have been talking about how there’s no fortified milk, and how parents and mothers are giving their children water instead of milk.

There have been a lot of stories we have been reporting, and the UN famine report has been very late, according to Palestinians. They have been witnessing weeks and months of this ongoing starvation.

I want to highlight the fact that there are a lot of claims online that there is food coming into Gaza, and there’s cheese and a lot of nutritious food coming in, but we need to know these are commercial trucks that Palestinians are unable to afford.

We’re talking about skyrocketing prices that displaced Palestinians are unable to meet. We’re talking about a whole population relying on distribution points by UN agencies and hot meal kitchens.

Israel ‘manipulating’ humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza for years

The famine in Gaza is unique, and nothing like it has been recorded in at least the past 20 years, according to a member of a high-level panel of experts of the UN food security programme.

Hilal Elver told Al Jazeera that the closest case is Sudan, where partial famine has been declared. However, “the people of Sudan can move from one place to another and escape, but there is no place to escape in Gaza, and the entire population is under serious siege that started in 2007.”

“Humanitarian aid is now manipulated by Israel,” said Istanbul-based Elver, who is also a former UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

She pointed out that the declaration of famine is a technical procedure and famine had gripped Gaza earlier but was not formally declared due to access constraints to collect information.

She also said Israel tried to prevent famine from being officially declared before the latest three-month reporting period of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) by allowing in a limited number of aid trucks, but it failed.

Israel had also been counting calories that it allowed into Gaza long before the start of the current war, infamously calling it the “Gaza diet”, Elver added.

“For instance, they did not allow in chocolate because they didn’t like that children would be happy to get it. That’s an amazingly calculated system that started in 2007.”

Israel kills two children in northern Gaza

A source in Gaza’s emergency and ambulance service tells our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that two children were killed by Israeli forces in the Jabalia an-Nazla area.

Scottish political party urges UK government to sanction Israel

Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Middle East spokesperson has urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to sit silently and to take more action in Gaza.

“Your Labour Government cannot sit silent as a genocide unfolds in Gaza and I look forward to hearing from you,” Brendan O’Hara wrote in a letter quoted by Scottish daily The National.

He listed some actions Starmer should take, such as a complete arms embargo on Israel, immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, formally joining the prevention of genocide case brought forth by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and imposing economic sanctions on Israel.

O’Hara also demanded a naval operation to be launched to deliver aid to the enclave, and for a commitment to enforce international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet.

“Failure to do so is a breach of your legal obligations,” he stressed.

Fatah spokesperson slams Israeli seige on town near Ramallah

As we reported earlier, Israeli forces have continued their siege on the town of al-Mughayyir near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank for the third consecutive day.

The spokesperson for the Fatah party, Maher al-Namoura, said the siege is an attempt at collective punishment to push Israel’s annexation and displacement plans, Wafa reported.

In a statement, al-Namoura said the party, which leads the Palestinian Authority, would not abandon its role in supporting Palestinians on their lands and stressed that al-Mughayyir was being subjected to a siege within Israel’s wider war on Palestinian territory since October 2023.

He paid tribute to the people in al-Mughayyir, whom he said were confronting the war and defending their land.

Al-Namoura also called on the international community and human rights organisations to take a decisive stance against the Israeli government’s expansionist plans in the West Bank.

Israeli forces storm Turmus Aya in the occupied West Bank

Local sources told the Wafa news agency that soldiers stormed the town, drove their vehicles through the streets, and stopped and searched an unspecified number of residents’ vehicles. So far, no arrests have been reported.

At the same time, Israeli forces are continuing to raid and search homes in the town of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, for the third day in a row.

Israeli forces arrest head of al-Mughayyir village council in West Bank

After three days of consecutive raids on the al-Mughayyir village in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah, Israeli forces have arrested Amin Abu Alia, the head of the local council.

Israeli soldiers first arrested his son after they raided his house and informed the family that he needed to surrender himself. Abu Alia then said during a live broadcast on Facebook that he would surrender, and was taken by Israeli forces at the entrance to the village.

Israeli forces have so far raided dozens of homes, seized vehicles parked in front of them, and bulldozed large areas of the eastern plains of the village, which were mostly planted with olive trees, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli army uproots 3,100 Palestinian trees to ‘improve defence’

A village council in the occupied West Bank says Israeli forces have not only been attacking Palestinians and their properties, but also destroying farmland. More than 3,000 trees have been uprooted in a matter of days.

The Israeli army says it was done to “improve defences”. But it fits a broader pattern of increased violence against Palestinians and their property.

Gaza authorities accuse Israel of war crimes in expulsion of Gaza City healthcare workers

Gaza’s Government Media Office has condemned Israel’s plans to expel medical workers from Gaza City and destroy the healthcare system in the area.

As we’ve been reporting for weeks, Israel is in the middle of its plan to forcibly move the population of Gaza City south, and to size it militarily.

The office stressed that the European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis “is not a substitute for the northern hospitals” as it has sustained major damage by previous Israeli attacks and would require rebuilding.

It said in a statement that Gaza City is home to 1.3 million people, including 500,000 children, and therefore any plans to expel healthcare workers from the area would be “a war crime targeting the remaining elements of life”.

“The [Israeli] occupation has destroyed the health system in Gaza and the north, leading to hospitals being unable to operate at full capacity.”

Israel’s army chief spars with far-right ministers ahead of Gaza City cabinet meeting

Israel’s Channel 12 reports that army chief Eyal Zamir and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had a heated argument during a meeting also attended by Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

Smotrich, who is leading the charge on occupying more land in the West Bank, was quoted as saying that the political echelon wants the army to quickly seize Gaza City at any human cost.

“No water, no electricity, they die of hunger or surrender,” he reportedly said, being backed in his criticism of the army chief by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in the meeting.

Israeli media also reported that the security cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss plans to occupy Gaza City, as well as a potential deal with Hamas to bring back some captives held in the enclave.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators hold protest near port in Istanbul


_{A drone view shows pro-Palestinian demonstrators on boats unfurling a banner on the water during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and to protest against Israel, in Istanbul, Turkiye}

Protesters demand end to Gaza war in protests across Europe

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in protests and rallies in cities across Europe after famine was officially declared in Gaza.

Gaza solidarity protests were documented in Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Brussels, and Stockholm. Numerous European civil society organisations are backing the demonstrations, during which slogans call for an end to the starvation and killing of children and civilians in the enclave.

مظاهرة في بروكسل؛ إسنادًا لغزة وتنديدًا بحرب التجويع والإبادة التي يشنها الاحتلال. pic.twitter.com/d5E2Yem53D

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 23, 2025