EU humanitarian chief urges bloc to take decisive action on Gaza crisis

Hadja Lahbib has urged the European Union to take tougher action over the war in Gaza as divisions among member states stall moves to punish Israel.

“We are at a turning point and now it’s time for the EU to act in a way that matches its international stature,” Lahbib, European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, told journalists. “Now, it’s time for the EU to find a collective voice on Gaza.”

Splits within the 27-nation bloc between countries backing Israel and those favouring the Palestinians have seen the EU often left hamstrung in the face of the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We cannot stand by and simply watch innocent civilians, aid workers, journalists being killed and starving to death,” Lahbib said. “Saving lives takes the political courage to find a strong voice that reflects our values and principles.”

Frankfurt bans protest demanding end to war in Gaza

United4Gaza, the group behind the protest planned for Saturday in the German city, says it will go to court to overturn the ban and fight “until the last breath for our fundamental right to freedom of assembly”.

Authorities in Frankfurt banned the march as a “potentially anti-Semitic gathering”. The city’s mayor, Mike Josef, from the left-wing Social Democratic Party supported the ban.

Pro-Palestinian campaigners in Germany accuse the country’s authorities of taking a hard line against criticism of Israel and limiting pro-Palestinian speech.

Former UK Labour Party leader says ‘slight’ shift in opinion over Gaza war in Parliament

Former British Labour Party leader and current independent MP Jeremy Corbyn says there has been a “slight but slow-moving shift in opinion” in parliament since October 2023 due to the number of people who have come out in solidarity with Gaza.

“By my calculations, well over a million people have taken part in some form of protest in this country in support of Palestine. That has never happened before, even with the massive demonstrations around Iraq,” Corbyn told Al Jazeera.

“So I think my parliamentary colleagues are slowly waking up to that. Five of us were elected as independents against Labour. Why? Because we were absolutely clear that our duty in Parliament would be to speak up for the Palestinian people for a ceasefire,” he said.

Corbyn also expressed his sympathies and gratitude for the work of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, 10 of whom have been killed by Israel since the war started.

British journalist says attacks on Gaza’s reporters are the ‘death of journalism’

Former British LBC radio host Sangita Myska says the killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza are not just the story of individuals but the “death of journalism”.

“If Israel is not held to account for breaching the protections afforded to journalists in Gaza under international law, the international community is giving the green light to every country around the world that we can be killed with impunity simply for doing our jobs,” Myska said at a vigil in London hosted by the freelancer branch of the National Union of Journalists.

On Monday, an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 21 people, including five journalists, in what international organisations have called an attack on the news media.

Since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, more than 270 journalists have been killed.

Israel’s UN envoy says his country needs more time to probe Nasser Hospital attacks

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says that there will be more information in the “next few days” on a strike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza on Monday, which killed at least 21 people, including five journalists.

“We’re still looking into the details of that incident, and so that, in the next few days, we will have more information about that,” Danon told reporters.

“Our goal is to fight terrorists, not journalists, not anyone who is not involved in terrorism,” he claimed.

Various international organisations have condemned Israel for indiscriminate attacks on Gaza that kill civilians, including women and children, daily.

More time for the attention to either go away or make up more lies.

 

Israel demands retraction of UN-backed report declaring famine in Gaza

Israel has called on the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) to retract a report that officially declared that famine was present in parts of Gaza.

“Israel demands that the IPC will retract immediately its fabricated report and publish a notice,” the director general of Israel’s foreign ministry, Eden Bar Tal, told a news conference.

Tal added that Israel would share “evidence” of misconduct in preparing the report with the IPC’s donors if the organisation fails to retract “within a short time”, but did not provide any evidence to back up his statement during the news conference.

He went on to call the initiative a “politicised” institute that is “working for an evil terror organisation”.

The comments are the latest from Israel, accusing or insinuating that criticism of its conduct in Gaza from other countries or international bodies aids Hamas or is anti-Semitic.

Gaza aid deliveries declined over past two weeks: UNRWA

UNRWA media adviser Adnan Abu Hasna has told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that the amount of aid entering Gaza has declined and no medical equipment was delivered over the past two weeks.

Here are the rest of his translated comments:

UN Security Council meeting begins discussing Gaza war

The UNSC is meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory and deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is scheduled to speak first.

Gaza ‘sinking deeper in disaster’, occupied West Bank faces ‘unprecedented crisis’: UN official

Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory and deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has told the UNSC meeting that on his recent visit to Gaza, he “was stunned at the scale of the destruction and suffering”.

“I met humanitarian workers risking their lives to deliver aid while themselves living in intolerable conditions. I saw the immense personal toll on the population, including the UN’s own staff, but was also inspired by our staff’s unshakable commitment to do their work as they speak today,” he said via video-link from Jerusalem.

He said that over 22 months of war, “Gaza is sinking deeper in disaster, marked by rapidly mounting civilian casualties, mass displacement”, and that the captives held by armed groups “continue to languish in appalling conditions”.

Alakbarov also addressed Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, where he said there is an “unprecedented crisis, relentless expansion of settlements, demolitions, [and] intensifying violence”.

‘The Gaza famine is here, an engineered famine, a predicted famine, a man-made famine’: Save the Children

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, has also told the UN Security Council that the NGO’s clinics in Gaza “are overwhelmed by need, every bench packed with malnourished children and their mothers, yet our clinics are almost silent now. Children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony.”

“They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away – their tiny bodies overcome by hunger and disease, the medical and specialised nutrition supplies they need all but used up,” she said.

“A few kilometres away stand ready a sea of supplies, thousands upon thousands of truckloads of lifesaving items, all blocked,” she said.

“These past few weeks, more and more children have shared that they wish to be dead. One child wrote, ‘I wish I were in heaven, where my mother is. In heaven, there is love. There is food and water.'”


_{A two-year-old Palestinian is held by her mother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza}

I remember these kind of pictures from my youth, 1985 famine in Etheopia.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/08/13/g-s1-82265/in-1985-famine-led-to-live-aid-and-a-u-s-alert-plan-trump-froze-it-now-its-back

In the summer of 1985, images of emaciated children in Ethiopia shocked the world and prompted one of the biggest charity concerts ever: Live Aid. Megastars like Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Madonna and Queen took to the stage in London and Philadelphia. Tina Turner and Mick Jagger wowed an audience that numbered over a billion people watching in person and on broadcast. Altogether, the event raised well over $100 million for famine relief in Africa.

Celebrities weren't the only ones responding to the famine — the U.S. government did as well.

Famine in Gaza due to ‘restricted and compromised’ aid deliveries, UN official says

Joyce Msuya, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, told the Security Council that “over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death” in Gaza.

“By the end of September, that number could exceed 640,000. … Virtually no one in Gaza is untouched by hunger,” Msuya said.

She explained that the famine was the result of more than 22 months of “restricted and compromised” deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian aid, a weakened healthcare system, poor sanitation and hygiene, and a lack of adequate shelter.

Despite an uptick in trucks entering the enclave, Msuya said, much more was needed to feed Gaza’s people and all restrictions must be lifted.

Msuya called on the council to “immediately ensure” an end to the fighting in Gaza to stop the famine from spreading, release all captives, and protect civilians and critical infrastructure.

Security Council members – except US – say Israel must reverse course in Gaza

A joint statement from 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council has called for Israel to stop further expansion of its military operation in Gaza.

The statement, which was not signed on to by the US, also:

Israeli forces close two gate to Hizma town, northeast of Jerusalem

Israeli forces closed the two gates at the entrances to the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank.

Wafa reported the closure of the two gates and said forces were obstructing vehicle movement, causing traffic jams on the Hizma-Anata road.

Soldiers also stormed the town, raided its streets, and fired sound bombs.

Photos: Israeli forces raid Nablus in the occupied West Bank

Israeli FM says no plans for a Palestinian state

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has reiterated that the Israeli government’s position that there will be no Palestinian state after reporters asked if there was a plan for statehood.

Saar made the comment to reporters after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington that he described as “very good”.

Main events on August 27th

• Israel’s attacks across Gaza have continued, killing 51 Palestinians since dawn on Wednesday, including 12 waiting for aid.
• Ten more Palestinians have starved to death, including two children, days after famine was declared in Gaza.
• A joint statement from 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council has called for Israel to stop further expansion of its military operation in Gaza and backed the IPC global hunger monitoring system that confirmed a famine in Gaza.
• The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee says residents of Gaza City, which the Israeli military plans to seize, will inevitably be forced out.
• Israeli forces are continuing a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, which has injured at least 80 Palestinians.
• Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Trump Middle East envoy Jared Kushner have attended a meeting with US President Donald Trump over the war in Gaza, according to a senior White House official.
• Israeli forces conducted a two-hour operation in a former army base in Kiswa, south of Syria’s capital Damascus, a day after an Israeli attack in the same area killed at least six soldiers.

Israeli forces conduct two hour operation on the ground in former Syrian army barracks

As we reported earlier, Israeli forces conducted a series of strikes on a former army barracks in Kiswa, southwest of Damascus, according to Syria’s state-run al-Ekhbariya TV.

A Syrian military source has now told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army carried out a landing operation, with the use of four helicopters, in the army barracks in Kiswa and spent more than two hours there.

According to the source, the Israeli army brought in dozens of soldiers and an unspecified amount of search equipment. No clashes took place between the Israeli forces involved in the landing and the Syrian army forces.

Starvation strategy: How Israel created famine in Gaza

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/27/starvation-strategy-how-israel-created-famine-in-gaza

US casts doubt on Gaza famine, journalists’ death, Pakistan highlights complicity

The UN Security Council on Wednesday held an emergency session to discuss the deteriorating situation in Gaza. This was days after the UN Aid Chief Tom Fletcher confirmed that Gaza was facing famine. The US representative questioned the authenticity of the IPC report on Gaza famine and almost justified the IDF strikes on Nasser Hospital. Speaking after the US representative was the Pakistani diplomat who delivered a powerful speech highlighting the US complicity in Gaza without naming the Trump administration.

FULL REMARKS: Palestinian Envoy’s Blistering Speech at UN Exposes Israeli War Crimes

Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN, Riyad H. Mansour, delivered a blistering speech at the Security Council, exposing Israeli war crimes in Gaza and urging the international community to act. In his powerful remarks, he condemned Israel’s actions, highlighted the humanitarian catastrophe, and called for accountability. Watch his full speech from the UN chamber. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.

Starmer's spy flights for Israel linked to this Gaza massacre

A US military contractor hired by Britain to conduct surveillance over Gaza operated above Nuseirat refugee camp the night before an Israeli bombing killed over 30 Palestinians in December 2024. Read more: https://www.declassifieduk.org/us-fle...

On the evening of 12 December 2024, Israel bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza without warning. A post office sheltering displaced families was hit; nearby houses were shredded. More than 30 Palestinians were killed and over 50 wounded. Entire families died, their names posted online within minutes.

Declassified can now reveal that a spy plane owned by a US contractor to whom the RAF is outsourcing its spy flights circled over Nuseirat refugee camp the night before the bombing. Publicly available flight-tracking data show that in the hours before the blast, and again afterwards, two surveillance aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s military base on Cyprus, circled close to or over Gaza.

One of these was a RAF Shadow R1 (registration ZZ419) surveillance plane that flew towards Gaza in mid-afternoon before vanishing from public tracking near the territory. But the other belonged to Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing LLC, a subsidiary of America’s Sierra Nevada Corporation. This was a Beechcraft Super King Air 350 with the registration N60125 and call sign CROOK11.

The presence of this US aircraft alongside RAF spy planes raises uncomfortable questions about whether British intelligence, directly or indirectly, assisted Israel’s targeting of the camp. Further, the presence of the US contractor over Gaza as early as December 2024 appears to contradict the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) claim that the company was only hired to take over the missions in recent weeks due to strain on RAF’s Shadow R1 fleet.

The MoD insists the flights are “unarmed” and “solely related to hostage rescue”, and denies aiding Israel’s prosecution of the war. But there is no known mechanism to ensure that data shared with the Israeli authorities is not repurposed for attacks in serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Israel has demolished over 1,500 homes in Zeitoun: Gaza Civil Defence

Israel has demolished more than 1,500 homes in the Zeitoun neighbourhood since it launched a ground offensive earlier this month to seize Gaza City, according to the enclave’s Civil Defence.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the rescue service, told the Anadolu news agency that no buildings remain standing in the southern part of the neighbourhood.

The Israeli army has employed construction machinery alongside bomb-laden robots, detonating seven sites daily while using quadcopter drones to drop explosives on house rooftops, Basal said. The weapons have intensified the scale of destruction in the area, he added.

The systematic demolition has forced 80 percent of Zeitoun’s residents to leave and move towards the western or northern areas of Gaza City, said Basal.

Satellite images reveal vast destruction by Israeli forces in northern Gaza

High-resolution satellite imagery taken between April 6 and late August, and analysed by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad, has found the destruction is concentrated in residential neighbourhoods, including Jabalia al-Balad, Jabalia refugee camp, Tal az-Zaatar, and adjacent regions in northern Gaza – areas that have been the focus of Israeli incursions since the war resumed on March 18.

The analysis shows Israeli forces have penetrated up to 4km (2.5 miles) from Gaza’s eastern border, reaching Jabalia al-Balad and nearby Jabalia al-Nazla.

The images reveal that entire neighbourhoods have been wiped off the map, most notably Izbat Abd Rabbo, Tal az-Zaatar, and significant parts of Jabalia al-Balad.

_{Jabalia before and after}

Not a ‘single spot’ left in Deir el-Balah to pitch tents for displaced people: Mayor

Nizar Ayyash, the mayor of central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, says there is not a “single spot” left in the city to pitch any new tents for those who have been forcibly displaced.

Ayyash explained that the city’s coast was crowded, the east was under attack, infrastructure was collapsing, and the desalination plant was barely functioning as more people moved to the area from Gaza City following Israeli plans to seize it.

The mayor warned that the humanitarian situation in Deir el-Balah could worsen if further forced displacement continues.