132 killed across Gaza, Israel issues displacement order for Deir al-Balah

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A four-year-old girl died of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in one of the latest hunger-related deaths in the the besieged Palestinian territory.

Razan Abu Zaher's death was confirmed by a medical source at central Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital who spoke to Palestinian news agency WAFA. The source added that the crisis is worsening, with increasing numbers of children of all ages being treated for hunger and malnutrition amid Israel's siege and assault on the enclave.

Abu Zaher's death comes as the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that Israel is deliberately starving one million children in Gaza.

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The Israeli army is reportedly attacking the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, near the Palestine Red Crescent's field hospital, according to Palestinian media.

An Israeli military order for residents and displaced people in Gaza's Deir el-Balah area to move south dealt "another devastating blow" to humanitarian efforts in the war-ravaged territory, the UN's OCHA aid agency said on Sunday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs "warns that today's mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military has dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.

Activists behind the Handala, a Gaza-bound aid ship, say their boat was sabotaged before it departed from Gallipoli, Italy.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says a rope was found wrapped tightly around the engine propeller, and a corrosive chemical was found in the water tank that injured two members. 

The flotilla still set sail and is expected to take about a week.

Several Palestinian children suffered from tear gas inhalation after the Israeli army raided the town of Taqou, southeast of Bethlehem.

Israeli forces targeted a group of children playing football near the municipality building, firing stun grenades and tear gas canisters, the Mayor of Taqou, Tayseer Abu Mufreh, told Wafa.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday said he had ordered the withdrawal of a senior UN humanitarian official's residency permit, accusing him of spreading lies about the war in Gaza.

"I have instructed not to extend the residency permit of the head of the OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) office in Israel, Jonathan Whittall," Saar wrote on X.

Whittall, a South African who lives in Jerusalem and frequently visits the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly condemned the humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living in the Palestinian territory.

In April, he said that Gazans were "slowly dying" due to the effects of Israel's war.

Saar's decision, which he said came after "biased and hostile conduct against Israel which distorted reality" and broke UN neutrality rules, is the latest taken against senior UN officials.

At least 132 Palestinians have now been killed since Sunday, including 94 aid seekers, as Israel continues its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The toll also includes 81 killed in the Al-Sudaniya area near an aid distribution centre.

Eighteen civilians have died due to starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues to impose a blockade and wage its war.

Hospitals in Gaza are receiving hundreds of patients daily suffering from acute exhaustion and severe symptoms due to hunger, including memory loss and severe lack of energy, medical sources told Wafa.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 115 Palestinians since Sunday as Israel continues to wage war on the Gaza Strip.

The toll includes 92 who were seeking aid. Over 200 have been wounded.

London's Royal Opera House on Sunday condemned the actions of a performer who held up a Palestinian flag onstage at the end of a performance.

Video footage posted online shows a brief scuffle at the edge of the stage as a figure dressed in a shirt and tie unsuccessfully attempts to stop the performer.

The protest in the British capital on Saturday during the curtain call came on the closing night of an 11-night run of Il Trovatore, a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi.

"Extraordinary scenes at the Royal Opera House tonight," a person who claimed to have been in the audience posted on X.

"During the curtain call for Il Trovatore one of the background artists came on stage waving a Palestine flag. Just stood there, no bowing or shouting. Someone off stage kept trying to take it off him. Incredible."

A spokesperson for the Royal Ballet and Opera in London's Covent Garden said the "display of the flag was an unauthorised action by the artist".

For the first time in nearly two years of genocide in Gaza, the Palestinian flag appeared onstage at the Royal Ballet and Opera in London.

The symbolic moment was disrupted when Oliver Mears, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House, attempted to forcibly remove it, prompting… pic.twitter.com/QHaL4ajGPO

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 20, 2025

Israel sent urgent medical aid to the Druze community in Syria's Suweida, Israeli public broadcaster Kan said on Sunday, a step that was coordinated with both Washington and Syria.

On Saturday, the Israeli Health Ministry said it was preparing to send medical equipment and medicine to Sweida.

Spokespeople for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Kan report.

As malnutrition surges in war-torn Gaza, tens of thousands of children and women require urgent treatment, according to the UN, while aid enters the blockaded Palestinian territory at a trickle.

Gaza's civil defence agency told AFP it has noted a rising number of infant deaths caused by "severe hunger and malnutrition", reporting at least three such deaths in the past week.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, has announced he is going on a full hunger strike starting today in protest of the "catastrophic famine" taking place in the enclave.

In a statement, Basal said he, like more than two million Palestinians, is surviving on scraps of food due to the absence of basic supplies. He warned that Gaza is not facing a crisis, but a "documented crime" where children are dying of hunger and aid is being deliberately withheld for political reasons.

"Using starvation as a weapon of war is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law," he said, calling on world leaders, parliaments, the UN, academics, and influencers to take urgent action.

The armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have reported several attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza on Sunday, including ones from earlier this month.

The Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades said their fighters have now reported after returning from combat that on 7 July in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of northern Gaza, saying they targeted three Israeli Merkava tanks using two roadside bombs and a shell.

The Qassam Brigades said its snipers also shot an Israeli soldier who was atop a tank in Shujayea.

The al-Quds Brigades said it launched mortar shells at an Israeli command centre north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. 

Tens of thousands of Moroccans demonstrated Sunday in the capital Rabat against the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, calling for the reversal of the kingdom's normalisation deal with Israel.

Protesters gathered in the city centre, brandishing Palestinian flags and placards calling for the free flow of aid to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"It's a disgrace, Gaza is under fire", "Lift the blockade", "Morocco, Palestine, one people" and "no to normalisation", chanted the demonstrators.

They had gathered at the call of various organisations, including a coalition bringing together the Islamist movement Al-Adl Wal-Ihssane and left-wing parties.

The first humanitarian aid convoy entered the southern Syrian city of Suweida on Sunday, a Red Crescent official said, a week after deadly sectarian violence erupted in the Druze heartland.

A fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding after Druze fighters retook control of Suweida city and government security forces deployed to the province, following violence since last Sunday that has killed more than 1,000 people, according to a monitor.

An AFP correspondent near Suweida city saw a convoy including trucks and ambulances bearing the Red Crescent symbol heading towards the city.

"It's the first convoy to enter after the recent events, and it has arrived and is now inside Suweida," said Syrian Red Crescent media and communications official Omar al-Malki.

He told AFP the convoy would be followed by others and said it came "in coordination with the government bodies and the local authorities in Suweida", which are controlled by the Druze.

The convoy of 32 vehicles was carrying basics including food, medical and fuel supplies as well as body bags, Malki said.

Residents of Suweida have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have been scarce.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa received a report into sectarian violence in Syria's Alawite heartland earlier this year and pledged measures to prevent its recurrence, the presidency said on Sunday, without disclosing the findings.

Sharaa received the full report on the bloodshed from the fact-finding committee on 13 July, the statement from the presidency said - the same day sectarian violence erupted in the Druze minority province of Suweida.

Sharaa will "carefully examine the findings... to ensure steps are taken to advance the principles of truth, justice and accountability, and prevent the recurrence of violations" as part of building a new Syria, the statement said.

He asked the committee to hold a press conference to present its findings as soon as possible "if it seems appropriate", the statement added, without releasing any details of the report.

The presidency's announcement came after Sharaa a day earlier renewed his pledge to protect minorities amid violence in the Druze-majority province of Suweida which has killed over a 1,000 people since last Sunday, according to the Observatory.

A performer holding a Palestinian flag touched off a brief scuffle on stage at the Royal Opera House in London on Saturday night as cast members were taking their bows following the season's final performance of "Il Trovatore".

Images posted on social media show what appears to be a member of the chorus holding the unfurled flag in front of his chest while the lead singers bask in the audience's applause. After a few moments, someone backstage attempts to grab the flag, but the performer holds onto the banner and snaps back into place.

Singers were taking their bows after the end of the opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Director Adele Thomas' production reinterprets the story of desire and an all-consuming curse, the opera said.

"The display of the flag was spontaneous and unauthorized action by the artist,'' the opera company said in a statement. "It was not approved by the Royal Ballet & Opera and is not in line with our commitment to political impartiality."

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on Sunday with Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Russian state-run RIA news agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The two discussed the escalating situation in the Middle East and issues surrounding Iran's nuclear programme.

Putin reaffirmed Russia's position in favour of stabilising the region and pursuing a political resolution to matters related to Iran's nuclear activities, Peskov said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering from a bout of food poisoning, his office said on Sunday, adding that he will continue to carry out his duties while resting at home for the next three days.

Netanyahu, 75, fell ill overnight and was found to be suffering from intestinal inflammation and dehydration, for which he is receiving intravenous fluids, a statement said.

"In accordance with his doctors' instructions, the prime minister will rest at home for the next three days and will manage state affairs from there," his office added.

Netanyahu was fitted with a pacemaker in 2023 and last December he had his prostate removed after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that three World Health Organization (WHO) trucks carrying medical supplies are due to enter the enclave today.

The ministry said in a statement that the trucks, which contain no food, are of "great importance and [an] urgent" support to the enclave’s medical facilities in continuing to provide life-saving care during the war.

"The Ministry of Health urges the honourable citizens, all dignitaries, families, and concerned parties to make every effort to protect the convoy by not approaching the trucks, and to enable their safe arrival at the hospitals to save the lives of patients and the wounded," the statement added.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says 73 people killed waiting for humanitarian aid across Gaza on Sunday.

The United Nations migration agency said Sunday that the number of people displaced by a week of sectarian violence in southern Syria's Druze heartland has risen to more than 128,000.

"To date, a total of 128,571 individuals have been displaced since the onset of hostilities," said a report from the International Organization for Migration, adding that displacement from Suweida province "spiked sharply on 19 July, with over 43,000 people displaced in a single day".

Pope Leo XIV slammed the "barbarity" of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the "indiscriminate use of force", just days after a deadly strike by Israel's military on a Catholic church.

"I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict," Leo said at the end of the Angelus prayer, after three people were killed on Thursday at the territory's only Catholic church.

Israeli attacks across Gaza have killed 54 people, including 51 aid seekers, since dawn on Sunday, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Among the locations where Israeli forces opened fire include northern Gaza and Rafah, in the territory's south. 

A Syria monitor said Sunday that the death toll from violence in the country's south involving Druze fighters and their Bedouin tribesmen, as well as government forces, armed tribes and Israel, had topped 1,000.

Those killed since last Sunday included 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the religious minority group, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by defence and interior ministry personnel".

The New Arab could not verify the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' report.

The dead also included 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians "summarily executed by Druze fighters". Another 15 government forces were killed in Israeli strikes, tSOHR said.

Iran, Britain, France and Germany have agreed to hold talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.

"The principle of talks has been agreed upon, but consultations are continuing on the time and place of the talks. The country in which the talks could be held next week has not been finalised," Tasnim reported quoting a source informed with the matter.

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants in an area "where it has not operated before".

The military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area should evacuate immediately.

Israel was "expanding its activities" around Deir el-Balah, including "in an area where it has not operated before", Adraee said, telling Palestinians to "move south toward the al-Mawasi area" on the Mediterranean coast "for your safety".

Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month, with repeated Israeli evacuation calls covering large parts of the coastal territory.

Three people arrested in Israeli yesterday over an attack on Palestinian lawmaker Ayman Odeh and his vehicle on Saturday will appear in court today for a hearing on their detention, Israeli media said on Sunday.

The three are being held on suspicion of causing damage and making threats against a public official, Israeli police said.

Right-wing demonstrators assaulted Odeh and attacked his car as he traveled to an anti-war protest in Ness Ziona, days after the Knesset failed to expel the lawmaker after he criticised Israel's conduct in the Gaza Strip.

Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Suweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.

There was no sound of gunfire on Sunday morning, according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas.

Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on Sunday morning as "a tense calm" but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity.

"The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded," he said by phone.

At least six Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians were reportedly killed in separate airstrikes on the territory, medical sources said as cited by Palestinian media. Scores were also injured.

Attacks took place on and near the Sheikh Radwan lake, Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City.

A four-year-old Palestinian girl died on Sunday due to malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian media said.

Medical sources at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah said that Razan Abu Zaher died as a result of complications from malnutrition and starvation in the war-hit territory.

Starvation and malnutrition levels are increasing in the war-battered territory due to Israel's siege on the enclave.