Gaza hospital says 21 children dead from malnutrition, starvation in recent days

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.
 

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, has accused Israel of deliberately obstructing the work of humanitarian personnel by denying them entry visas and restricting their access to both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

He warned that such actions are contributing to "deepening the spread of disinformation" and "increasing dehumanization" of Palestinians.

In a statement posted on X, Lazzarini said: "As if banning international media is not enough. Humanitarian workers are also banned when they report on atrocities committed in Gaza and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory."

He noted a growing trend of Israel refusing to issue or renew visas for UN personnel, including senior officials such as humanitarian coordinators and agency heads.

According to Lazzarini, no international staff from UNRWA have been granted visas in nearly six months.

He also revealed that he has been barred from entering Gaza since March 2024- shortly after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) instructed Israel to act on Gaza’s famine- and from the West Bank since June.

Silencing voices.

As if banning international media is not enough.
Humanitarian workers are also banned when they report on atrocities committed in #Gaza & elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The denial of a visa to our colleague from @ochaopt is the latest in a…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 22, 2025

Israeli forces have encircled both Rafidia Hospital and the Arab Specialised Hospital in the city of Nablus, located in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, troops stormed the city and positioned themselves near the emergency entrances of Rafidia Hospital, firing sound grenades in the area.

The Arab Specialised Hospital was also placed under siege as part of the military operation.

For the fourth consecutive day, dozens of Palestinians marched through the streets of Ramallah in solidarity with Gaza, calling attention to the hunger crisis and denouncing the silence of Arab and international actors, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site al-Araby al-Jadeed reports.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held banners condemning the blockade and what they described as genocide against Gaza’s population.

Chants rang out against the Israeli occupation, the ongoing war, and the complicity of international powers. Protesters also voiced support for Palestinian resistance factions and their leadership.

Omar Assaf, coordinator of the Palestinian Popular Conference- 14 Million, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that many Palestinians are determined to continue raising their voices in support of Palestinians in Gaza who are “starving, being killed, and exterminated.”

He noted efforts are underway to expand the participation and escalate the pressure through more diverse actions beyond the daily marches.

Activist Jamila Abed added that these demonstrations aim to pressure Arab and European leaders, as well as the United Nations, to intervene and stop the genocide.

She also called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO to take a firm stand in support of Gaza and fulfil their responsibilities.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday there is a possibility of a renewed campaign against Iran, according to a statement from his office.

His statements came during a multi-scene situation assessment with several top Israeli military officials, including the chief of staff.

He stressed the necessity of formulating an effective enforcement plan for the future to ensure that Iran does not restore its nuclear program. 

A Syrian-American man of the Druze religious minority was killed in southern Syria when he got caught up in sectarian clashes there last week while visiting family members, relatives and officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the death of U.S citizen Hossam Soraya in the city of Sweida and extended its condolences to his family.

His relatives and friends told The Associated Press that Saraya, in his mid-30s from Oklahoma, was killed in an attack last Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Soraya was abducted with his brother Karim, their father Ghassan and three other relatives from the family home by gunmen who later shot and killed them in a square in Sweida, his friends and relatives said, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.

The gunmen told them they were government forces and assured the women nothing would happen to their men as they took them away, one of Soraya's friends said.

The gunmen returned later and threatened the women and children, before leaving without harming them but taking off with gold and other valuables from the house, the friend said.

They said they believe government forces were behind the killings but did not elaborate.

Agence France-Presse called on Israel on Tuesday to allow the immediate evacuation of its freelance contributors and their families from the Gaza Strip, citing worsening living conditions and escalating risks to their safety.

In a statement, the French news agency said its freelancers faced an "appalling situation" in Gaza.

"For months, we have been witnessing, powerless, the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions," AFP said, adding that the situation had become untenable despite the "exemplary courage, professional commitment and resilience" of its local team.

The management statement came after AFP's journalists' association issued its own statement saying colleagues in Gaza risked dying of hunger.

AFP said it had succeeded in evacuating eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024, after months of effort.

It is now seeking to secure safe passage for its freelance Palestinian reporters, despite "the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory under strict blockade".

Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza since October 7, 2023. AFP said the work of its Palestinian freelancers remained crucial to informing the world, but said they now had to leave because of the risk to their lives.

Reuters also works with freelance journalists in Gaza.

"Reuters is deeply concerned about the health and safety of its freelancers in Gaza, with whom we are in daily contact. The extreme difficulty sourcing food is leading to their and all Gaza residents experiencing greater levels of hunger and illness," a Reuters spokesperson said.

"We are providing our contributors with additional financial support to help them and, should they wish to leave the territory, we will provide any assistance possible to help them get out."

A convoy carrying displaced people from the city of Suweida, which departed under UN supervision today, was briefly subjected to gunfire, though no casualties were reported.

According to The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, several vehicles in the convoy had passed safely until an individual fired a shot into the air.

Syrian security forces quickly intervened and apprehended him.

This was followed by more warning shots from several armed individuals- some reportedly belonging to Bedouin tribes- and stones were also thrown at the convoy.

However, the Internal Security Forces under the Ministry of Interior managed to contain the situation and ensured the convoy continued on to its destination in rural Daraa.

U.S. Syria envoy Tom Barrack will lead a meeting with senior officials from Israel and Syria on Thursday, Axios reported on Tuesday citing unnamed sources.

It is unclear where the meeting will take place, but it is expected to focus on security arrangements in southern Syria and increasing coordination and communication, according to Axios.

Hussein al-Sheikh, vice-president of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), on Tuesday said he met the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, in the occupied West Bank.

Sheikh, a close aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and seen as a potential successor, said the meeting took place in his office.

The meeting was Huckabee's first official visit to Ramallah, which is home to key Palestinian Authority institutions.

"Discussions were held regarding support for efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, release the hostages and deliver urgent aid to the Palestinian people there," he wrote on X.

"The current situation in the West Bank was also discussed, including the severe economic and financial crisis and settler violence.

"Ways to strengthen bilateral relations were explored, as well as the importance of the American role in achieving stability, security, and peace in the region."

A U.S. envoy has urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to recalibrate his policies and embrace a more inclusive approach after a new round of sectarian bloodshed last week, or risk losing international support and fragmenting the country.

U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said he had advised Sharaa in private discussions to revisit elements of the pre-war army structure, scale back Islamist indoctrination and seek regional security assistance.

In an interview in Beirut, Barrack told news agency Reuters that without swift change, Sharaa risks losing the momentum that once propelled him to power.

Sharaa should say: "I'm going to adapt quickly, because if I don't adapt quickly, I'm going to lose the energy of the universe that was behind me," Barrack said.

He said Sharaa could "grow up as a president and say, 'the right thing for me to do is not to follow my theme, which isn't working so well.'"

The Syrian defence ministry said on Tuesday it was aware of reports of "shocking violations" by people wearing military fatigues in the country's predominantly Druze city Suweida.

Syria's Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said there will be "no tolerance" to perpetrators in Sweida, even if they were a member of the defense ministry, according to a statement by the ministry. 

A US envoy is heading Tuesday to the Middle East for talks that aim to finalize a "corridor" for aid to war-ravaged Gaza, the State Department said.

Envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to the region with "a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.

A spokesperson for Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said on Tuesday its leadership had lost contact since Monday with group members holding Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski in Gaza.

An Islamic Jihad spokesperson said on Telegram it did not know the fate of the hostage and his captors after Israeli forces besieged an area in Gaza where Braslavski was believed to be held.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the "horror" facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack is unprecedented in recent years.

"We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza - with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times," he said in a speech.

Guterres said ramped up Israeli operations meant "devastation is being layered upon devastation," with the humanitarian system in its "last gasp."

Israel's foreign minister on Tuesday hailed the decision by the United States to leave the UN cultural and education agency UNESCO, thanking Washington for its "moral support and leadership".

"This is a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel's right for fair treatment in the UN system, a right which has often been trampled due to politicisation in this arena," Gideon Saar posted on X.

Announcing its exit, the United States accused UNESCO of being biased against Israel and promoting "divisive" causes.

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a Houthi-linked petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network across Yemen and the United Arab Emirates in fresh action targeting the Iran-backed militant group.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said the two individuals and five entities sanctioned on Tuesday were among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis.

The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks are completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and accused Israel of paralysing its work.

"Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council told Reuters in an interview via video link from Oslo.

The NRC says that for the last 145 days it has not been able to get its hundreds of truckloads containing tents, water, sanitation, food and education materials into Gaza.

"Hundreds of truckloads have been sitting in warehouses or in Egypt or elsewhere, and costing our Western European donors a lot of money, but they are blocked from coming in… That's why we are so angry. Because our job is to help," Egeland said.

"Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyse our work," he added. The NRC has 64 Palestinian and two international staff on the ground in Gaza. On Sunday the NRC had to move 33 of its staff out of Deir al Balah following Israeli evacuation warnings.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the images of civilians being killed by Israeli forces in Gaza during humanitarian aid distributions are "unbearable".

"Civilians cannot be targets. Never. The images from Gaza are unbearable. The EU reiterates its call for the free, safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid. And for the full respect of international and humanitarian law," von der Leyen wrote in a post on social media platform X.

"Israel must deliver on its pledges," she added.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Civilians cannot be targets. Never.

The images from Gaza are unbearable.

The EU reiterates its call for the free, safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid.

And for the full respect of international and humanitarian law.

Civilians in Gaza have suffered too much, for too long.… https://t.co/VhaKxUXka0

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 22, 2025

All options are on the table if Israel does not deliver on its pledges to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza, the European Union's top diplomat said on Tuesday.

"The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote in a post on X, adding that she spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar "to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that IDF must stop killing people at distribution points."

"All options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges," Kallas said.

Earlier this month, Kallas said Israel had agreed to expand humanitarian access to Gaza, including increasing the number of aid trucks, crossing points and routes to distribution hubs.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to access food in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations, the United Nations said Tuesday.

"As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 766 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites and 288 near UN and other humanitarian organisations' aid convoys," UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told AFP, stating the victims had been "killed by the Israeli military".

A committee probing sectarian violence in Syria's Alawite minority heartland in March said Tuesday that it identified 298 suspects implicated in "serious violations" that killed at least 1,426 Alawites.

"The committee identified 298 individuals by name, who were involved" in the violence, committee spokesman Yasser al-Farhan told a press conference in Damascus. The committee also verified "serious violations against civilians on March 7, 8 and 9, including murder, premeditated murder, looting, destruction and burning of homes, torture and sectarian insults".

The committee "verified the names of 1,426 dead, including 90 women, with most of the rest being civilians" from the Alawite community.

Government forces and aligned militants were accused of committing field executions among other crimes, while Damascus said the violence was instigated by remnants of the ousted Assad regime.

Turkey sees any attempts to divide Syria as a national security threat and would directly intervene if there was such an attempt, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday.

The UN rights chief warned Tuesday that Israel's expanded operations in central Gaza created an "extremely high" risk of serious international law violations.

"These Israeli airstrikes and ground operations will invariably lead to further civilian deaths and destruction of civilian infrastructure," Volker Turk said in a statement, cautioning that "given the concentration of civilians in the area, and the means and methods of warfare employed by Israel until now, the risks of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law are extremely high".

British Foreign Minister David Lammy has said he is "appalled, sickened" by the "grotesque" targeting of starving Palestinians seeking food aid by the Israeli military, warning there would be further sanctions against Israel if the war did not end soon.

"These are not words that are usually used by a foreign secretary who is attempting to be diplomatic, but when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food, and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days, of course Britain must call it out," he told BBC Radio 4.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Tuesday that it would be unacceptable for Palestinians to die from the want of a "hunk of bread or a mouthful of water".

Erdogan's warning, made during a speech in Istanbul, comes amid a mounting chorus of international criticism of Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis.

"No one endowed with a minimum of human dignity can accept this cruelty, in which dozens of innocent people die every day because they cannot find a hunk of bread or a mouthful of water," he said.

Deaths from starvation in Gaza because of Israel's blockade of aid has now reached 101, among them 80 children, the territory's health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ministry said Gaza hospitals recorded 15 famine deaths in the past 24 hours, including four children.

The intelligence unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Iranian citizens of an increase in recruitment attempts by enemy intelligence agencies, state media reported on Tuesday.

Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, which was able to assassinate numerous military commanders and nuclear scientists in its 12-day air war on Iran last month, Iran is ever more concerned about infiltration by the Israeli Mossad spy agency.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday she told her Israeli counterpart that Israel's military "must stop" killing civilians at aid distribution points in Gaza.

"The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible. I spoke again with Gideon Saar to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that IDF must stop killing people at distribution points," Kallas wrote on X.

The World Health Organization does not know the reasons behind the detention of one of its staff members in Gaza by Israeli authorities, and urges for their release, a WHO spokesperson said Tuesday.

Iran said Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.

Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don't hand themselves over.

Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.

The head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency said on Tuesday that its staff members as well as doctors and humanitarian workers are fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.

"Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now, doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties," UNRWA commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, shared by his spokesperson at a press briefing in Geneva.

The Roman Catholic church's most senior cleric in the Holy Land said Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "morally unacceptable", after visiting the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"We have seen men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal," Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa told a news conference. "It's morally unacceptable and unjustified," he added.

Yemen's Houthi rebels launched two attacks targeting Israel's main airport, the latest on Tuesday, with the Israeli army intercepting both, a day after striking the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida.

The Houthis targeted Ben Gurion International Airport "using a 'Palestine 2' hypersonic ballistic missile", according to military spokesman Yarya Saree, who had hours earlier claimed a similar attack on the airport.

On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said "Yemen's fate will be the same as Tehran's" after hitting Houthi targets in Hodeida port in an attack aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.

A Houthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that "the bombing destroyed the port's dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday urged Israel to allow foreign press into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, as warnings of famine mount after 21 months of war.

"I ask that the free and independent press be allowed to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to bear witness," he told France Inter radio in an interview from eastern Ukraine.

He spoke after the AFP news agency warned that the lives of Palestinian freelance journalists it was working with in Gaza were in danger and urged Israel to allow them and their families to leave the occupied coastal territory.

Asked if France would help evacuate these stringers, Barrot said France was "addressing the issue".

"We hope to be able to evacuate some collaborators of journalists in the coming weeks," he said.

Reimposing international sanctions will only make the situation over Iran's nuclear issue more complex, Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday, according to state media, ahead of a meeting on Friday with three European states.

The so-called E3 - Britain, France and Germany - have warned they will invoke the United Nations snapback mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on the Islamic Republic if no progress is reached by end of August over Iran's nuclear programme.

At least 1,062 people died in Iran in its 12-day war with Israel last month, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday. There were 102 women and 38 children among the dead.

The previous official death toll was 935.