Israel bombs Syria and Gaza as UN warns of worsening hunger in enclave

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am BST. You can read more of The New Arab coverage on Israel's war on Gaza here, and on the clashes in Syria here.

Syria said Israeli strikes on Wednesday were a "dangerous escalation" following raids near the presidential palace and on army headquarters in the capital, as well as in the country's violence-hit south.

"Syria holds Israel fully responsible for this dangerous escalation and its consequences, and affirms that it retains all its legitimate rights to defend its land and people by all means permitted under international law," the foreign ministry said in a statement. It also called on the international community to "take urgent, concrete measures to put an end to Israel's repeated acts of aggression".

The Trump administration is close to an agreement to de-escalate the situation between Israel and Syria, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier on Wednesday told reporters at the White House that he expected progress towards de-escalation in the next few hours, after Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours have killed 94 Palestinians and wounded a further 252.

The ministry added that since the beginning of the war, 58,573 Palestinians have been killed and a further 139,607 have been wounded.

Hikmat al-Hijri, one of Suweida's Druze leaders, has rejected a ceasefire between Druze militia and the Syrian government that was announced earlier, saying "we affirm the continuation of the fight until the entire territory of As-Suwayda Governorate is liberated." 

"There is no agreement, negotiation, or mandate with the Syrian government."

Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party, decided to quit the Israeli government, multiple Israeli media outlets reported on Wednesday.

Another religious party, the United Torah Judaism (UTJ), also recently quit Israel's ruling coalition in a dispute over military service.

Washington is talking with both Israel and Syria after the Israelis bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus, the top US diplomat said Wednesday, expressing concern at the attack.

"We're talking to both sides, all the relevant sides on this and hopefully we can bring it to a conclusion, but we're very concerned," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Syria's Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

An earlier ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after only a few hours. There was still fire from government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Suweida after the announcement was made, according to a Reuters witness. 

Syria said a new ceasefire was reached Wednesday in Sweida, a day after an earlier truce collapsed amid days of violence that have killed more than 300, according to a monitor.

"An agreement was reached for a ceasefire in Sweida and the deployment of security checkpoints in the city," an unidentified interior ministry source said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

US President Donald Trump's administration asked Israel again on Wednesday to halt strikes on Syria and engage in dialogue with the government in Damascus, Axios reported, citing a senior US official.

Axios did not say whether that request came before or after Israeli strikes on Wednesday on Syria's military headquarters and near the presidential palace in Damascus.

The European Union Wednesday said it was "alarmed" by the continued clashes in Syria's Druze-majority Suweida, calling on all sides to implement a ceasefire and protect civilians.

A statement by the EU's diplomatic arm also urged "all external actors" to "fully respect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" after Israel carried out strikes in support of the Druze.

Syrian government forces stand accused of summary executions and other abuses in Suweida, where sectarian violence between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes has left scores dead.

At least nine Syrians have been wounded in the Israeli air attacks targeting central Damascus this afternoon, according to the Health Ministry. 

The Turkish Foreign Ministry says the Israeli attacks on Damascus are an attempt to "sabotage Syria's efforts to ensure peace".

In a statement, the ministry said the Syrian people have a "historic opportunity to live in peace and integrate with the world".

"All stakeholders who support this opportunity should contribute to the Syrian Government's efforts to establish peace," the ministry added.

The Israeli police commander has ordered his forces and border guards to cross the Israeli border and invade Syrian territory to "return the Druze who had entered Syria".

The Israeli army launched new strikes near the Syrian army and defence ministry headquarters, state-run television channel said, after earlier attacks.

State television reported "a new aggression by the Israeli occupation air force in Umayyad Square, near the headquarters building in central Damascus".

A live broadcast by the Qatari channel Al Jazeera showed a series of airstrikes on the headquarters building, with smoke billowing into the sky and parts of the building damaged.

Syrian state news agency SANA reported casualties following Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, but the exact number of victims remains unclear. 

Witnesses told Reuters one of the strikes landed near the Syrian presidential palace. 

An Israeli airstrike hit next to the presidential palace in Syria's capital Damascus on Wednesday, according to a Reuters witness.

More airstrikes have struck the Syrian defence headquarters in Damascus, with Alaraby TV broadcasting three separate strikes on the building, leaving extensive damage, with ambulances now at the scene.

Israel Katz, Israel's Defence Minister, said in a post on X showing a previous strike on the building that "Painful blows have begun".

Airstrikes have struck Syria's defence headquaters in Damascus, with defence sources telling Reuters that the strikes have left dead and wounded. 

The Syrian presidency vowed to punish those who committed violations against Druze-majority Suweida's residents, as government forces were accused of summary executions and other abuses by right groups, witnesses and local factions.

In a statement, the presidency said they "strongly condemn these heinous acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and punishing all those proven to be involved".

Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday, adding Tehran was capable of giving a bigger blow to adversaries than the one delivered during the 12-day war with Israel last month.

He further accused Israel of using the war to weaken the Islamic republic's system and spark unrest to topple it.

"The calculation and plan of the aggressors was to weaken the system by targeting certain figures and sensitive centres in Iran," said Khamenei in a statement published on his website. He said the move was meant to stir "unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system."

A senior Hamas official on Wednesday rejected claims of progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, adding the Palestinian militant group had not not received maps planning for Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

"(Israel) has not yet delivered any new or revised maps regarding military withdrawals from the Gaza Strip," Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau, told AFP, accusing Israel of wanting to "prolong military control" in Gaza for the long term.

Israel on Wednesday said it was sending more troops to the border with Syria, after vowing to step up attacks if government forces were not withdrawn from the south of the country.

"In accordance with the situational assessment, the (Israeli military) has decided to reinforce its forces in the area of the Syrian border," a statement read.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has accused the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation of responsibility for the deaths of 21 Palestinians at an aid distribution site near Khan Younis, with 15 being killed by a stampede and suffocation following the firing of tear gas into the crowd.

"For the first time, deaths have been recorded due to suffocation and the intense stampede of citizens at aid distribution centres", the ministry said, adding that Israel and the US have committed "massacres against the starving people in a systematic manner".

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had attacked the entrance gate of the Syrian military headquarters in the capital Damascus.

Two Syrian security sources told Reuters an Israeli strike had hit the defence ministry in the capital. 

Syria state media said that the Israeli military struck the Druze-majority city of Suweida, where Syrian government forces have deployed despite Israeli warnings.

"Israeli occupation drones target the city of Sweida," state-run SANA said.

An AFP correspondent witnessed a strike on a military truck at Suweida's western entrance, where government forces had gathered before deploying into the city.

A loud explosion was heard in Syria's capital Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state news agency reported, adding that the nature of the explosion was still being investigated.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK agreed in a phone call on Monday to set the end of August as the de facto deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources.

If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the "snapback" mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal, according to the Axios report.

Iran's parliament said the country should not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until preconditions are met, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Iranian state media.

"When the US use negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime (Israel), talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met," the statement said.

The statement did not define the preconditions, but Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said there should be guarantees there will be no further attacks against Tehran.

China will continue to support Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty and dignity, and in "resisting power politics and bullying," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart on Wednesday.

"China attaches importance to Iran's commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and respects Iran's right to peacefully use nuclear energy," Wang said, according to a readout released by his ministry.

Beijing is willing to continue to play a constructive role in promoting the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue and maintaining stability in the Middle East, Wang said, adding that China appreciates Tehran's efforts to achieve peace through diplomacy.

Twenty Palestinians were killed on Wednesday at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in what the US-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators.

The GHF, which is supported by Israel, said 19 people were trampled and one was fatally stabbed during the crush at one of its centres in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

"We have credible reason to believe that elements within the crowd - armed and affiliated with Hamas - deliberately fomented the unrest," GHF said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Palestinian heath officials told Reuters at least 20 people had died of suffocation at the site. One medic said lots of people had been crammed into a small space and had been crushed.

The UN has called the GHF’s model "inherently unsafe" and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards. The United Nations rights office says it has documented at least 875 deaths over the past six weeks near aid sites and convoys in Gaza, the majority of them near GHF distribution points.

France has said that it opposes the construction of the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, with the embassy in Israel posting on X that "the project should not be implemented. It is contrary to international law and jeopardizes the possibility of a two-state solution."

The embassy further said that France "reiterates its condemnation of the settlement and all the tensons and violence it provokes."

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz said that the military will continue to strike Syrian forces until they withdraw, warning that the level of response will escalate if the message is not understood, according to local media reports on Wednesday.

Katz also said the Syrian government should "leave Druze alone" following recent clashes in Syria's Suweida city, Israeli media reported. 

The Israeli military has opened a new military route named the Magen Oz corridor, dividing Khan Younis from east to West, with the military saying that it "serves as a key component in applying pressure on Hamas and achieving the decisive defeat of its Khan Younis Brigade."