Israel continues to obstruct Gaza aid, kills dozens sheltering in camps

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One Palestinian was injured by Israeli army gunfire Saturday evening.

Paramedics said in a statement they transferred a man to hospital after he was injured in the foot near the separation wall in the town of Al-Ram, east of Jerusalem, without further details.

In the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, dozens of soldiers were deployed in the Old City, obstructing the movement of residents.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denied on Saturday that his country had been "officially" informed of Israel's intention to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

This came during his meeting with US Congressman Darine Lahoud, who led a US delegation visiting Lebanon, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Presidency.

"Lebanon is awaiting the Israeli response to the proposals presented by US envoy Thomas Barrack and [Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East] Ms. Morgan Ortagus," said Aoun.

الرئيس عون استقبل عضو الكونغرس الأميركي دارين لحود، بحضور السفيرة الأميركية في بيروت ليزا جونسون والوفد المرافق pic.twitter.com/HwSLljTX4g

— Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) August 23, 2025

The Israeli army announced on Saturday the death of an officer serving as a platoon commander in the Gaza Strip.

The army said in a statement that Lieutenant Ori Gerlic, a platoon commander in the Shimshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, was killed in an operational accident involving the detonation of an Israeli army explosive device, adding that the army is investigating the circumstances.

Gerlic, from the southern Israeli community of Meitar, was the first soldier to be killed in Gaza this month. 

According to data published on the Israeli army's website, 899 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 6,210 others wounded since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

The Gaza government condemned Israeli threats to invade Gaza City and its plans to dismantle the health system there.

In a statement, the government's media office said the Israeli military has destroyed the health system in Gaza City and the enclave's north, forcing hospitals to cease operations.

"We categorically reject any move to relocate hospitals or empty the city of its health services. We call on the international community to take urgent action to strengthen the health system and equip Gaza's hospitals to provide care to all patients and the injured."

It explained that "the European Hospital cannot be an alternative to the hospitals in the north, as it requires more than six months of continuous work to rehabilitate it after its destruction, including infrastructure, equipment, and medical staff."

Pakistan has sent 100 tons of food aid to the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan on Saturday on Facebook.

The statement stated that, on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 100 tons of aid parcels consisting of flour, ready-to-eat meals, oil, jam, and fruits were prepared and departed from Lahore for delivery to Gaza.

It noted that this is the 19th aid package sent by Pakistan, bringing the total number of shipments to 1,915 tons.

Israeli former defence minister Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forge a unity government along with members of the opposition in a bid to help release the captives held in Gaza.

Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu who nonetheless joined his government in the early days of the war, proposed a temporary coalition that would side-step far-right parties and strike a hostage release deal.

"I am here on behalf of the hostages who have no voice. I am here for the soldiers who are crying out, and whom no one in this government is listening to," Gantz told a televised press conference.

"The duty of our state is first and foremost to save the lives of Jews and all citizens," added Gantz, calling on fellow opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman - who have previously rejected joining any Netanyahu-led government - to also consider the offer.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu's ruling coalition who could be sidelined if Gantz's plan succeeds, was quick to dismiss it.

More than 160,000 people were forced to leave Gaza City in less than 10 days this month due to intensified Israeli attacks, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees said Saturday.

"According to UN data, between 12 and 20 August, intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza city forced over 16,000 people to be displaced. These families had to carry tents with them as no new shelter supplies have been allowed into Gaza for almost 6 months. They are setting them up in one of the overcrowded UNRWA school-turned-shelters," UNRWA said.

It warned that more people will be displaced as military operations intensify - amid the Israeli military's plan to occupy the Gaza Strip p.

UNRWA added that nowhere was safe in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.

According to UN data, between 12 and 20 August, intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza city forced over 16,000 people to be displaced.

These families had to carry tents with them as no new shelter supplies have been allowed into Gaza for almost 6 months. They are… pic.twitter.com/1fCthVHBUi

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 23, 2025

Israel must stop denying the famine it has created in Gaza, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Saturday, after a UN-backed monitor declared famine in the Palestinian territory a day earlier.

"It’s time for the Government of Israel to stop denying the famine it has created in Gaza. All of those who have influence must use it with determination and a sense of moral duty. Every hour counts," Lazzarini said.

"It’s time for the Government of Israel to stop denying the famine it has created in #Gaza.

All of those who have influence must use it with determination and a sense of moral duty.

Every hour counts."

— UNRWA Commissioner-General @UNLazzarini pic.twitter.com/g6tng6LxCr

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 23, 2025

Khaled Al-Madhoun, a Palestinian journalist and cameraman, was killed in an Israeli attack on Saturday.

Al-Madhoun, who reported for Palestine TV, was killed by Israeli gunfire while covering the Israeli army's targeting of aid seekers near the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza.

BREAKING: Journalist Khaled Mohammad Al-Madhoon, a cameraman for Palestine TV, was killed by Israeli gunfire while covering the Israeli army's targeting of aid seekers near Zikim crossing in northern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/gOVDpKnBfV

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 23, 2025

Three Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces shelled residential areas in northern Gaza, Wafa reports.

The army targeted homes in Jabalia Al-Nazla, and the bodies were transferred to the Sheikh Radwan clinic.

Iranian forces have killed six militants in a raid in the restive southeast, state media reported Saturday, saying they were members of a "terrorist" group linked to arch enemy Israel.

"During an intense exchange of fire with terrorists in Sistan-Baluchistan province, six assailants were killed and two others arrested," official news agency IRNA said, citing a statement from the intelligence services.

The report did not provide an exact location or say when the raid took place.

Since Saturday, at least 51 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks, including 16 who were seeking aid.

Two siblings were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of civilians near Hamza Mosque in Jabalia Al-Nazla, north of the Gaza Strip.

At least 41 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday, hospital sources told Al Jazeera​​​​​​.

First Lady Emine Erdogan has written to US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, and urged her to contact Israel's prime minister and raise the plight of children in Gaza, authorities in Ankara said on Saturday.

Emine Erdogan wrote that she had been inspired by the letter Melania Trump sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month about children in Ukraine and Russia. "I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children...will be extended to Gaza as well," Emine Erdogan wrote in the letter dated Friday that was published by the Turkish presidency.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"These days, when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and the recognition of Palestine has become a global will. I believe that your call on behalf of Gaza would fulfil a historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people," Emine Erdogan's letter added.

Over 15,600 Palestinians, including 3,800 children in Gaza, need urgent medical evacuation to receive specialised treatment, the World Health Organisation said.

The WHO also called on more countries to accept patients and to help restore medical evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

During its raid of the al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah for the third day, Israeli forces have also prevented journalists from entering the village - sources tell Al Jazeera​​​​​​.

Israeli army and settler bombardment have killed at least 1,031 Palestinians since October 2023 - Al Jazeera ​​​​​​reports.

The toll includes 210 children and 9,684 have been wounded by army and settler attacks.

A further 18,500 have been detained.

Over 62,622 Palestinians have been killed and 157,637 have been wounded since October 2023, hospital officials confirmed.

Hospitals across the enclave received 61 bodies and 308 injured Palestinians. Over the past 24 hours, 16 bodies were brought in after being killed, seeking aid and 111 were wounded.

There are 320,000 children who are suffering from severe malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, the director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera​​​​​.

Abu Salmiya also added that all of the wounded patients in the hospitals are suffering from malnutrition.

At least eight Palestinians, including two children, have died of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

Including this, now 281 people, including 114 children, have died from malnutrition as Israel continues to prevent aid from entering the enclave.

A group of Israeli protesters accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of obstructing the captives deal.

While confronting the minister and his family, the protesters accused Ben-Gvir of being responsible for the deaths of captives, and held up pictures of the captives.

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

Israeli settlers raided a Bedouin community and tried to assault a woman in the village of Atara, northwest of Ramallah, local sources told Wafa.

This comes after dozens of settlers created a new settler outpost on Palestinian-owned land in Atara.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 34 Palestinians since Saturday, including eight who were seeking aid.

The toll includes 17 Palestinians who were killed after an Israeli air strike targeted tents sheltering displaced Palestinians.

Israeli attacks have killed at least three Palestinians, while a further 14 have been injured.

Two were killed after an Israeli drone targeted a tent sheltering displaced people, while an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City killed one person.

The Israeli army is continuing its attacks on the Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, for the third day in a row.

The forces have stormed over 30 homes, threatening residents as well as destroying property and smashing vehicles, the deputy head of the village council, Marzouq Abu Naim, told Wafa.

Abu Naim added that Israeli bulldozers are continuing to open a road that runs through the village, destroying thousands of olive groves.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, part of a caretaker government, quit his cabinet post on Friday ahead of schedule over the government's position on Israel's war in Gaza, he told reporters.

He said the government did not support additional measures against Israel over Gaza and plans for the occupied West Bank.

"I have felt pushback in the cabinet for additional measures," he said, adding he would formally tender his resignation.

The Dutch government collapsed on 3 June, and the caretaker minority government is expected to stay in place until a coalition government is formed after the October elections, which may take months.

The United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly dismissing the findings.

Palestinian militant group Hamas urged the United Nations to "stop the war and lift the siege", calling for unrestricted access for food, medicine, water and fuel.

Netanyahu, whose defence minister meanwhile threatened an even more intense offensive, rejected the UN-backed report as "an outright lie".

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.