Israel continues to pound Gaza as famine triggers global outcry

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Israeli bulldozers uprooted hundreds of trees in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir on Sunday in the presence of the Israeli military, according to AFP journalists who witnessed the scene.

Most of the felled vegetation appeared to be olive trees, essential to the economy and culture of the West Bank, while olive groves have also long been a flashpoint for violent clashes between farmers and encroaching Israeli settlers.

Abdelatif Mohammed Abu Aliya, a local farmer from the village near Ramallah, said he lost olive trees that were over 70 years old on about one hectare of land.

"They completely uprooted and levelled them under false pretences," he said, explaining he and other residents had already begun replanting the pulled-up trees.

AFP photographers on the ground saw overturned soil, olive trees lying on the ground, and several bulldozers operating on the hills surrounding the village.

One bulldozer had an Israeli flag, and Israeli military vehicles were parked nearby.

(AFP)

More than 10,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Copenhagen on Sunday, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and urging Denmark to recognise the state of Palestine.

Some 100 organisations including Oxfam, Greenpeace and Amnesty took part in the march, as well as unions, political parties, artists' collectives and activists including Greta Thunberg.

Police did not provide an estimate of the number of demonstrators.

Gathering under sunny skies outside the Danish parliament, the demonstrators - many of them families with young children - waved flags and carried banners, chanting "Stop Arms Sales", "Free Free Palestine" and "Denmark Says No to Genocide".

"Those who are in power are not stopping the genocide, so it's even more important to go out and protest and show all the leaders that we do not agree with this," 43-year-old demonstrator Michelle Appelros told AFP.

(AFP)

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar is visiting the US next week where he will meet with key Trump administration officials and pro-Israel organisations.

He will hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday and meet with Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem.

He will also meet with AIPAC leaders and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, and host a reception for Jewish and Christian supporters of Israel.

The number of people killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza on Sunday has risen to at least 34, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.

Nine of the dead were reportedly killed while seeking aid.

At least two people were killed and five others injured in the Israeli strike on a fuel storage terminal in Yemen's capital earlier this afternoon, Houthi media is reporting.

Israeli warplanes earlier launched a wave of attacks on the city, targeting the presidential palace, missile bases and energy facilities.

The Israeli military has confirmed it attacked Yemen's capital earlier this afternoon.

Warplanes targeted a military complex containing the presidential palace, the Asar and Hiza power stations, and a fuel storage site, it said in a statement.

Residents in Yemen's capital Sanaa tell Reuters that Israeli strikes this afternoon hit areas near the presidential complex, missile bases, and oil and power stations.

Houthi-aligned media earlier reported a wave of Israeli strikes in the capital.

At least six people have been killed and others wounded in Israeli artillery shelling in the Sabra district of Gaza City, an emergency responder has told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Israel struck the capital Sanaa on Sunday, the latest attack against the Iran-backed group, which has launched missiles and drones at Israel throughout the Gaza war.

The Houthis' Al-Masirah TV reported an Israeli "aggression on the capital Sanaa", without providing details.

A Houthi security source told AFP that the air raid targeted a municipality building in central Sanaa, adding that there were reports of casualties.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Three Palestinians were killed in separate incidents after Israeli strikes targeted north Gaza, Wafa reports.

A woman was killed in Jabalia al-Nazla while ambulance and emergency crews confirmed that two more Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.

US envoy Tom Barrack on Sunday met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel to discuss the Trump administration's request that Israel scale back its airstrikes in Lebanon, as well as negotiations with Syria, Axios's Barak Ravid has reported, citing three Israeli and American sources.

Barrack also met with Israel's minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Defence Minister Israel Katz.

The US has abruptly withdrawn all of its troops from two military bases in Iraq, Sky News Arabia reports, citing informed sources. 

Soldiers have reportedly been redeployed from the Ain al-Asad and Victory bases to Iraqi Kurdistan and an undisclosed neighbouring Arab country.

Hamas said Sunday that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to move ahead with plans to occupy Gaza City prove his "determination to obstruct the [ceasefire] agreement".

The Palestinian armed group earlier this week agreed to a proposal for a temporary ceasefire drawn up by Egypt and Qatar. The Israeli government is yet to officially respond to the proposal and instead approved plans to besiege Gaza's largest city.

"Netanyahu's approval of the plan to occupy Gaza after our approval of the mediators' proposal confirms his determination to obstruct the agreement," Hamas said in a statement.

"We agreed to a partial deal, and we showed readiness for a comprehensive deal, but Netanyahu rejects all solutions," 

Medics tell Al Jazeera Arabic that 16 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces so far on Sunday.

Among them were seven people who were killed while waiting for aid.

Iran will stand strongly against the United States wanting to make Tehran 'obedient', the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in comments carried by state media on Sunday.

"Those who threaten us to have direct negotiations with the US only see appearances in my opinion ... the issue is unsolvable", Khamenei said.

(Reuters)

The World Health Organization said a staff member was released on Sunday more than four weeks after being detained in Gaza by Israeli forces.

"Extremely relieved that our colleague, detained since 21 July in Gaza, was released this morning," agency Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.

He reiterated a call for protection of all WHO staff and personnel, and health and humanitarian workers.

The Israeli military in July attacked the UN agency's staff residence and destroyed its main warehouse in Deir al-Balah.

The WHO said that two of its staff members and two family members were detained by Israeli forces. Three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

At least 64 people were killed and 278 injured by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the local health ministry's daily report.

This takes the total death toll since 7 October 2023 to at least 62,686. Thousands of other are thought to be buried underneath the rubble.

At least 157,951 others have been injured, according to the ministry.

Hospitals received bodies of 19 people who were shot dead at aid sites operated by the notorious Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Since it entered Gaza at the end of May, 2,095 Palestinians have been killed and 15,431 others injured near its distribution sites, according to the ministry's latest figures.

Eight people have died of malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including one child, the local health ministry has said in a statement.

Since the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023, 289 people have died from starvation, among them 115 children, according to the ministry's latest tally.

Pro-Palestine Irish rap group Kneecap is to perform outside Paris on Sunday, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials.

The annual Rock en Seine festival - held in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud - has resisted pressure to drop the group from local authorities, which have withdrawn their subsidies for the event.

"We are confident that the group will perform in the correct manner," Matthieu Ducos, director of Rock en Seine, told AFP ahead of the festival.

Liam O'Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged with terror offences by British authorities earlier this year for displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November.

They played a closely scrutinised concert at the Glastonbury Festival in June, where Chara declared: "Israel are war criminals."

Two people have been killed in Israeli shelling in Sheikh Radwan, a northern suburb of Gaza City, emergency responders have told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Egypt is intensifying its military presence on the Gaza border ahead of Israel's assault on Gaza City, according to Al Araby Al Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister site of The New Arab.

Israel's attack on the city - the largest urban area in occupied Palestine - is expected to displace hundreds of thousands of civilians to the south of the strip.

Egypt has long feared that Israel aims to expel Gaza's 2.2 million inhabitants into the Sinai Peninsula, which it views as a critical national security threat.

Gaza medics say that at least six people have now been killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid near centres operated by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

More than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed near GHF sites since the organisation entered Gaza at the end of May.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Australia on Sunday to demand the government act to prevent Israel from committing genocide in Gaza.

Organisers Palestine Actions said more than 100,000 people joined a protest in Melbourne while another 50,000 participated in a demonstration in Brisbane.

Thousands also took part in protests in Sydney, Canberra and Perth.

UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese has called on the international community to break Israel's blockade on Gaza as famine spreads in the Palestinian territory.

In a post on X, Albanese said states should enforce a full arms embargo and deploy navies to carry aid to Gaza.

She also called on the UN General Assembly to authorise a "protection presence" in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

This refers to a Uniting For Peace resolution, which allows the General Assembly to pass measures when the UN Security Council fails to act.

State must stop Israel's genocide.

Urgently needed ACTIONS:

1. Full arms embargo.

2. Navies carrying aid breaking the blockade.

3. Protection presence authorised under UNGA res. United For Peace entering by sea, Rafah (in Gaza) and Jordan (West Bank/east Jerusalem). https://t.co/PT0vYfhcRq

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 23, 2025

At least five Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Sunday, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Four people were killed and others injured near aid distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Netzarim and Rafah, medics said.

A woman died after Israeli shelling targeted a school in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. Warplanes also bombed the Al-Shafei Mosque in the area.