Israel kills dozens, ramps up assault on Gaza city

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

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that in the last 24 hours, 66 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave, with a further 345 wounded.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called the US denial of visas to Palestinian officials to the UN "unjust" in a post on X.

"Palestine has the right to make its voice heard in the United Nations and in all international forums," he said.

A US official said Saturday that Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas is among 80 officials who will be denied visas to attend next month's UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognise a Palestinian state.

"Abbas is affected by this action along with approximately 80 other PA officials," a State Department official said in a statement, detailing those impacted by the extraordinary decision announced on Friday by the United States, a key Israeli ally.

The prime minister of Yemen's Houthi rebels was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other officials earlier this week, the Iran-backed group announced on Saturday.

"We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi... along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy," a Houthi statement said.

Israel is undermining a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis through its actions in Gaza, Denmark's foreign minister said on Saturday.

"Israel is right now undermining the two-state solution," Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen.

European Union foreign ministers have urged the United States to reconsider its decision not to allow Palestinian officials to take part in the UN General Assembly in New York, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Saturday.

Speaking after a meeting of the ministers in the Danish capital Copenhagen, Kallas also said she had asked EU governments to submit proposals next week for another package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office on Saturday urged the US government to reverse its unusual decision to revoke his visa, weeks before he was meant to appear at the UN's main annual meeting and an international conference about creating a Palestinian state.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rescinded the visas of Abbas and 80 other officials ahead of next month's annual high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly, the State Department disclosed Friday. Abbas has addressed the General Assembly for many years, and generally leads the Palestinian delegation.

"We call upon the American administration to reverse its decision. This decision will only increase tension and escalation," Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh told The Associated Press in Ramallah on Saturday.

"We have been in contact since yesterday with Arab and foreign countries, especially those directly concerned with this issue. This effort will continue around the clock," he said.

He urged other countries to put pressure on the Trump administration to reverse the decision, notably the countries that have organized a high-level conference on 22 September about reviving efforts for a two-state solution for the Middle East. It is co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.

The death toll in Gaza has climbed up to 44 people since dawn this morning, following renewed Israeli attacks.. 

One of the latest attacks targeted a bakery in the Nassr neighbourhood, located west of Gaza City. Gaza's civil defence confirmed the air strike hit a bakery and a displacement tent, with children among the 11 killed in the attack.

UNRWA is calling for the lifting of its ban by Israel on operating in Gaza, posting on X that, as well as being ready to operate, the agency's "warehouses in Egypt and Jordan are stocked, ready to fill around 6,000 trucks."

"UNRWA has the system in place to distribute aid safely and at scale. Let us take in our life-saving supplies by road." 

The Israeli Authorities’ ban on UNRWA’s humanitarian aid into #Gaza must be lifted.

We are ready to continue our work.

Our warehouses in Egypt and Jordan are stocked, ready to fill around 6,000 trucks.

UNRWA has the system in place to distribute aid safely and at scale.

Let… pic.twitter.com/9fpMSRZtgi

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 30, 2025

Israel will soon slow or halt humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza as it expands its offensive attempting to cripple Hamas, an official said on Saturday.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, told The Associated Press that Israel will stop airdrops over Gaza City in the coming days and reduce the arrival of aid trucks into the northern part of the strip as it prepares to evacuate hundreds of thousands of residents south.

It was unclear when the pause in aid would begin and when the airdrops would fully stop. By Saturday there had been no airdrops for several days across Gaza, a break from the almost daily drops for the past few weeks.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 35 people since dawn, according to Al Jazeera, which notes that the toll includes four aid seekers. 20 of those who have been killed are in Gaza City, which is being subjected to an Israeli assault.

The head of the international Red Cross on Saturday denounced Israel's plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City ahead of a military takeover, insisting there was no way it could be done safely.

"It is impossible that a mass evacuation of Gaza City could ever be done in a way that is safe and dignified under the current conditions," International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement, describing the evacuation plan as "not only unfeasible but incomprehensible".

Gaza's health ministry has announced that 10 Palestinians have starved to death in 24 hours as a result of "famine and malnutrition", bringing the total number of people who have died of starvation to 332, including 124 children.

Seven Israeli soldiers have been wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Israeli media, which said one was moderately wounded.

A child has died from malnutrition in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera, citing a source at the Al-Shifa hospital. 

One Israeli soldier has been killed and eleven others wounded in an ambush by Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera, citing Israeli media. 

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Saturday that she was "not optimistic" the bloc would take action against Israel over the war in Gaza due to splits between member states.

Foreign ministers meeting in Denmark will discuss a proposal to suspend EU funding to Israeli start-ups as initial punishment for the situation in Gaza.

But the bloc has so far failed to garner the majority needed to take that step - let alone move ahead with more forceful measures against Israel.

"I'm not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions," Kallas told journalists at the start of the Denmark meeting.

"It sends a signal that we are divided."

Splits within the European Union between countries backing Israel and those favouring the Palestinians have seen the 27-nation bloc often left hamstrung in the face of the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday there should be no restrictions on access to next month's UN General Assembly, after the United States said it would deny visas to members of the Palestinian Authority.

"A UN General Assembly meeting... should not be subject to any restrictions on access," Barrot said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Denmark.

A string of ministers in Copenhagen echoed France's call for the United States to allow access to the Palestinian delegation.

The extraordinary step by Washington comes as France is leading a push to recognise the Palestinian state at the gathering of world leaders in New York.