Israel kills dozens in Gaza strikes as over 100 aid groups warn of famine

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Hamas confirmed on Thursday that it has responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, after more than two weeks of indirect talks in Qatar have failed to yield a truce.

"Hamas has just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators," the Palestinian militant group said in a statement on Telegram.

The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, according to a Palestinian source familiar with ongoing talks in Doha.

 The Canadian government said on Wednesday that Israeli military operations against civilians and aid workers in Gaza were unacceptable, and called for the immediate resumption of U.N.-led aid distribution in the war-torn enclave.

"Israeli military operations against WHO staff and facilities, World Food Programme aid convoys, & the ongoing killing of Palestinians seeking urgently needed food and water are unacceptable," the Canadian foreign ministry said on X.

"Hunger in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels ... Canada calls for the immediate resumption at scale of UN-led aid," the ministry added. 

Israel hit back on Wednesday at growing international criticism that it was behind chronic food shortages in Gaza, instead accusing Hamas of deliberately creating a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

More than 100 aid and human rights groups said earlier Wednesday that mass starvation was spreading in the Gaza Strip, while France warned of a growing risk of famine caused by the blockade imposed by Israel.

The head of the World Health Organization also weighed in, saying that a "large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving".

But an Israeli government spokesman, David Mencer, claimed there was "no famine caused by Israel. There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas".

President Isaac Herzog, visiting troops in Gaza, maintained that Israel was acting "according to international law", while Hamas was "trying to sabotage" aid distribution in a bid to obstruct the Israeli military campaign that began more than 21 months ago.

Mencer accused Hamas of preventing supplies from being distributed and looting aid for themselves or to sell at inflated prices.

"Aid has been flowing into Gaza," he said, blaming the United Nations and its associates for failing to pick up truckloads of foodstuffs and other essentials that were cleared and waiting on the Gaza side of the border.

Israeli forces have reportedly killed two Palestinians in Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

The Israeli forces are reportedly withholding the victims' bodies, who have yet to be identified.

The Israeli military had opened fire on at least four children and youths near the Al-Abarah area on the western side of the town of Al-Khader, along the colonial road No. (60), wounding them.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the occupation forces prevented its crews from reaching the scene to treat the wounded.

Israeli forces arrested 14 Palestinian workers in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukaber on Wednesday, the Palestinian Wafa agency, under the pretext of not having 'work permits'.

Turkey on Wednesday branded the Israeli parliament's vote calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank an "illegitimate and provocative gesture aimed at undermining peace efforts".

More than 70 Israeli MPs voted on Wednesday to call on the government to formally annex the territory to "strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland".

Though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory's legal status, the non-binding vote in the Knesset was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, as well as some opposition lawmakers.

Pointing out that the West Bank is a "Palestinian territory under Israeli occupation since 1967", Turkey's foreign ministry said the bid was "null and void under international law and without any validity".

"The Netanyahu government's efforts to survive through aggressive policies and illegal actions are leading to new crises every day and pose a serious threat to international order and regional security," the ministry said.

Turkey called for "binding and deterrent measures without delay", as well as for "the legal and moral obligations of the international system to be respected".

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has rejected the Israeli parliament’s passage of the nonbinding motion in support of annexing the occupied West Bank.

Abu Rudeineh said the measure "violates all resolutions of international legitimacy and international law", the Wafa news agency reported.

"He warned that such dangerous calls to annex occupied Palestinian land represent a challenge to the will of the international community to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution and UN resolutions," the report said.

Earlier today, more than 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion urging the government to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory's legal status.

The non-binding vote in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, as well as some opposition lawmakers.

They said that annexing the West Bank "will strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland".

"Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria" - the name Israel uses for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 - was "an integral part of the realisation of Zionism and the national vision of the Jewish people", the text stated.

It passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent.

Israeli activists protested against what they called censorship of the ongoing war in Gaza on Wednesday.

Demonstrators held images of children killed in the war and slogans denouncing Kan's censorship of the onslaught.

The Standing Together movement launched a public petition calling for an end to the "concealment" of the situation in Gaza and calling for balanced and transparent coverage of the war.

In the petition, the group said it wanted to directly challenge the dominance of the far-right discourse in Israeli media, calling for news agencies to report on the killing of 100 children in one week and the erasure of entire cities in Gaza.

פעילי מחאה נכנסו לבניין תאגיד השידור "כאן" ודרשו שהתקשורת תתייחס לזוועות שקורות בעזה.
תקשורת מכל העולם רואה את מה שאצלנו מסתירים,
תקשורת מכל העולם הגיעה לראיין את המוחים שעומדים בנחישות אל מול השתיקה שהיא שיתוף פעולה עם ההרג ההמוני וההרעבה בעזה.

נמשיך להגיע שוב ושוב
עד שזה… pic.twitter.com/ayFw5ExXuf

— משנים כיוון ↩️ (@change_dir_il) July 23, 2025

A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli army gunfire on Wednesday evening in the town of Arraba, south of Jenin.

Israeli forces stationed at the western entrance to Arraba town directly fired live ammunition at 14-year-old Ibrahim Imad Ahmed Mahmoud Hamran, killing him instantly, sources told the Palestinian Wafa agency.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) confirmed that its crews received the teenager's body and transferred him to a hospital in Jenin.

Hamas has handed its response on the ceasefire proposal to mediators, a Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters on Wednesday.

The official did not immediately disclose the content of the response. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning concerning the hunger crisis in Gaza, urging for increased food aid to Gaza as the hunger crisis plaguing the enclave has reached "new and astonishing levels of desperation".

saying that 1 in 3 Palestinians in the enclave aren't eating and that 90,000 women and children need urgent malnutrition treatment.

"Food assistance is the only solution to stop starvation in its tracks. There's no time to lose."

Syria will sign 44 agreements with Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth at nearly $6 billion, Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Moustafa said on Wednesday.

He spoke at a press conference as Damascus hosts a Saudi-Syrian investment conference attended by a top Saudi business delegation.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog visited the Gaza strip on Wednesday and told soldiers that there were "intensive negotiations" about returning the captives in Gaza, adding that he hopes that they will soon "hear good news", a statement from the president's spokesperson reported.

President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday rejected accusations that Israel was responsible for the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying it was acting "according to international law" in its 21-month war against Hamas.

"We are acting here according to international law. We are providing humanitarian aid according to international law," Herzog told troops during a visit to the Palestinian territory - his first time there since the war began in October 2023, according to a presidency statement.

He blamed militant group "Hamas and its people" for "trying to sabotage this aid" in a bid to obstruct Israel's military campaign.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas submitted its response to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire on Wednesday, according to two Palestinian sources familiar with ongoing talks in Doha.

The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, one of the sources told AFP.

Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Qatar with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement on a truce deal that would see the release of 10 Israeli hostages in exchange for an as yet undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Wednesday accused Hamas of obstructing talks.

"Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff proposal, it is Hamas that is refusing," Mencer told reporters, adding that Israel's negotiating team was still in Doha and talks were ongoing.

Brazil will intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is no longer neutral and Israel will only grant one month visas to its international staff, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council on Wednesday. 

 An anti-government activist in her 70s has been placed under investigation on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, police said on Wednesday.

The suspect is accused of having expressed her intent to kill Netanyahu and sought assistance from other activists to obtain weapons and gather information about the prime minister’s security arrangements, police said.

The National Unit for Serious and International Crime Investigations and the Shin Bet internal security agency have passed their evidence on to the State Attorney's office pending possible formal charges.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting sources familiar with the case, said the woman had recently fallen ill and told people she planned to "take Netanyahu with her".

Several people who heard her remarks contacted police, prompting the opening of the investigation. She was arrested around six weeks ago and has been released to house arrest.

Haaretz said the woman, who comes from Tel Aviv and was not identified, was suspected of wanting to target Netanyahu with an explosive device or rocket-propelled grenade.

The World Health Organization's chief warned Wednesday of widespread starvation in Gaza, with food deliveries into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory "far below what is needed for the survival of the population".

"A large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don't know what you would call it other than mass-starvation -- and it's man-made," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

The UN's agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has called on Israel to allow the entry of aid hold up in Egypt and Jordan set for Gaza, saying in a post on X: "thousands of hygiene kits are packed and ready in UNRWA warehouses in Jordan and Egypt, just waiting for the green light."

"Open the gates. Let aid in," it added.

The Israeli government on Wednesday said it was not responsible for a chronic shortage of food in Gaza, instead accused Palestinian militants Hamas of deliberately creating a crisis.

"In Gaza today there is no famine caused by Israel," government spokesman David Mencer told reporters after more than 100 aid and rights groups warned of "mass starvation" and urged Israel to unblock aid.

"There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas," Mencer added, accusing the militants of preventing food from being distributed and looting aid for themselves.

France's foreign ministry said Wednesday malnutrition and the "risk of famine" in war-torn Gaza was the "result of the blockade imposed by Israel" on the Palestinian territory.

Israel's ramping up of military operations in Gaza this week "is accelerating the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, marked by malnutrition and the risk of famine. This situation is the result of the blockade imposed by Israel," a spokesman said.

The leader of the UK's Liberal Democrats, the third largest party in Parliament, has called on the UK government to end all arms exports to Israel.

In a post on X, Ed Davey said: "Mass starvation in Gaza and over 1,000 Palestinians killed while seeking aid since May. The government says the situation is intolerable yet they continue to tolerate it."

"The UK needs to stop all arms exports to the Israeli Government - today."

Mass starvation in Gaza and over 1,000 Palestinians killed while seeking aid since May. The government says the situation is intolerable yet they continue to tolerate it.

The UK needs to stop all arms exports to the Israeli Government - today.

— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) July 23, 2025

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that in the past 24 hours, Israel has killed 113 Palestinians and injured 534 others in its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The ministry added that 59,219 Palestinians have been killed and an additional 143,045 wounded since the start of the war.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for the recognition of Palestine by the UK government as part of an effort to protect a two-state solution.

Condemning the mass starvation in Gaza, Khan said: "The international community - including our own government - must do far more to stop this horrific, senseless killing and let vital life-saving aid in. Nothing justifies the actions of the Israeli government."

"The UK must immediately recognise Palestinian statehood. There can be no two state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine," he added.

The UK must immediately recognise Palestinian statehood.

There can be no two state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine. pic.twitter.com/wlnzNIt0bQ

— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) July 23, 2025

Israel's military said troops were "deepening their operational activity" in the Gaza City area and the north, including the Jabaliya area.

"Over the past day, the troops dismantled dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites and located weapons in the southern Gaza Strip," a statement read.

A former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation worker has said that the agency should end and that the distribution centres "treated the population [of Gaza] very badly and put them in danger."

In an interview with Israel's Channel 12, the former security guard worker said that the GHF could not be fixed and that "if the UN had the resources and coordination that this mechanism has, it would work much better."

He also accused security personnel at the station of attacking Palestinians seeking aid, saying: "While the Palestinians were finishing collecting the aid that was at the site, the American security guards began shooting at them... shooting at their feet, shooting at the earthen embankments, to make them leave," he was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.

"In all my military services, I have never seen such use of force against unarmed civilians. I will not take part in it now," he added.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, which was formerly part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, has said it will vote in favour of a Knesset motion that calls for the annexation of the occupied West Bank.

The motion will not change the legal status of the West Bank, but rather "would make it clear to the world that Israel will not accept solutions that involve dangerous territorial concessions," the proposal states, according to The Times of Israel.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) have said that medical facilities are shutting down in Gaza over a lack of fuel in the enclave. 

Citing the health ministry, MAP said that the Public Aid Society Hospital, Central Oxygen Station, Al-Salam Clinic, Al-Shati Clinic, Al-Jalaa Medical Centre, and Abdel Shafi Community Health Association have closed.

Israeli settlers have attacked a Palestinian farmer in the occupied West Bank near the town of Haris, located northwest of Salfit.

According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, the settlers attacked a farmer, beating him and stealing his tools and produce.

The Israeli army has withdrawn from the southern part of Deir el-Balah following a military offensive on the area, which saw the displacement of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure, according to Al-Jazeera.

The World Health Organisation has hit back against claims made by Israel at the UN that the WHO's chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has not spoken out about Israeli captives in Gaza since 2 May 2025, saying: "The statement below is incorrect. [Ghebreyesus] has repeatedly called for the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza", in a post on X.

The WHO cited three instances where Ghebreyesus called for the release of Israeli captives, including in late May, June and July.

The statement below is incorrect. @DrTedros has repeatedly called for the release of Israeli hostages from #Gaza, including:
- At the #WHA78 in your presence, late May 2025
- June 2025: https://t.co/kAPYGJkbEZ
- July 2025: https://t.co/vJowW2zfnG (statement link) https://t.co/6kC5Kv0Wwr

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 23, 2025

Oxfam's policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory, Bushra Khalidi, said that staff members of the organisation are "risking being shot" by standing in food lines, adding that an Oxfam colleague "told me on Saturday that she went to work without even water, she ate a single falafel just to keep going, and she still showed up to work."

He added that another colleague has given up speaking to international media because "she no longer believes that interviews or pleas for help are having any effect."

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Europe this week for meetings on Israel's war in Gaza and a range of other issues, a US official said on Tuesday, adding Witkoff will continue pushing for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

Axios reported that Witkoff is expected to depart for Rome on Wednesday and arrive on Thursday for a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and a senior Qatari envoy.

If sufficient progress is made, Witkoff will travel from Rome to Doha toward the end of the week to secure a deal, the news website reported, citing a US and an Israeli source.