Israel kills more Gaza aid seekers, bombs Red Crescent HQ in Khan Younis

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The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on the captives in Gaza, Israel's ambassador said Sunday, as outrage built over their fate in the war-torn enclave, where experts say a famine is unfolding.

Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, posted the announcement on social media amid anger over videos showing two of the captives held by Palestinian militant group Hamas emaciated.

Danon said that the Council "will convene this coming Tuesday for a special emergency session on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza."

The videos make references to the calamitous humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a "famine is unfolding."

Israeli forces have launched raids into the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, which said that soldiers stormed the town of Hizma northeast of Jerusalem, as well as the town of Burqin, west of Jenin. 

Additionally, raids were launched around Ramallah governorate, such as Silwad and a neighbourhood of el-Bireh.

Israel is expected to ramp up its military campaign in Gaza, with Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir set to approve new operational plans on Sunday, according to Haaretz.

The plans include stepping up military operations into sensitive areas and central refugee camps, according to the publication, and will be presented to senior members of the Israeli government.

One official told the publication that: "There is a growing understanding that Hamas is not interested in a deal. Therefore, the prime minister is pushing for the release of hostages as part of a military resolution, combined with the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas outside combat zones and, as much as possible, to regions not under Hamas control."

The official further stated that the plans are in discussion with the US.

The Hostage Families Forum, representing the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza, has slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his comments that Hamas doesn't want a deal while doubling down on military pressure.

"For 22 months now the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back," the group said, according to The Times of Israel, adding, "even before the draft for a comprehensive deal was written, they're telling us that an agreement is not feasible." 

"The truth must be told: Expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages who are at risk of imminent death. We saw the chilling images of the hostages in the tunnels, they won't survive more long days of horror."

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said Sunday that Israeli captives would not receive any "special privileges" in the food they are given compared to the rest of the Gazan population.

"(Hamas) does not intentionally starve the captives, but they eat the same food our fighters and the general public eat. They will not receive any special privileges amid the crime of starvation and siege", Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, wrote in a statement.

Yemen's Houthis have claimed responsibility for a series of drone attacks against Israel earlier today, with Yahya Saree, the group's military spokesperson, saying that three drones were launched at "Zionist enemy targets" in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Haifa.

Hamas' armed wing is ready to deliver Red Cross aid to the captives it is holding in Gaza if Israel opens humanitarian corridors permanently and halts "all forms of air traffic" during the delivery of packages to the hostages, its military spokesperson said on Sunday.

Ankara on Sunday blasted an Israeli government minister for conducting a Jewish prayer on the Al-Aqsa compound in east Jerusalem.

In a highly controversial move, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly conducted on Sunday a Jewish prayer at the mosque's compound, which is Islam's third-holiest site, and sits on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest place.

"We strongly condemn the raid carried out on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by certain Israeli ministers, under the protection of Israeli police and accompanied by groups of Israeli settlers," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The security of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the preservation of Jerusalem's sacred identity are not only regional priorities but also a primary responsibility on behalf of humanity's collective conscience," it said.

Jewish religious rituals are prohibited in the compound by a long-standing agreement between Israel and Jordan, custodian of the site.

In recent years, the understanding, known as the "status quo" has been repeatedly violated by Jewish visitors, including members of Israel's parliament.

The European Union, France and Germany on Sunday condemned Hamas's videos of two emaciated Israeli captives held in Gaza, with leaders insisting the Palestinian group must have no role in the territory's future.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the release showed the Palestinian militant group's "inhumanity without bounds" and "abject cruelty".

"The absolute priority for France is the immediate release of all the hostages," he added on X.

Macron and German leader Friedrich Merz said that Hamas must have no role in ruling the coastal strip once the war ends.

"We must have the total demilitarisation of Hamas, its complete exclusion from any form of governance and the recognition of Israel by the state of Palestine," Macron said.

In an interview with the Bild newspaper, Germany's chancellor insisted the videos "show that Hamas should no longer a play a role in the future of Gaza".

But Merz called on Israel not to "respond to Hamas's cynicism" by halting humanitarian aid to the besieged territory, where UN-mandated experts have warned of unfolding famine.

Palestinian administrative detainee, Ahmad Sa’id Saleh Tazaza’a, has died in the Israeli Megiddo jail, the Civil Affairs Authority Commission informed the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society revealed.

The 20-year-old, who was from Jenin, was detained on 6 May, and the circumstances surrounding his death remain unknown.

After Tazaza’a’s death, 761 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons - this figure is only of the detainees identified.

Arab nations condemned Israel's Ben-Gvir for storming and praying at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem.

Jordan's foreign ministry described the incursion as a "flagrant violation of international law" and demanded that the Israeli government prevent extremists from escalating tensions in the occupied city.

A ministry spokesperson affirmed "the kingdom's absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the continued unacceptable incursions by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir".

A spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Ben-Gvir's actions had "crossed all red lines".

"The international community, and in particular the American administration, must intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government at the Al-Aqsa Mosque," they said.

Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed the "strongest condemnation of the repeated provocative practices by officials in the Israeli occupation government against the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque".

At least 70 Palestinians have been killed since Sunday, including 37 aid seekers, medical sources told Wafa.

Israeli forces killed at least seven aid seekers in Khan Younis.

Residents of the occupied West Bank village of Aqraba buried a 24-year-old Palestinian on Sunday who was killed by Israeli settlers the day before, the mayor told AFP.

The man was killed during a violent confrontation involving firearms that lasted half an hour and left eight other people injured, Mayor Salah Jaber said.

"It happened very close to the homes of residents. That's why they (came out) to defend their area, their homes and their farms", Jaber said.

"The shooting was clearly intended to kill. The injuries were extremely severe, even to the limbs, one person was killed instantly", Jaber said, identifying the dead man as 24-year-old Muin Asfar.

Jaber said that although the Israeli army was present, "it was supporting the settlers more than protecting the Palestinians".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross's regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to captives held in Gaza.

At least 60,839 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, while 149,588 have been wounded - the Gaza Health Ministry revealed.

The ministry adds that 119 people were killed, including 15 bodies that were recovered, and 866 have been wounded during the past 24 hours.

Thousands still remain missing and trapped under the rubble.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria's Deir el-Zor on 31 July.

The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by the Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.

Thousands of Palestinians protested in the occupied West Bank's major cities Sunday against the war in Gaza and in support of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

One of the largest marches took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority located just north of Jerusalem, with hundreds gathering at the main square, waving Palestinian flags.

Many protesters carried photos of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel, as well as photos depicting the hunger crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where UN-backed experts have warned that a "famine is unfolding".

Belgium's air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages in Gaza on Sunday in cooperation with Jordan, Belgium's defence ministry said in a statement.

Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least two people on Sunday, a war monitor said, in the first deadly incident since a ceasefire last month.

Deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins erupted in the province in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal fighters.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to strengthen Israel's control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, hours after thousands of far-right settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa compound.

"On Tisha B’Av, two thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount are again under the sovereignty of the State of Israel," Katz wrote in a post on social media.

"Israel haters around the world continue to make decisions against us and protest, and we will strengthen our hold and sovereignty over Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount, forever," he said.

Extremist national security Itamar Ben-Gvir earlier on Sunday openly prayed in the compound, violating a decades-old arrangement that prohibits non-Muslims performing religious rituals at the site.

The move triggered condemnation from several Arab governments.

Israeli forces have killed at least 44 Palestinians on Sunday, including 22 who were seeking aid, Al Jazeera ​​​​​​reports.

Two Palestinian girls were injured by Israeli fire in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society revealed.

The two girls, aged 12 to 16, were shot in the legs and were transferred to the Jenin Governmental Hospital for treatment.

Over 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been detained by Israeli forces since October 2023, according to a report by the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

The report notes a sharp rise in detentions, including of children and journalists.

Six Palestinians have died due to famine and malnutrition in the last 24 hours as Israel continues to prevent life-saving humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, causing a rise in famine.

Now 175 Palestinians, including 93 children, have died from starvation in the enclave.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it conducted a raid on targets in southern Syria the previous day.

It said it seized weapons and questioned several suspects it said were involved in weapons trafficking in the area.

The commander-in-chief of Iran's military, Amir Hatami, said on Sunday that threats from Israel persist, according to state media.

"A 1% threat must be perceived as a 100% threat. We should not underestimate the enemy and consider its threats as over," Hatami said, according to the official IRNA news agency, adding that the Islamic Republic's missile and drone power "remains standing and ready for operations".

In June, Israel and the US launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during the so-called 12-day war, in which Tehran retaliated against Israel with several barrages of missiles and drones.

Last month, Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz warned that his country would strike Iran again if threatened. 

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday and said he prayed there, challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

Videos released by a small Jewish organisation called the Temple Mount Administration showed Ben-Gvir leading a group walking in the compound. Other videos circulating online appeared to show Ben-Gvir praying. Reuters could not immediately verify the content of the other videos.

Videos published recently by Hamas and Islamic Jihad showing emaciated Israeli captives are "appalling" and barbaric, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said Sunday.

"The images of Israeli hostages are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas. All [captives] must be released immediately and unconditionally. Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza. At the same time, large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need," Kallas posted on X.

The images of Israeli hostages are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza.

At the same time, large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need.

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) August 3, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with relatives of two captives held in Gaza, seen in videos released by Palestinian militant groups, expressing his "profound shock" over the images, his office said.

The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, looking emaciated after nearly 22 months of captivity, have sparked strong reactions among Israelis, fuelling renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay.

"The prime minister expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly," said a statement from Netanyahu's office released late Saturday.

Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Sunday that two fuel trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel restricted the entry of goods and aid into the Palestinian enclave.

There was no immediate confirmation whether the trucks had entered Gaza.