Israel begins first stages of planned assault on Gaza City, says military spokesman

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Fans of Turkish football club Fenerbahce displayed a giant banner calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza during the club's Champion's League playoff tie with Benfica in Istanbul on Wednesday night.

The banner, unfurled ahead of kick-off, read "Stop the genocide in Gaza! Free Palestine!".

Supporters were also seen waving Palestinian flags in the stands.

Worker-led protests erupted at Microsoft headquarters this week as the tech company promises an “urgent” review of the Israeli military's use of its technology during the ongoing war in Gaza.

A second day of protests at the Microsoft campus on Wednesday called for the tech giant to immediately cut its business ties with Israel.

Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian that the Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

"Microsoft’s standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage," the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises "precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review."

(The Associated Press)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sought Wednesday to blame a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognise Palestinian statehood.

The ambassador, who is himself a longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood and staunch Christian Zionist, told the Associated Press the "noise that has been made by European leaders recently ... is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want."

"If they believe that unilaterally calling for a two-state, a Palestinian state recognition, immediately brings them closer, the sad truth is it’s taking them further away," he said.

(The Associated Press)

Palestinian armed group Hamas said Wednesday that Israeli military plans to conquer Gaza City showed its "blatant disregard" for efforts to broker a ceasefire and captive-release deal.

"Today's announcement by the terrorist occupation army of the start of an operation against Gaza City and its nearly one million residents and displaced persons... demonstrates... a blatant disregard for the efforts made by the mediators," it said in a statement.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Lebanese state media reported airstrikes by Israeli warplanes and drones in several locations in the south of the country on Wednesday evening.

The health ministry said four were wounded in a strike in Tyre district. No deaths have yet been reported.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it struck a number of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a missile launcher and a weapons storage site.

Belgium's foreign minister has said he "strongly rejects" new sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court by the US earlier on Wednesday.

"Belgium once again strongly regrets the new sanctions imposed by the United States against judges and deputy prosecutors of the International Criminal Court," Maxime Prevot wrote in a post on X.

"As with previous sanctions, Belgium reaffirms its unwavering support for the ICC, its independence and its staff," he wrote.

Italy's foreign minister has become the latest top Western diplomat to condemn Israel's plan to build the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank.

"The Israeli decision to proceed with new settlements in the West Bank is unacceptable, contrary to international law, and indeed risks definitively compromising the two-state solution, an objective for which the Italian Government continues to work with conviction and the utmost commitment," Antonio Tajani wrote in a post on X on Wednesday evening.

Tajani joins Germany, the UK and the Netherlands in condemning the settlement, which - if built - would effectively block the formation of a Palestinian state on contiguous territory in the West Bank.

An aid convoy operated by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) came under attack on Wednesday near the famine-hit Sudanese town of Mellit in North Darfur, the agency's spokesperson told AFP.

The incident came as several countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Egypt voiced alarm at the worsening hunger situation in war-torn Sudan, calling for pauses in fighting to let in more aid.

Three of the 16 trucks in the convoy -- which was carrying life-saving food assistance for vulnerable communities in Alsayah village -- were damaged and caught fire, said the WFP's Gift Watanasathorn, adding that all members of the convoy were "safe and accounted for".

(AFP)

Medical sources in Gaza have increased today's death toll, telling Al Jazeera Arabic that 76 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli attacks since dawn.

Israel's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to resign from the government if Netanyahu agrees to a temporary truce with Hamas, according to Israel's Channel 12.

"If the prime minister goes through with the deal, I will make difficult decisions and resign from the government. I told the prime minister that," the news outlet quotes him as saying.

Netanyahu is yet to officially respond to the Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and partial captive-release deal, which Hamas agreed to earlier this week.

Resignations by Smotrich and the other Religious Zionism cabinet ministers would likely bring down the government, triggering fresh elections.

A pre-dawn US military raid in northwestern Syria early on Wednesday targeted and killed a senior member of the Islamic State group, a US official told Reuters.

It was the second known raid in northern Syria by US troops since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. The Islamist-led government that replaced him has pledged to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and is part of an anti-ISIS alliance that includes the US-led coalition fighting the group.

The US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the raid killed a senior ISIS member who was seen as a candidate to be the leader of ISIS in Syria. No US troops were killed or injured in the raid, the official added.

A Syrian security source and Syria's state-owned Al-Ikhbariya said the target was killed as he tried to escape.

Another Syrian source said the target was an Iraqi national and was married to a French national.

It was not immediately clear what happened to his wife. The Pentagon did not immediately have any public comment on
the reports.

(Reuters)

The Netherlands' foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp has issued a statement condemning Israel's approval of the deeply controversial E1 settlement in the West Bank, writing that the project stands in "clear violation of international law".

"I condemn Israel's decision to advance its illegal E1 settlement plan, effectively splitting the occupied West Bank in two. Implementation of these plans constitutes a clear violation of international law and would make a future Palestinian state virtually impossible," he wrote in a post on X.

He continued: "The Netherlands and the EU have long rejected such plans and the expansion of illegal settlements. We remain firmly committed to a negotiated two-state solution, and call on Israel to not take any steps that would further undermine this."

The Netherlands and the EU have long rejected such plans and the expansion of illegal settlements. We remain firmly committed to a negotiated two-state solution, and call on Israel to not take any steps that would further undermine this. 2/2

— Caspar Veldkamp (@ministerBZ) August 20, 2025

Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer has reportedly told Qatari officials that Hamas must release all of the captives if it wants a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel's Channel 12 reported Wednesday evening, citing senior Israeli officials.

The Palestinian armed group earlier this week agreed to an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal that would see it release more than half of the remaining captives in exchange for a 60-day truce.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not officially responded to the plan but in recent days has signalled opposition to further temporary ceasefires and has continued to press ahead with plans to lay siege to Gaza City.

According to the Israeli broadcaster, Dermer told Qatari officials in Paris that Israel is insisting that Hamas release all of the captives and surrender in order to end the war.

Israeli forces have killed 72 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn on Wednesday, medics have told Al Jazeera Arabic. 

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Wednesday that almost one in three children in Gaza City is now suffering from malnutrition - six times higher than the rate before Israel broke the ceasefire five months ago.

The agency also said that malnutrition rates among children has tripled across the strip in less than six months. 

"This is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made, preventable starvation,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on social media.

"🚨Alarming new data from UNRWA clinics in #Gaza:

Since March, nearly 100,000 children under the age of 5 screened by UNRWA.

➡️ In less than 6 months, child malnutrition tripled across the Gaza Strip.

➡️ In Gaza City, nearly 1 in every 3 children is now malnourished - 6 times… pic.twitter.com/HeefImvfXc

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 20, 2025

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday welcomed a decision by the United States to impose sanctions on four additional International Criminal Court (ICC) judges.

"I congratulate Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, who decided to impose sanctions on the judges of the International Criminal Court," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"This is a decisive act against a smear campaign of lies against the State of Israel and the (Israeli army)," added the prime minister, who has been the subject of an ICC arrest warrant since November 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

(AFP)

France on Wednesday expressed dismay at a US decision to impose sanctions on four more International Criminal Court judges or prosecutors, including one from France, over actions against Israeli leaders and US citizens.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the sanctions, including against French judge Nicolas Guillou, were "in contradiction to the principle of an independent judiciary".

(AFP)

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has condemned Israel's approval of the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank as a "flagrant breach of international law" and told it to reverse its decision.

"The UK condemns the decision by Israel’s Higher Planning Committee today to approve the E1 settlement plan," Lammy wrote on social media on Wednesday evening.

He continued: "If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution. The Israeli government must reverse this decision."

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to move ahead with the long-frozen project last week, proclaiming the settlement would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".

The E1 project - which would see 3,400 homes built between East Jerusalem and Ma'ale Emunim - has been on hold for decades due to fierce international opposition. If built, the settlement would cut the West Bank in half, ending the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian territory.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday it deplored the announcement by President Donald Trump's administration of new US sanctions against another four of its staff members - two judges and two deputy prosecutors.

"These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 states parties from all regions," the ICC said in a statement.

"They constitute also an affront against the Court's States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world," the court added.

"The ICC will continue fulfilling mandates in strict accordance with its legal framework, without regard to any pressure or threat."

(Reuters)

At least 64 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since dawn on Wednesday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

Of these, 19 were killed while trying to receive aid.

Israel has entered the first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City after a clash with Hamas and already has a hold on the outskirts of the city, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters on Wednesday.

Norway’s soccer federation says it "cannot remain indifferent" to humanitarian suffering in Gaza and will donate any profits from an October 11 World Cup qualifying game against Israel to aid work there.

"Neither we nor other organisations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time," Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness said in a statement Tuesday.

"We want to donate the proceeds to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground," she said.

It wasn't immediately clear how much the Norwegian federation expected to earn through ticket sales for the match, which begin next week.

The Israeli military said it killed 10 Hamas fighters in a rare face-to-face battle after repelling a major attack near the Gaza Strip's southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday.

Over 15 militants emerged from tunnels and attacked an Israeli army post with gunfire and anti-tank missiles; one Israeli soldier was seriously injured.

Hamas claimed to have killed several Israeli soldiers in house raids and detonated a suicide bomber among rescue forces. Israel denied reports of a suicide attack or abduction attempts during the incident.

The assault was described as "exceptional" by Israeli media due to its scale and direct combat. Israel's Channel 12 claimed that the attack had been aimed at kidnapping soldiers.

When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military denied "that there was one or more suicide bombers among the Hamas militants, or that Hamas attempted to abduct IDF soldiers".

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four more International Criminal Court judges or prosecutors including from allies France and Canada, in a new effort to hobble the tribunal including over actions against Israel.

"The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Israeli army spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin will deliver statement to the press.

It comes after the military says 60,000 reservists will be called up for a new offensive that aims to occupy Gaza City and northern parts of the enclave.

International aid groups say they have not yet been able to deliver shelter materials to Gaza despite Israeli authorities saying they have lifted restrictions on such supplies, and warn that further delays could cause more Palestinian deaths.

Aid organisations say Israel had in effect been blocking the delivery of materials for shelters for nearly six months, with tent poles previously listed among items Israeli authorities considered could have a military as well as civilian use.

"The United Nations and our partners have...not been able to bring in shelter materials following the Israeli announcement," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), spokesperson Jens Laerke said.

"There's a set of impediments that still needs to be addressed, including Israeli customs clearance."

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday slammed Israel's approval of a key settlement project in the occupied West Bank, saying it undermined the chances of a two-state solution.

The approval of the project in the area known as E1 "fragments... geographic and demographic unity, entrenching the division of the occupied West Bank into isolated areas and cantons that are disconnected from one another, turning them into something akin to real prisons," the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement.

U.S. forces took part in a pre-dawn raid in northwestern Syria early on Wednesday that targeted a member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official and a Syrian security source said.

A second Syrian security source and Syria's state-owned Al-Ikhbariya said the target was killed as he tried to escape.

It was not immediately clear who the Islamic State member targeted on Wednesday was. The U.S. official said he was a suspected high-value target.

The first Syrian source said he was an Iraqi national and was married to a French national. It was not immediately clear what happened to his wife.

The foreign minister of Germany called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of captives held by Hamas after a meeting Wednesday with his counterpart in Indonesia.

Johann Wadephul and Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono said the humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the Israeli war in Gaza is unbearable and a two-state solution is the sole means of ending the conflict.

"The goal for all of us is clear: a two-state solution, which must be negotiated," Wadephul said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Israel's "military offensive" to conquer Gaza City "can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples," after Israel's defence minister authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists.

Israel's plan "will drag the region into a permanent war," the French president posted on social media, reiterating his call for an "international stabilisation mission".

The Italian Football Coaches’ Association is pushing for Israel to be suspended from international competition over the war in Gaza.

Ahead of Italy’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Israel in the next two months, the AIAC says "Israel must stop. Football must also take action.".

The AIAC has written a formal letter to the Italian soccer federation, to be forwarded to European and world soccer’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended.

"The AIAC Board of Directors unanimously believes that, given the daily massacres, which have also resulted in hundreds of deaths among managers, coaches, and athletes … it is legitimate, necessary, indeed a duty, to place at the center of federation talks the request, to be submitted to UEFA and FIFA, for the temporary exclusion of Israel from sporting competitions," the letter concludes.

"Because the pain of the past cannot cloud anyone’s conscience and humanity."

Italy is set to play Israel on neutral turf in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 September, before hosting the return match in Udine on 14 October.

"We could just focus on playing, looking the other way. But we believe that is not right," AIAC vice president Giancarlo Camolese said.

Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, has slammed the Netanyahu government's decision to call up 60,000 reservists for the army planned offensive and takeover of Gaza City.

"60,000 reserve orders were issued this morning to realise the delusion of conquering Gaza," Lapid wrote on X.

His comments came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory.

Most of the territory's population has been displaced since the war began, many repeatedly, according to the United Nations.

Addressing Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Moscow, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said he hoped to discuss "efforts to end the aggression on Gaza, and the massacres and starvation that it is creating."

This was in addition to the "illegal measures that continue to undermine the two-state solution and kill all prospects for peace in the region," he added.

"We value your clear position against the war and your demand for reaching a permanent ceasefire," he told Lavrov.

Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.

"I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood," the mayor of the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement.

At least 62,122 people have been killed and more than 156,700 injured in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive on 7 October 2023, Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday.

The casualties include 2,018 deaths and 14,947 injuries of people seeking aid since late May.

Health officials in Gaza say the majority of casualties are civilians, with thousands more believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

59 percent of Americans believe Israel's military response in Gaza after Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack has been excessive, a poll by Reuters and Ipsos has found.

The poll shows that 65 percent of Americans believe the US should take action in Gaza to help people facing starvation, as a result of Israel's earlier blockade and now restrictions on aid.

The German government said Wednesday it "rejects the escalation" of Israel's campaign in Gaza after Israel approved a plan to conquer Gaza City and authorised calling up around 60,000 reservists.

Germany finds it "increasingly difficult to understand how these actions will lead to the freeing of all the hostages, or to a ceasefire," government spokesman Steffen Meyer told reporters.

Pope Leo plans to visit Lebanon, the country's senior Catholic official announced on Wednesday, in what could be the first visit outside Italy by the new leader of the global Church.

The pope will travel to Lebanon "by December", Cardinal Bechara Rai told the Al Arabiya television channel.

Rai, leader of the 3.5-million-member Maronite Catholic Church, did not give a specific date for the visit but said "preparations are already underway".

A Lebanese official familiar with the matter confirmed that discussions were being held about a visit towards the end of the year, though a date had not yet been finalised.

Pope Leo XIV asked people to fast on Friday to pray for peace and justice in the Middle East and Ukraine, issuing a special appeal as he returned to the Vatican from summer vacation.

At the end of his weekly general audience Wednesday, Leo recalled that Friday is a special feast day dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He urged Catholic faithful to spend the day fasting and “praying that the Lord grants peace and justice, and dries the tears of all those who are suffering as a result of the armed conflicts underway.”

Leo has called for ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine and for dialogue to achieve peace.

Iran cannot completely cut its ties with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, the country's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in comments published on Wednesday on the official news agency IRNA.

The Israeli military said approximately 60,000 reserve orders were issued this morning ahead of the Gaza City offensive.

Munition left from Israel's war with Iran earlier this year exploded on Tuesday in the Islamic republic's west, killing one person, state media said.

Official news agency IRNA said that "unexploded ordnance of the Zionist regime" detonated near the city of Beyranshahr, in Lorestan province of western Iran.

"The incident left one person dead and nine people injured," it added, quoting a Revolutionary Guards statement.

Syria's foreign minister met with an Israeli delegation in Paris to discuss de-escalation and the situation in Druze-majority Suweida province after deadly sectarian violence last month, state media reported Wednesday.

State news agency SANA said late Tuesday that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed "de-escalation and non-interference in Syria's internal affairs".

It said their talks also addressed monitoring the Suweida ceasefire announced by the United States last month.

Syrian state television reported an unidentified government source as saying Wednesday that Syria's intelligence chief also attended the meeting.

"Both sides affirmed their commitment to the unity of Syrian territory... and that Suweida is an integral part of Syria," it reported.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday warned against ending the United Nations peacekeepers' mandate in the country's south, after the UN Security Council began debating extending their mission.

Israel and the United States, which wields a veto on the Security Council, have reportedly opposed the renewal, which is expected by the end of this month.

"Any timetable for the mandate of UNIFIL that is different from the actual needs will negatively impact the situation in the south, which still suffers from Israeli occupation," Aoun told force commander Diodato Abagnara, according to a presidency statement.

Aoun said Beirut "has begun contacts with Security Council member states, and brotherly and friendly countries, to ensure the extension" of UNIFIL's mandate. He cited Lebanon's need for the force to help "maintain security and stability in the south" and to support the army following the government's decision to increase troop numbers there to 10,000 personnel.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he treats leaders of other countries with respect after his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu attacked him over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

"I don't take these things personally, I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders," Albanese said during a media briefing.

Netanyahu's personal attack on Albanese has further strained relations between the two countries. Ties soured after Australia decided last week to conditionally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

Albanese told reporters that he had informed Netanyahu about Australia's decision to support a Palestinian state before his centre-left government formally announced the plan.

Qatar has expressed some optimism for a new ceasefire proposal, noting it was "almost identical" to an earlier version agreed to by Israel, reports AFP.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a "very positive response."

"We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point," he added.

An Israeli military official said on Wednesday that the country’s top generals had approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly, the official said that the military will be operating in parts of Gaza City where the Israeli military has not yet operated and where he claimed Hamas is still active.

The official said after receiving approval from military leaders, the plan would now progress toward the final approval stage.

It remains unclear when the operation will begin. The official said 50,000 reservists will be called up in the coming month, nearly doubling the number of active reservists to 120,000.