Israel kills dozens in Gaza as 13 more Palestinians starve to death

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again tomorrow at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Gaza’s Government Media Office has confirmed that journalist Rasmi Salem was killed in Israeli attacks, bringing the total number of media workers killed in the Strip since October 7, 2023, to 248.

The office said Salem worked as a photojournalist for Al-Manara and condemned the targeting of media workers, calling on the international community to intervene.

International watchdogs have described the war in Gaza as the deadliest conflict ever documented for journalists.

The mother of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, hopes that a film about her final moments, to be screened Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival, would help end the war.

Rajab's body was recovered from a car riddled with bullets in Gaza City days after she was last heard from, in a desperate, hours-long phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024.

She had made the emergency call after her family's car came under fire during an attempt to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli advance in the Palestinian territory's north.

Her death sparked international outrage and calls for an independent investigation, and the original audio recordings of her emergency call has been incorporated into "The Voice of Hind Rajab," one of 21 features competing at the Venice festival.

"I hope this film will help stop this destructive war and save the other children of Gaza," her mother Wissam Hamada told news agency AFP ahead of the premiere in the Italian city.

"My daughter Hind's voice has become heard all over the world and she will never be forgotten," the 29-year-old mother said.

To Hamada, who lost her husband a year ago, their slain daughter "is just one case among thousands".

Her death has grabbed international attention, but "why didn't the world act to save other parents and children?" said the mother, who now lives with her five-year-old son.

"The whole world has left us to die, to go hungry, to live in fear and to be forcibly displaced without doing anything. It's a huge betrayal."

"The Voice of Hind Rajab," by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, recounts the last hours of the girl's life using the original recordings, with the family's permission according to Hamada.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said that his country’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly was driven by Israel’s “totally unacceptable” conduct in Gaza.

“We’ve seen the horrible, horrific situation on the ground, with people starving,” Prevot told Al Jazeera. “Cutting off all humanitarian aid is a war crime.”

He added that Israel’s decision to restart the E1 settlement expansion project in occupied East Jerusalem was another factor in Belgium’s move.

“We considered that it’s time to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution,” he said.

Prevot also told the Qatari outlet that formal recognition would only take place after the last captive is freed from Gaza and “Hamas no longer has any role in managing Palestine.”

Commenting on these conditions, he said they were necessary to “manage the different sensitivities within the Belgian coalition.”

“From a diplomatic point of view, we recognise the state of Palestine and the rights of the people living in Palestine. But it’s true that for the legal act of recognition we have decided to have two conditions,” he said.

He clarified that these conditions were “related to the administrative aspect,” rather than political considerations.

 Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday that they had attacked a ship in the northern Red Sea with two drones and a missile over its connection to Israel.

The group did not say when the attack happened.

The path for negotiation between Iran and the United States is not closed, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security council, Ali Larijani, said in a post on X on Tuesday.

"We indeed pursue rational negotiations. By raising unrealisable issues such as missile restrictions, they set a path that negates any talks," Larijani added.

UK police have detained five “key spokespeople” from Defend Our Juries, a group campaigning for the UK government to revoke its terror designation of Palestine Action, the group announced.

Defend Our Juries has been organising protests against the government’s decision to classify Palestine Action – which describes itself as a non-violent pro-Palestinian direct action movement – as a terrorist organisation under anti-terrorism laws.

Following the proscription, showing support for Palestine Action became a criminal offence, and more than 700 people have been arrested for displaying signs backing the group since the ban came into effect in July.

In a statement on X, Defend Our Juries said five prominent members, including co-founder Tim Crosland, were arrested in dawn raids, with Crosland detained “just hours” before he was scheduled to hold a press conference announcing a new protest on Saturday.

The group confirmed that Saturday’s protest would proceed despite the arrests.

🚨 BREAKING - FIVE Lift The Ban key spokespeople arrested in dawn raids.

Arrested for addressing Open Calls during which legal information on the risks of opposing Labour’s absurd ban on Palestine Action have been shared.

Video: Paddy Friend, a law student, arrested at home. pic.twitter.com/kYXP9kyPOt

— Defend Our Juries (@DefendourJuries) September 2, 2025

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu said on Tuesday that Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir should consider resigning, accusing him of “clinging on to a stance which would tie the Israeli army’s hands” in Gaza.

In an interview with Kan Radio, Eliyahu opposed any hostage deal and called for the forced removal of the two million Palestinians in Gaza.

“If the chief of staff says [Israel should make a deal], he is wrong and misleading,” Eliyahu said, adding that Zamir “knew how to be a hero in Iran and a hero against the Houthis” but should be dismissed if he is “weak in Gaza.”

Hamas has condemned the arrest of Hebron’s mayor, saying it took place as part of Israel’s “dangerous targeting of the city” and its “plans to annex the occupied West Bank lands.”

As reported earlier, Israeli forces detained Tayseer Abu Sneineh during a dawn raid, after searching and ransacking his home.

Hamas described the raid – which it said was conducted with “a large military force” and caused “extensive damage” to the mayor’s home – as “a continuation of the occupation’s brutal and aggressive approach and its targeting of all components of our people.”

The statement urged the people of Hebron “to be the protective fence of the national project and to stand as an impregnable barrier against all the occupation’s plans targeting the city.”

Hamas has called on the UN Security Council to intervene following two Israeli attacks it described as “massacres,” which killed 21 people, many of them children.

According to Hamas, an Israeli drone strike on the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis killed 11 people, including seven children, as they queued for water.

A second strike in the Daraj neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City hit the home of the al-Af family, killing 10 people, “most of them women and children.”

“These crimes expose the criminal fascist nature of the enemy,” the group said, accusing Washington of being “a partner in a crime against humanity.”

Hamas added that these actions amount to war crimes under international law and demanded immediate UN intervention to halt the ‘brutal genocide’ and hold those responsible accountable.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Israel has not responded to the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal linked to hostage release talks, warning that Israel’s plan to occupy Gaza “endangers everyone, including the hostages.”

The ministry added that the humanitarian situation should not be tied to any deal, calling for crossings to be opened and aid to be delivered to Gaza.

At least 73 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn, including 41 in Gaza City, Al Jazeera English reported on Tuesday, citing hospital sources in the territory.

The report added that 42 of the victims were killed in Gaza City.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will travel to the Vatican on Thursday to meet Pope Leo, who has recently stepped up his calls for an end to the war in Gaza.

The one-day visit is being made at the invitation of the pope, Herzog's office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The president will also meet Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's chief diplomat, and tour the Vatican Archives and Library, it added.

"Central to their meetings will be the efforts to secure the release of the hostages, the fight against global antisemitism, and the safeguarding of Christian communities in the Middle East, alongside discussions on other political matters," the presidency said.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, last week issued a "strong appeal" for an to end to the nearly two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas, calling for a permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages held in Gaza and the provision of humanitarian aid.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged the United States to "revise" its decision to deny visas to members of the Palestinian Authority to attend the UN General Assembly this month.

A US official on Saturday said that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was among 80 officials from his authority who would be denied visas to attend the UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognise a Palestinian state.

The highly unusual decision further aligns President Donald Trump's administration with Israel's government, which is fighting a war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel adamantly rejects calls for the creation of a Palestinian state and has sought to lump together the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with its rival Hamas which rules Gaza.

Speaking to Turkish journalists on the plane back from China after attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Erdogan said the US decision was "not in line with the raison d'etre" of the United Nations.

"We believe that the decision should be revised as soon as possible," he added.

Tens of thousands of reservists started to report for duty on Tuesday ahead of a new Israeli offensive in Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to speed up, despite warnings from senior ranks.

Israeli Army Radio said that some 40,000 reservists would report for duty on Tuesday for the Gaza City offensive.

The military said it was readying logistically for the intake of reservists ahead of the offensive.

Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan last month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking Gaza City, where Israeli forces waged fierce urban warfare with Hamas in the early stages of the war. Israel currently holds about 75% of the Gaza Strip.

A security cabinet meeting late on Sunday included angry exchanges between Netanyahu and his ministers, who want to push ahead with the Gaza City offensive, and military chief Eyal Zamir, who has urged the politicians to reach a ceasefire deal.

Zamir said the campaign will endanger hostages and put further strain on the already over-stretched army, according to four ministers and two military officials present at the meeting.

This follows similar exchanges between Zamir and Netanyahu's cabinet last month. Netanyahu said on August 20 that he gave the instruction to speed up the timetable for taking what he describes as Hamas' last bastion.

But on August 21, in discussions to approve the battle plans, the military again warned against hostages being endangered and said it could not begin the campaign for at least two months, according to a source in Netanyahu's circle and a defence official.

Or Levy, a freed Hamas hostage that was held captive by the group for 491 days, was brought to South Africa, the country that filed a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice, by the local branch of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a state-linked Israeli organisation.

Since May 2024, local Jewish groups have organised at least 16 similar events with former captives, survivors or families of victims of the group's October 7, 2023 attack.

Levy's release in February was "simultaneously the best and worst day of my life", said the 30-something, still gaunt six months later.

It was the day he learned that his wife had been among more than 360 people killed in Hamas' attack on the Supernova Music Festival, when he was among 40 others captured.

It was also when he was reunited with his four-year-old son.

"He just told me: 'Mom is dead'. I know, it's the hardest sentence to hear from a child," said Levy to the weeping audience, a yellow ribbon pinned to his suit in honour of those still in captivity.

The attack on the festival was only one part of a Hamas-led raid on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people.

Israeli forces have detained Tayseer Abu Sneineh, the mayor of Hebron, during a raid on the city in the occupied West Bank, according to reports from Wafa news agency and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office (ASRA).

Wafa, citing security and local sources, reported that Israeli troops stormed Abu Sneineh’s home, searched the property, and ransacked its contents before arresting him and transferring him to an unknown location.

The Israeli military also erected checkpoints across the Hebron governorate, sealing off several main and secondary roads with iron gates, concrete blocks, and earth mounds, Wafa added.

ASRA quoted Hebron’s Municipal Council as saying: “This brutal attack does not only target the mayor himself, but also the will of the people of Hebron and its elected institutions, constituting a blatant assault on the democratic process and our people’s right to manage their affairs and serve their city with freedom and dignity.”

The council urged international, human rights, and humanitarian organisations to assume their legal and moral responsibilities, press for Abu Sneineh’s immediate release, and work to halt what it described as escalating violations against the city’s leaders and residents.

The Israeli military says it has killed a Hamas commander and a deputy commander during operations targeting Palestinian fighters in northern and central Gaza.

In a statement, the military said a joint operation by the 99th Division and Shin Bet killed Ahmad Abu Deif, described as the deputy company commander of the Zeitoun Battalion since 2024.

According to the statement, Abu Deif was involved in planning and carrying out “dozens of plots and ambushes” against Israeli forces and had also recruited members for Hamas.

The military further claimed to have killed Taleb Sidqi Taleb Abu Atiwi, identified as a commander of a Nukhba company in Hamas’s armed wing.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported that 185 people in the enclave died “due to malnutrition” in August, warning that the devastating impact of famine continues to escalate.

According to the ministry, over 70 people, including 12 children, have died since a global hunger monitor confirmed the presence of famine in Gaza on August 22.

The statement also revealed that 43,000 children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition, along with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.

It added that two-thirds of pregnant women are anaemic, marking the highest recorded rate in years.

Palestine team members checked anxiously for news from home even while they were competing at the Para Cycling Road World Championships at the weekend.

The two riders were part of the Gaza Sunbirds, a para cycling team established for Gaza residents who lost their limbs in conflicts with Israel.

Mohammed Asfour nearly pulled out of Friday’s time trial in Ronse, Belgium, after being told his brother had just been killed. Frantic calls established the news wasn’t true.

Team co-founder Alaa al-Dali also fears the worst every day having already lost family members in the almost 23-month war. Displaced from Rafah, al-Dali’s family is sheltering in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Al-Dali and Asfour are based in Belgium after evacuating from Gaza in April last year. They keep racing to inspire adults and children who have lost their limbs back home. Both riders representing the Palestine team completed their classification's 61.6-kilometer road race on Sunday.

“Saying goodbye to my family in Gaza was not all for nothing,” al-Dali told news agency The Associated Press.

Listen up!! 🚴🏼‍♂️🔥 Two incredible athletes, Alaa Al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour, from @gazasunbirds are competing today in the para-cycling world championship in Belgium!! I have the honor of virtually meeting them both two weeks ago 🙏🏼

You can watch the livestream, link in thread ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LldBGLLQwk

— Laura Albast (@Lau_Bast) August 31, 2025

Belgium will recognise a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday.

Belgium will join the countries that have signed the New York Declaration, paving the way for a "two-state solution" - a Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside Israel, Prevot said in a post on social media website X, adding that Belgium would also place "firm sanctions" on the Israeli government.

🇧🇪🇵🇸🚨La Palestine sera reconnue par la Belgique lors de la session de l’ONU ! Et des sanctions fermes sont prises à l’égard du gouvernement israélien. Tout antisémitisme ou glorification du terrorisme par les partisans du Hamas sera aussi plus fortement dénoncé.

🔸Au vu du…

— Maxime PREVOT (@prevotmaxime) September 2, 2025

Gaza's civil defence spokesman said on Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed 13 people overnight.

Mahmud Bassal said an Israeli attack on a residential building killed 10 people, while another strike on an apartment block killed three others.

Both attacks occurred in Gaza City.