UN declares famine in Gaza as Israel threatens to raze city

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

Thousands of Yemenis rallied once again in the capital, Sanaa, condemning Israel and denouncing what the genocide in Gaza, while pledging solidarity with Palestinians.

The Houthi-organised demonstrations have become a weekly occurrence as the group continues to launch projectiles toward Israel in opposition to the war.

Hamas said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s comments that the operation in Gaza City aims to displace residents amount to an admission of committing a crime of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.

In its statement, Hamas added: “Gaza City has been subjected for days to systematic destruction and horrific, relentless massacres against innocent civilians, as a result of the intense aerial and artillery bombardment of residential neighborhoods—a practical implementation of the statements and plans of the criminal occupation leaders.”

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that two Israeli missiles targeted an unoccupied structure near the cemetery in Deir Kifa, located in southern Tyre. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli military confirmed the strike, stating it hit a “weapons depot of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation” that violated “the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Videos shared by Lebanese and Palestinian media showed at least one missile moving through the night sky before hitting the structure.

Earlier, NNA reported Israeli drones flying over several towns in southern Lebanon, including Hadatha, Haris, Kfar Yatar, al-Tayri, Kunin, Beit Yahoun, Aita al-Jabal, Tebnine, al-Zrarieh, Ansar, Aba, Breiqa, and al-Qasiba.

Breaking | Israeli occupation forces launch a surface-to-surface missile from northern occupied Palestine, targeting the town of Deir Kifa, South Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/M2r239lC7j

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 22, 2025

Local Palestinian sources, including Wafa news agency, report multiple attacks by Israeli forces and settlers across the occupied West Bank in recent hours:

• Israeli authorities issued a military order to uproot hundreds of trees in the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.

• Soldiers stormed el-Bireh, deploying military vehicles in several neighbourhoods and firing live ammunition and tear gas around the municipality building.

• Another raid occurred in al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

• Settlers once again entered the village of Shallalat al-Auja, north of Jericho, attempting to intimidate the Bedouin community and drive them from their lands.

• In Atara, northwest of Ramallah, settlers gathered near the town entrance and set up tents with the aim of establishing an illegal outpost.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said its fighters severely wounded an Israeli soldier in the besieged Zeitoun neighbourhood of southern Gaza City.

In a brief statement on Telegram, the group said the incident occurred Monday when the soldier was hit with machine-gun fire after exiting a Merkava tank.

It added that a helicopter was seen arriving to evacuate the soldier for urgent medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its fighters targeted Israeli military vehicles with mortar shells on Thursday in northern Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for today’s ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel.

In a statement, the Iran-aligned group said it successfully struck Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with a ballistic missile.

The Israeli military, however, reported that the missile disintegrated mid-air during its descent, with fragments falling in central Israel but causing no major damage.

The Houthis also said they launched two drones targeting “Israeli enemy targets” in the Tel Aviv area and Ashkelon.

According to the Israeli army, one drone was intercepted over southern Israel, while the other likely fell short of its target, as has occurred with several Houthi drones in recent months.

Kuwait has condemned what it described as Israel’s “policy of starvation, oppression, and displacement” targeting civilians in Gaza.

In a statement, the country’s foreign ministry said Israel’s actions constitute “blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law,” as well as UN Security Council resolutions, disregarding relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

Kuwait urged the international community and the Security Council to act promptly “to allow the urgent entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, to halt the genocide being perpetrated against the brotherly Palestinian people, and to hold the occupying power accountable for the crimes it commits against humanity.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reiterated its demand that Israel “end its deliberate starvation of journalists and other civilians” in Gaza.

“The world must act now: protect them, feed them, and allow them to recover while other journalists step in to help report.”

Famine is confirmed in #Gaza, according to the @UN-backed agency @theIPCinfo.

🚨CPJ urgently renews our call on Israel to end its deliberate starvation of journalists and other civilians in Gaza immediately.🚨https://t.co/Lngkc4rYBc pic.twitter.com/UfBqkboXEO

— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) August 22, 2025

The Israeli military reported that a missile launched from Yemen broke apart mid-air.

According to the army, multiple interception attempts were made before the missile “apparently disintegrated in the air,” as stated in a post on social media.

The military added that there were reports of shrapnel falling in central Israel, and the incident remains under investigation.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned on Friday after a deadlocked cabinet debate on possible sanctions against Israel, ANP news agency reported.

"I see that I am insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures to increase pressure on Israel," Veldkamp told ANP after the cabinet meeting that failed to agree on whether to order sanctions.

U.N. officials are providing an update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza at the UN daily briefing.

Speakers:

• Rein Paulsen, FAO Director of Office of Emergencies and Resilience (virtually)

• Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service (virtually)

• Samir Elhawary, UNICEF Acting Deputy Director of Emergency Programs (in-person)

Israel's police force said Friday it pressed charges against a man suspected of asking a senior rabbi for religious permission to assassinate the country's attorney general.

The 36-year-old was arrested Wednesday in Jerusalem after delivering a letter to influential rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Israeli media reported, requesting a decree authorising the killing of Gali Baharav-Miara.

Yosef immediately alerted the police, who traced the man to his home and took him into custody.

A court has extended his detention until at least Sunday.

Baharav-Miara has clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government since it took office in late 2022, challenging the legality of some of its decisions.

She is a frequent target of criticism from far-right and ultra-Orthodox groups, particularly for her support of the conscription of military-age men from the ultra-Orthodox community, who have long been exempted from service.

According to police, the suspect sought rabbinical authorisation to kill the attorney general in order to "preserve human lives".

Newly released Israeli figures suggest that 83 percent of Palestinians killed in the enclave are civilians, an extremely high ratio of civilians to fighters not often seen in contemporary conflicts, as a UN declared a famine in Gaza.

The casualty count, which comes from a database managed by the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate that records the deaths of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants, recorded that by May 2025, around 8,900 named militants had been killed, according to Israel's +972 Magazine, Local Call, and Britain's The Guardian.

The database lists the names of 47,653 Palestinians believed to be militants in the armed wing of both organisations and is based on internal documents retrieved by the military.

When compared with figures from Gaza's Ministry of Health of the overall number of Palestinians killed since the start of the war by May 2025, which stood at 53,000, the military figures show that 83 percent of those killed in Gaza are civilians.

The casualty count is in stark contrast to estimates publicly stated by the Israeli officials, with the military saying that 22,000 militants had been killed in an update on Wednesday.

Following publication, the military denied the report, saying that "the figures presented in the article are incorrect and do not reflect the data available in the [Israeli military's] systems."

Read more here.

Israeli forces detained one of the Palestine Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) ambulance crews at the entrance to the village of Al Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, PRCS announced.

The forces took the keys of the ambulance while the crew were transferring a woman in labour to the hospital.

The death toll in Gaza continues to rise on Friday as at least 60 Palestinians have now been killed in a series of Israeli attacks in the enclave, sources told Al Jazeera​​​​​​.

The toll includes five Palestinians who were killed while seeking aid.

One person was killed after an Israeli drone strike targeted a town in south Lebanon, Lebanon's National News Agency reports.

The attack took place in Aita al-Shaab in the Bint Jbeil district.

Israel continues to target various areas in the region despite a ceasefire coming into effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday slammed the UN-backed declaration that famine was present in parts of Gaza, calling the report "an outright lie".

"The IPC report is an outright lie," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office, referring to the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative.

He added that "Israel does not have a policy of starvation", citing the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during the war.

Israel must meet the basic needs of Gazan civilians for food, water and medicine, the International Committee of the Red Cross said following Friday's "devastating and entirely foreseeable" declaration of famine.

"Under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met, using all the resources it has available," the ICRC said in a statement, saying the famine declaration in the Palestinian territory "must serve as a catalyst for immediate and concrete action".

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday condemned the famine in Gaza as a "moral outrage" and a "man-made catastrophe", after it was declared by the United Nations.

"The confirmation of famine in Gaza City and the surrounding neighbourhood is utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable," Lammy said in a statement

"The Israeli government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage."

Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 62,263 Palestinians since October 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry revealed.

At least 157,365 have been injured.

Seventy one bodies were bought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. At least 24 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid.

The toll does not include the thousands of Palestinians missing or trapped under the rubble presumed dead.

Foreign ministers from European countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, on Friday condemned Israel's plans to construct a settlement east of
Jerusalem, they said in a joint statement.

"The decision by the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law," the statement said.

Hamas called on Friday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the lifting of the Israeli siege on the territory after the UN declared a famine in parts of Gaza.

In a statement published online, the group called for "immediate action by the UN and the security council to stop the war and lift the siege" and demanded that crossings be opened "without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel".

The group went on to say that the declaration by the United Nations confirmed the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza and accused Israel of using starvation as a "tool of war".

"We in the Hamas movement emphasise the importance of this UN declaration, even though it comes far too late - after long months of warnings and suffering endured by our people under systematic siege and starvation," the group said.

Israel's police force said Friday it pressed charges against a man suspected of asking a senior rabbi for religious permission to assassinate the country's attorney general.

The 36-year-old was arrested on Wednesday in Jerusalem after delivering a letter to influential rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, requesting a decree authorising the killing of Gali Baharav-Miara.

Yosef immediately alerted the police, who traced the man to his home and took him into custody.

A court has extended his detention until at least Sunday.

An Israeli strike targeting a tent in Khan Younis killed one woman and four children, Nasser Medical Complex told Al Jazeera Arabic.

At least 47 Palestinians have been killed since Friday, as Israel continues to attack the Gaza Strip.

The toll includes an Israeli strike on the Amr Ibn Al-As School in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City that killed 12. The school was sheltering displaced civilians.

A German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin currently has no plans to recognise a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution with Israel.

"A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today. ... The recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process and such decisions would now be rather counterproductive," the spokesperson said during a press conference.

Countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, France and Canada have recently said they would recognise a Palestinian state under different conditions.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said "it is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare", minutes after famine was declared in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Turk said the resulting deaths "may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing", while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "we cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity."

Guterres also called for "an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and full, unfettered humanitarian access."

Israel rejected the findings of a UN-backed food security report on Friday, insisting that there was no famine in Gaza and that the findings were based on "Hamas lies".

"There is no famine in Gaza," the ministry said, adding that the panel's findings were "based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests".

"In recent weeks, a massive influx of aid has flooded the Strip with staple foods and caused a sharp decline in food price," the ministry said.

"This assessment too will be thrown into the despicable trash bin of political documents," it added.

The United Nations aid chief said on Friday that the famine that has struck part of Gaza was preventable, blaming the "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel and demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let supplies in on a massive scale.

"It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed, yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel," UN Emergency Coordinator Tom Fletcher told reporters in Geneva, commenting on the release of a report by a global hunger monitor.

"Let us get food and other supplies in unimpeded and at the massive scale required. End the retribution," he added in comments directed at Netanyahu.

Famine has struck an area of Gaza and will likely spread over the next month, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday, an assessment that will escalate pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza - are experiencing famine, and that number was expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

For a region to be classified as in famine, at least 20 percent of people must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.

Even if a region has not yet been classified as in famine because those thresholds have not been met, the IPC can determine that households there are suffering famine conditions, which it describes as starvation, destitution and death.

Poland has condemned Israel's plan to build illegal settlements in the E1 area east of occupied Jerusalem, calling for a two-state solution.

"We call on the Israeli authorities to cease supporting illegal settlement activity in the West Bank. We also condemn all acts of aggression against Palestinians in this context," the statement read.

This comes as over 20 countries, including the UK, Australia, and Japan, released a plan condemning the plan.

Another baby has died of malnutrition in Khan Younis as Israel continues to prevent life-saving aid from entering the Gaza Strip, a source at the Nasser Medical complex told Al Jazeera Arabic.

At least 271 Palestinians, including 112 children, have died of malnutrition since October 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry reports.

At least 796,000 Palestinians have been displaced since mid-March, after Israel resumed its war on Gaza, the United Nations revealed, noting a sharp rise in forced displacement because of the attacks.

The UN revealed that 95 percent of the forced displacement is happening in Gaza City, where Palestinains are fleeing the war from the east to the south and the west.

Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Daniela Gross, said that nearly 17,000 new displacements were recorded between 12 and 20 August.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed Friday to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel's terms.

"Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas's murderers and rapists in Gaza - until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament," the minister posted on social media.

"If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun," he added, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed during previous Israeli operations.