Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours
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The Trump administration has frozen $584m in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the institution said on Wednesday, after the government reprimanded the university over pro-Palestinian protests.
The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza. The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel's military assault inGaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
- Reporting by Reuters
The vast majority of Israelis say they are not troubled by reports of famine and suffering in Gaza, a new poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute shows.
The survey shows that 79 percent of Jews in Israel were not troubled, or troubled at all, whereas 86 percent of “Arab” respondents were somewhat or very troubled by the reports about the war on Gaza.
“Arab” respondents in the survey refer to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
When the question was broken down by political affiliation, it shows that there is far greater concern among the left for the suffering and hunger, with 70 percent showing concern, whereas only 32 percent and six percent among the centre and right, respectively, are personally troubled by the reports.
Read more: Most Israelis not bothered by reports of suffering and famine in Gaza, new poll shows
A clause in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (Fema) guidelines threatening US states and territories that boycott Israel with the denial of federal funds for natural disaster preparation was discreetly removed from its terms and conditions directives on Monday after backlash.
The change in status came after media reports on Monday explained how funding was conditional on states following Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conditions laid out in April.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) announced on Friday it was making nearly $1bn available to states to protect themselves from natural disasters, such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and fires, as well as terrorist attacks and cyber disruptions.
Read more: Trump administration reverses new guidelines tying Fema funds to boycotts of Israel
Far-right Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that the war on Gaza has now cost Israel 300 billion shekels, the equivalent of $87.5bn.
He said that while "Europe, Hamas, and the left in Israel are pressuring us to stop the war," he will do "everything to continue until complete victory".
"I hope that tomorrow we will make a decision to attack all of Gaza and occupy it, and to eliminate Hamas militarily," Smotrich said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene his cabinet for a meeting on Thursday, in which the full annexation of Gaza will be discussed.
Hezbollah said it would treat Beirut's decision a day earlier to disarm it "as if it did not exist".
"Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy," the group said in a statement.
"This decision undermines Lebanon's sovereignty and gives Israel a free hand to tamper with its security, geography, politics and future existence. Therefore, we will treat this decision as if it does not exist".
The Lebanese cabinet on Tuesday authorised the army to draw up a plan to restrict arms across the country to six official security forces by year's end.
The Palestine Red Crescent said the Israeli army attacked its offices in Khan Younis in Gaza.
🚨Breaking – Palestine Red Crescent: The Israeli occupation forces have targeted the 8th floor of the PRCS headquarters in Khan Younis with an artillery shell. #NotATarget #IHL #Gaza
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) August 6, 2025
The Israeli military will have to execute any government decisions on Gaza, the defence minister said Wednesday after reported disagreements over the prospect of a full occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Israel Katz's statement on X came after reports in the Israeli media in recent days suggested that military chief Eyal Zamir is opposed to a government plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, warning that such an occupation would be a "trap".
"It is the right and duty of the Chief of Staff to express his position in the appropriate forums, and after decisions are made by the political echelon, the [army] will execute them with determination and professionalism... until the war’s objectives are achieved," Katz wrote.
"As the defence minister responsible for the [army] on behalf of the government, I must ensure that these decisions are carried out - and so it will be," he added.
The comments followed Yair Netanyahu’s statement on X, where the prime minister's son said his father was advised not to appoint Zamir, but Katz pushed for the appointment. He also implied that Zamir was planning a "rebellion and attempted coup."
Israeli authorities have issued a six-month ban on Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, preventing him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Wafa news agency reported.
The Israeli authorities extended the ban after the expiry of an earlier eight-day order issued on 27 July, according to the Jerusalem Governorate, citing lawyer Khaldoun Najm. The new order, issued on Wednesday, extends that ban to six months.
The decision came after Sheikh Hussein delivered a Friday sermon condemning Israel’s starvation policy against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Jordan said Israeli settlers attacked a Gaza-bound aid convoy on Wednesday in the second such incident in days, accusing Israel of failing to act firmly to prevent repeated assaults.
The convoy, carrying 30 trucks of humanitarian aid, was delayed in its arrival in a violation of signed agreements, Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani told Reuters.
"This requires a serious Israeli intervention and no leniency in dealing with those who obstruct these convoys," Momani said.
Thirty-five independent UN human rights experts have called for the “immediate dismantling” of the Israeli-founded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GFH) and holding it and its executives accountable.
The GHF is “an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law”, the experts said.
They warned that Israeli forces and foreign military contractors "continue to open indiscriminate fire on people seeking aid" at so-called “distribution sites” operated by the GHF, killing at least 859 Palestinians since late May.
“We are leaving a state accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in charge of feeding the population affected by the genocide without oversight and with impunity. This overt hypocrisy is disturbing,” the experts said.
I join UN experts in calling for the resumption of unimpeded humanitarian relief to avert starvation in Gaza, and to dismantle Israeli's privatised, militarized aid delivery model that has killed Palestinians https://t.co/YkNeFn4Q6x
— Prof Ben Saul - UN SR Human Rights & Counterterror (@profbensaul) August 5, 2025
A large majority of Israeli Jews, 79 percent, said they are "not so troubled" or "not troubled at all" by reports of famine in Gaza, Haaretz reported, citing a poll released on Tuesday.
The poll was conducted at the end of July by the Viterbi Family Centre for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute.
It found that 86 percent of Arab citizens of Israel said they are "very troubled" or "somewhat troubled" by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Among left-wing Jewish citizens, 70 percent said they are troubled by Israel’s war on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Despite escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the UK has continued to assist Israel militarily.
On Tuesday, government sources confirmed that Britain continues to fly spy planes over Gaza and share intelligence with Israel, according to The Times.
For months, British politicians have questioned the government about the role played by a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv.
From there, RAF aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on the besieged enclave.
In response to questions about these flights, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has repeatedly insisted it is in support of "hostage rescue".
Read more: UK still sharing intelligence with Israel as surveillance flights over Gaza continue
Hospitals in Gaza recorded five new deaths “due to famine and malnutrition” in the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The latest count brought the total number of hunger-related deaths to 193, including 96 children.
We previously reported that an Israeli strike on a house north of the Nuseirat camp killed five people.
Al Jazeera now reports that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn has risen to 18.
Gaza's civil defence agency said on Wednesday that 20 people were killed when an aid truck overturned on a crowd of aid seekers in the central Gaza Strip.
"Twenty people were killed and dozens injured around midnight last night as a truck carrying aid overturned ... while hundreds of civilians were waiting for aid," the agency's spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The incident took place near the Nuseirat refugee camp, as the truck was driving on an unsafe road that Israel had previously bombed, Bassal added.
Hamas accused Israel of forcing truck drivers to take dangerous routes to reach aid distribution centres, and to "intentionally engineer ... starvation and chaos".
Israel "forces drivers to navigate routes overcrowded with starving civilians who have been waiting for weeks for the most basic necessities", Hamas's media office said in a statement.
"This often results in desperate crowds swarming the trucks," it added.
