Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

Wafa news agency is reporting that five aid seekers have been shot dead by Israeli forces in central Gaza's Wadi Gaza.

Earlier today, Israeli forces opened fire on 12 aid seekers near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.

Just 73 aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday, Gaza's government media office has said, adding that most of their contents were looted before they could be distributed.

This is far short of the 500-600 trucks the UN estimates is needed daily to address the spiralling humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Strip. So far, at least 163 Palestinians, including 92 children have died due to Israeli-imposed starvation in the enclave.

The media office said Israel is "systematically and deliberately" enforcing "security chaos" enabling the looting of trucks.

“We strongly condemn the continued crime of starvation, the closure of the crossings, and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering,” it said in a statement.

A 17-year-old Palestinian child has died of malnutrition, Wafa news agency is reporting, citing medical sources at Al-Shifa medical complex in Gaza City.

Atef Abu Khater was hospitalised in intensive care earlier this week- his father reportedly said he was no longer responding to treatment.

This follows the deaths of three Palestinians, including two children, from Israeli-imposed starvation on Friday.

Khater's death brings the toll of Palestinians who have died from Israeli-imposed starvation to 163, including 92 children.

The Israeli military has conducted a series of deadly attacks in the early hours of Saturday morning, killing at least 24 people since dawn, including 13 aid seekers, according to Al Jazeera.

South of Gaza City, Israeli soldiers opened fire on aid seekers, killing at least 12 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a residential building in central Gaza's az-Zawayda, while a separate strike west of the town killed one other person.

A further three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike targeting a camp sheltering displaced people west of Khan Younis, a source at Nasser Hospital reported.

Al Jazeera is also reporting that two more have been killed and 26 wounded by Israeli fire at an aid site near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers. Here are the latest updates:

• Three more Palestinians, including two children, have died from Israeli-imposed starvation on Friday, bringing the total number of deaths from malnutrition in the enclave to 162, including 92 children.

• Israeli forces killed over 100 people across Gaza on Friday. Attacks have continued into Saturday, killing 24 since dawn, including 13 aid seekers.

• Israel has allowed three European countries to conduct limited aid drops over Gaza. Unrwa has warned the operation is "dangerous" and "inefficient".

• US envoy Steve Witkoff and ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited a GHF-run aid site in Gaza. According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the pair did not meet anyone from the UN during the visit.

• The Israeli military has conducted raids in a series of occupied West Bank towns and cities: Beit Duqqu, northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, Qalqilya and Nablus. They shot two Palestinian men during the raids. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it was treating a 21-year-old with bullet wounds in both legs.

More than 6,000 UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid remain outside Gaza to be let in despite Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) chairman saying in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week that he was willing to partner with them.

"UNRWA has 6,000 aid trucks blocked outside Gaza, awaiting the green light to enter," Unrwa's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated on social media platform X on Friday.

The MEE reported last week that GHF chairman Johnnie Moore called on the UN to work directly with GHF to deliver "food at scale" on Monday but has not made good on his invitation.

You can read more here.

Finland’s president Alexander Stubb says he is ready to approve recognition of a Palestinian state if the Finnish government decides to make such a proposal in a post on X on Thursday.

Stubb claimed that both Israel and Palestine were suffereing: "In Israel, there is a real threat of violence. Hamas, many other terrorist organizations, and several states still do not recognize Israel's existence. At the same time, the situation in Gaza is inhumane. Children are dying of hunger as food aid does not reach them. Civilians who have gone to collect food have been shot", he said.

He said that it was important for Arab countries to recognise Israel, saying: "It is important that the Arab countries that have not yet recognized Israel do so. The Palestinian Authority has already recognized Israel. Hamas does not represent Palestine".

New York council woman Tiffany Cabán and State Representative Claire Valdez were among 50 people arrested on Friday as around 200 people protested outside of Senator Chuck Schumer‘s of Midtown’s office on Friday.

The protesters from Jewish Voices for Peace gathered in the lobby of both Senator Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand’s offices, with banners that read “Let Gaza live” and “Let aid in now,” while banging pots and pans. 

In a different part of the city, dozens of members of the New Jersey/ New York chapter of the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation protested outside of the Egyptian Mission to the UN, and demanded for Egypt to stop collaborating with Israel.

They both make up almost a dozen protests to be held around the country on Friday.

More than a million people have turned out in Yemen's Sanaa in a rally in support of a free Palestine, the chairman of the board of directors of the Yemeni news agency Saba shared in a post on X.

Algerian sports commentator and former footballer Hafid Derradji, in response to the rally, said in a post on X that despite the sanctions and humanitarian crisis the country faces, Yemenis continue to support Gaza.

"Yemen, groaning under the weight of its wounds, never tires of supporting Palestine. Nor does Yemen grow weary of doing so, even though it possesses nothing of this world but a free voice and sincere prayers.

"Yemen stands tall despite hunger, generous despite the siege on it, and steadfast despite oppression, for Palestine in the heart is can neither be bought or forgotten".

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders said in a statement on Friday that more than 600 aid seekers were treated for injuries in northern Gaza after Israeli soldiers opened fire on them.

Caroline Willemen, MSF project coordinator in Gaza, said: "On 30 July, as people approached trucks distributing aid near Zikim, in north Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on them.

"People were wounded in the gunfire and in the crush as crowds panicked and ran. Medical staff at the MSF-supported Sheikh Radwan clinic in north Gaza treated 77 injured patients and received eight people dead on arrival.

"Across north Gaza, nearly 600 people were treated for similar injuries following violence and chaos near Zikim that night, according to the Ministry of Health, as food trucks were passing."

Willemen said such deadly incidents have become "a daily reality in Gaza for too long now" and the current methods of distribution are "engineering chaos and massacres" while Palestinians risk their lives in a desperate search for food.

In San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and other cities around the country, protesters have marched and chanted outside the offices of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The demonstrators were demanding accountability for BCG’s role in creating a deadly new aid distribution system backed by the US and Israel that a United Nations official described as using starvation as a bargaining chip. 

Founded in 1961 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, BCG is one of the most prominent consulting firms in the United States and advises clients on a large number of topics, including security and humanitarian issues.

BCG is one of the world's three largest management consulting firms by revenue and is no stranger to controversy. It has been reported to have worked with Isabel dos Santos, who was accused of exploiting Angola's natural resources.

It is also reported to have been one of the firm's "critical" in helping Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidate his grip on power in the kingdom.

Middle East Eye examines the BCG’s role in Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and efforts to hold the consulting firm accountable.

You can find more information here.

The European Union delegation to the Palestinians announced it and other diplomatic missions "extended condolences to the community of Um al-Khair after an Israeli settler killed Awdah Hathaleen", and criticised the withholding of his body in a post on X on Friday.

"A military closure was imposed, his body remains withheld and a dignified burial is refused," the post said.

"Since January 2023, over 2,800 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler violence and related coercive practices. In 2025 alone, settlers have reportedly killed four Palestinians, including Hathaleen, and injured more than 350.

"Settlements are illegal under international law. Israel must take concrete steps to prevent settler violence against Palestinians and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable".

The English teacher, activist, and father of three was killed on Monday. 

At least 65 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Friday, Al Jazeera reported, citing medical sources.

More than half of them - 36 people - were killed while seeking aid.

More than 270 others were injured on Friday while seeking food aid.

The health of an American teenager, who has been illegally detained by Israel without trial since February, has been rapidly deteriorating, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.

Mohammed Ibrahim, 16, from Florida, was detained after he was accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers near Ramallah in the West Bank, a claim he has denied, according to Israeli interrogation videos.

However, he continues to be imprisoned and denied visitation or telephone rights from his family, his father and uncle told Al Jazeera.

His family have received reports that he has suffered from significant weight loss and currently has scabies.

Ibrahim is the first cousin of US citizen Sayfollah Musallet, who was violently beaten and prevented from accessing medical care by Israeli settlers in July in the West Bank. Musallet died of his injuries later that day.

Hamas has made resolving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a precondition for engaging in further ceasefire negotiations, as Israeli sources indicate that the framework for a partial deal may be abandoned.

In a statement on Thursday, the Palestinian movement said it was ready to “immediately re-engage in negotiations once aid reaches those in need and the humanitarian crisis and famine in Gaza are brought to an end”.

It added that continuing talks under current conditions would be “meaningless and futile” while Israel maintains what it described as a policy of starvation against Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

Since March, Israel has imposed a near-total blockade on aid and goods entering Gaza. Health officials say the policy has led to a growing number of deaths from malnutrition, with at least 159 people - including 90 children - now reported to have died from starvation-related causes.

Earlier this week, a leading UN-backed global hunger monitoring body warned that the “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza.

You can read more here.