Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

"Gaza is on the brink of famine," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said, citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. 

"The facts are in - and they are undeniable. Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes," Guterres wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.  

"We need an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire; the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and full, unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza. This is a test of our shared humanity – a test we cannot afford to fail," he added. 

Global hunger watchdog the IPC on Tuesday said that two out of three famine thresholds for food consumption have been breached across most of Gaza.

"The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” the IPC said in its latest alert.

The latest @theIPCinfo alert confirms what we have feared:

Gaza is on the brink of famine.

The facts are in — and they are undeniable.

Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.
This is not a warning.
It is a reality unfolding before…

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) July 29, 2025

Former Israeli attorney general Michael Ben-Yair said that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"Jews, who went through a genocide 80 years ago, are committing genocide in Gaza," Ben-Yair, writing on X on Tuesday, said.

"Shame, rage and sorrow," he added.

His comment was a caption to a news report by Haaretz on two leading Israeli human rights organisations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI), calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide on Monday.

While global human rights bodies like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have been using genocide to describe Israel's actions in Gaza for several months now, the report marks the first time an Israeli organisation has formally used the word.

In its report, B’Tselem examined Israel’s policies in Gaza and statements made by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders on its goals in the enclave.

"Explicit attempt to destroy the population of Gaza and impose living conditions so catastrophic that Palestinian society cannot continue to exist there. That is the exact definition of genocide," B'tselem said.

Meanwhile, PHRI’s report presented a detailed legal analysis of Israel’s war on Gaza, focusing on the dismantling of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and wounded over 145,000 others since 7 October 2025, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 

Also read: Former Israeli attorney general says Israel committing genocide in Gaza

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said that two German aircraft may begin airdropping humanitarian aid from Jordan into Gaza as early as Wednesday. 

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Merz called on Israel to urgently improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying "initial steps are welcome but insufficient". 

He also warned against any further moves toward the annexation of the occupied West Bank. 

“There can be no further steps or actions toward annexation,” he said, referring to growing international concerns over Israel’s settlement expansion and potential territorial claims. 

Recognition of a Palestinian state must be viewed as one of the final steps within the framework of a negotiated two-state solution, Merz said.

Israel muss die katastrophale humanitäre Lage in Gaza schnell und entschieden verbessern. Es muss der leidenden Zivilbevölkerung menschenwürdige dringend notwendige Versorgung zukommen lassen. Wir begrüßen die ersten Schritte dabei. Aber weitere müssen folgen. 3/4

— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) July 29, 2025

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Tuesday said that 60,034 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023, adding that more than half of those killed are civilians from vulnerable groups. The breakdown is as follows: 18,592 children (30.8 percent); 9,782 women (16.3 percent) and an estimated 7.3 percent are elderly individuals.

In total, these groups account for approximately 55 percent of the fatalities, which highlights the scale of "direct and unjustified targeting of civilians" by Israeli forces, the ministry says. 

The statement comes amid growing international outrage over Israel's complete blockade of aid, which has led to starvation in Gaza, with hospitals overwhelmed and malnutrition killing over 100 Palestinians so far. 

UN aid agencies on Tuesday called for Gaza to be flooded with humanitarian assistance, warning that "time is running out" and that the Palestinian territory is "on the brink of a full-scale famine", news agency AFP has reported. 

"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," the World Food Programme's (WFP) executive director, Cindy McCain, said in a joint statement with UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex has said that Gaza has already entered the third stage of famine. "Malnutrition is claiming the lives of our patients despite our efforts to save them," Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has summoned the Dutch ambassador to Israel for a reprimand, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority has reported. 

Earlier, the Dutch government barred two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, from entering the country, citing their incitement of violence and support for ethnic cleansing. 

Germany, France, and Britain are considering sending their foreign ministers to Israel, AFP news agency has reported. 

The development comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to convene an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, after calls within his party to recognise Palestinian statehood have intensified. 

The discussions will also include a joint peace proposal being developed with France and Germany, as international outrage against Israeli-imposed starvation in Gaza grows. 

Earlier, the Dutch government barred two of Israel’s far-right ministers from entering the country, citing their incitement of violence and support for ethnic cleansing. 

The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is reminiscent of last century's famines in Ethiopia and Nigeria's Biafra region, which jointly claimed over two million lives, the UN food agency World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday. 

"This is unlike anything we have seen in this century," WFP emergency director Ross Smith told AFP in Geneva.

"It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century," he said, speaking from Rome.

Ethiopia's 1983-84 famine killed more than one million people, and the famine resulting from the 1967-1970 Biafra war also contributed to over a million deaths.

Earlier, global hunger watchdog Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that famine is already unfolding across the Gaza Strip as conditions deteriorate. 

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said. 

While the IPC has not formally declared a famine, it confirmed it would begin an immediate assessment.

The IPC, a UN-backed group of organisations used as a monitor to gauge malnutrition, said "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access into Gaza was needed to stop more "starvation and death". 

Israel has imposed a near-total blockade of aid, leading to starvation that has killed 147 Palestinians, including 88 children. Local officials say 40,000 infants are at risk of imminent death as a formula shortage threatens babies in Gaza. 

Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and wounded 145,870 others since 7 October 2025, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has said. 

Turkey on Tuesday said it was taking six measures against Israel, following commitments agreed earlier this month by a cohort of countries seeking to stop the Israeli war on Gaza.

By endorsing The Hague Group’s joint statement from the Bogota Emergency Conference on Palestine, Turkey has become the first country to sign on to the commitments since the summit on 16 July.

The Bogota summit culminated in a joint declaration by states demanding international sanctions against Israel and legal accountability for what participants described as "grave violations of international law" in Gaza. 

The six measures include suspending military exports to Israel, refusing the transit of Israeli weapons through their ports and airspace, and reviewing all public contracts to prevent state institutions and pension funds from supporting Israeli companies or the occupation of Palestinian territories.

They also included a vow to actively support universal jurisdiction cases and International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants to pursue accountability for alleged war crimes.

Read more: Turkey to follow The Hague Group's measures against Israel 'to stop the genocide'

"I believe we have entered the third stage of famine in the Gaza Strip. Malnutrition is claiming the lives of our patients despite our efforts to save them," Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, has told Al Jazeera Arabic. 

Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the health ministry has said. 

Israeli forces have killed at least 62 people across Gaza since dawn, including 19 aid seekers. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to convene an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as calls intensify within his own party to recognise Palestinian statehood amid Israel’s escalating war on Gaza.

The rare recall during Parliament’s summer recess will focus on ramping up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, where starvation is spreading and the death toll continues to mount. The discussions will also include a joint peace proposal being developed with France and Germany.

Starmer met US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday, where he condemned the "revolting" humanitarian crisis in Gaza and discussed the urgent need for a ceasefire.

While the situation on the ground in Gaza deteriorates, Labour MPs are growing increasingly frustrated with Starmer’s refusal to endorse immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. Many believe such a move would increase diplomatic pressure on Israel.

Although successive British governments have claimed they support recognition “when the time is right”, no clear timeline or criteria have ever been set. Starmer, for his part, continues to insist he is focused on “practical solutions”.

Last Friday, more than 200 MPs from across nine parties signed a joint letter urging the UK to immediately recognise a Palestinian state, a demand that is gaining traction as the civilian death toll in Gaza surpasses 60,000 and the threat of famine deepens.

Israeli forces have killed at least 113 Palestinians and wounded 637 more over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday, as hospitals struggle to cope with the relentless bloodshed.

Among the dead were 22 Palestinians attempting to access humanitarian aid, the latest victims in a pattern of deadly strikes targeting desperate civilians.

Since 7 October, Israel’s assault on the besieged enclave has left at least 60,034 people dead and more than 145,870 wounded, according to official figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Gaza’s Government Media Office has condemned the international response to the worsening humanitarian disaster, saying that just 73 aid trucks made it into the besieged territory on Tuesday, far below the minimum 600 trucks per day that humanitarian groups say are urgently required.

In a statement the media office described the flow of aid as completely inadequate to address the famine gripping the Strip.

Officials also condemned Israeli airdrops of humanitarian supplies, claiming they were dropped into active combat zones under military supervision.

“We witnessed three airdrops, which combined did not equal the load of two truckloads of aid,” the statement read. “What is happening is a farce in which the international community is complicit through false promises or misleading information.”

The office called on world powers to stop offering symbolic gestures and instead ensure full, safe, and sustained access for life-saving relief.

Israeli forces have killed at least 62 Palestinians across Gaza since dawn today, including 19 aid seekers, sources in Gaza hospitals have told Al Jazeera.

Health officials have said that the dead include people who were trying to access humanitarian aid when they were targeted. Israel has struck several areas in the enclave, pushing hospitals already under strain to their limits.

Casualty figures are expected to rise as rescue teams continue to search through the rubble left by ongoing Israeli strikes. 

Conditions in Gaza have deteriorated as Israel has completely blocked all aid from entering Gaza. Global hunger watchdog Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has warned that famine is already unfolding across Gaza. 

The Dutch government has barred two of Israel’s far-right ministers from entering the country, citing their incitement of violence and support for ethnic cleansing.

“[National Security Minister] Itamar Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister] Bezalel Smotrich are no longer welcome here,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced late on Monday.

The Netherlands formally declared both men as persona non grata and pledged to enter their names into the Schengen Area’s registry of undesirable individuals.

Defending the move in parliament, Veldkamp said the pair had “repeatedly incited violence against the Palestinian population, persistently advocated for the expansion of illegal settlements, and called for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.”

“These actions and statements are beyond justification,” he added.

Read more: Netherlands bans Israeli ministers, urges EU sanctions over Gaza