Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

US President Donald Trump said that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza "in a different way".

Speaking at a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer while on an official visit to Scotland, Trump added that a ceasefire in Gaza is "possible".

He added that the "time had come to end" the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. 

Asked if he agreed with Netanyahu's claims that there is no starvation in Gaza, Trump responded: "I don't know. Based on television, I would say not particularly. Those children look very hungry." 

B'tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, two major Israeli rights groups, have published a new report stating that Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide. 

The report marks the first time any Israeli NGOs have formally used the term "genocide" to describe Israel's ongoing military campaign in the enclave, although many prominent international NGOs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a United Nations Special Committee have been using the term for several months. 

Writing on X, B'tselem described Israel's war on Gaza as an "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," the post continued.

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

It sounds inconceivable. But it’s the truth.

Israel is taking deliberate, coordinated action to destroy the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Explicit statements by Israeli officials, combined with a consistent policy of destructive attacks… pic.twitter.com/tzFmTSfUEX

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) July 28, 2025

Israeli forces have raided the campus of Al-Quds University and fired tear gas at students, Wafa news agency report.

Located in Abu Dis in the occupied West Bank, the university has been subject to frequent incursions from Israeli forces. In April, the Israeli military deployed tear gas and sound bombs during student demonstrations at the university. 

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Gaza, every university - including the other branch of Al-Quds University - has been either severely damaged or completely destroyed amid Israel's ongoing war on the enclave. 

With no plan for Gaza and growing regional defiance, the Trump administration's vision to reshape the Middle East through force is already beginning to fracture, argues Hesham Gaafar. 

The Trump administration is attempting to reshape the Middle East after launching strikes on Iran last month, adopting a strategy characterised by "peace through strength" and "commerce, not chaos".

While this approach is presented as pragmatic, it risks destabilising the region in favour of maximising US and Israeli military and economic advantage.

President Donald Trump considers himself an "expert dealmaker", believing that calculated military strikes create leverage for diplomatic gains - particularly by pressuring Iran back to the negotiating table.

His strategy emphasises overwhelming but short-term military force to achieve defined goals, avoiding prolonged entanglements or "forever wars". It also marks a rejection of nation-building, shifting the burden of regional stability onto local partners.

Though the strategic value of Middle Eastern energy resources has declined for the US, the region remains crucial - perhaps even more so under the current administration. 

Read more: Trump's strategy for Middle East 'peace' is built on Israeli dominance. It will fail

Two Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli drone attack in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, north west of Gaza City, WAFA news agency is reporting.

The attack took place outside the Sheikh Radwan clinic, a health centre established by the United Nations in 2024 to distribute polio vaccinations to Palestinian children. 

At least 41 people have been killed in the besieged enclave since dawn, including eight civilians waiting for humanitarian aid. 

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli-imposed starvation has increased to 147, including 88 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

Fourteen people have died from hunger and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, despite Israel allowing a small amount of aid into Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the international community to reject hunger as a weapon of war amid mounting outrage over Israeli-imposed starvation in Gaza.

“Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war,” the UN chief said via video-conference. 

Israel has been blocking aid from entering Gaza for several months, while baselessly blaming the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the enclave on delivery inefficiencies caused by UN aid administrators. 

Israeli settlers torched two vehicles and spray-painted racist graffiti in the majority Christian-Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank early on Monday morning. 

According to Anadolu Agency, one of the homes belonged to a Christian-Palestinian journalist and the other to a village council member. 

There are no reports of settler arrests, which are rare occurrences amid near-daily settler attacks occurring across the West Bank. 

Settler attacks in Taybeh have increased in recent weeks, attracting concern from Western leaders and religious figures. 

A visit to Taybeh from a delegation of Christian leaders and European diplomats on 14 July was followed by a visit from US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on 19 July. He condemned the attacks as "unacceptable". 

"To commit an act of sacrilege by desecrating a place that is supposed to be a place of worship, it is an act of terror, and it is a crime," said Hukabee in a statement.

مستوطنون يحرقون مركبات ويخطون شعارات عنصرية خلال مهاجمة بلدة الطيبة شرق رام الله pic.twitter.com/MB4PNv8SmB

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 28, 2025

Dozens of ministers from around the world are set to gather at the United Nations on Monday for a delayed conference discussing the establishment of a Palestinian state. 

The US and Israel are boycotting the event.

The 193-member UN General Assembly had decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025, to be hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. However, it was postponed in June after Israel's surprise attack on Iran.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Sunday that he would use the conference to push other countries to join France in recognising a Palestinian state.

France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron announced last week.

"We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on September 21," Barrot said. He added that he expected Arab countries by then to condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament.

The UN has long endorsed a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

The UN General Assembly in May last year overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council "reconsider the matter favourably." The resolution garnered 143 votes in favour and nine against.

The General Assembly vote was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member - a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state - after the US vetoed it in the UN Security Council weeks earlier.

The Gaza-based Government Media Office has warned of imminent danger to the lives of over 40,000 infants as Israel continues block the import of baby formula, a ban that has run for the past 150 days.

This ongoing blockade threatens an unprecedented humanitarian disaster and the slow death of tens of thousands of children, the office said. 

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which has now lasted for over 21 months and three weeks:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 30 Palestinians and wounded dozens since dawn on Monday, according to local media.

• Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza has confirmed the death of infant Mohammed Ibrahim Adas, who succumbed to severe malnutrition and a lack of infant formula. At least 133 Palestinians have died from starvation in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.

• Saudi Arabia and France are set to co-chair an international conference on the two-state solution in New York, beginning on Monday. Running until July 30, the conference aims to rally international support for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Our live blog is now closed until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• The Palestinian health ministry announced six new deaths, including two children, in the past 24 hours as a result of the famine and malnutrition spreading across the besieged enclave. 

• This brings the total death toll from famine to 133 people, including 87 children. 

• At least 63 people have been killed in Gaza since Sunday morning, according to hospital sources in the enclave.

• Israel bombed an area in Gaza City it designated earlier on Sunday as a "safe-zone". According to Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary, a bakery was targeted in the attack, killing and wounding a number of Palestinians. 

• The Israeli army has denied that famine is gripping the Gaza Strip, despite widespread reports of severe malnutrition, starvation deaths and aid restrictions. The official also defended the continuation of the war, saying: “I am not comfortable with bringing aid into Gaza, but that gives us legitimacy to continue the war.”

• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says its teams are treating Palestinians wounded while trying to collect food, warning that Gaza’s health system has all but collapsed.

• The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) has accused Israel of fabricating claims that Hamas was stealing large amounts of aid, saying the allegations were designed to push out humanitarian groups and tighten Israeli control over food distribution in Gaza.

• Israeli authorities have issued a week-long ban on the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the possibility of an extension. The ban follows a sermon he lead on Friday at the mosque, where he condemned Israel's siege and starvation of Gaza's population.

• A letter signed by 341 prominent Israeli academics and professors has urged an end to the targeting of civilians, calling for "moral limits on military operations in Gaza."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Gaza’s malnutrition crisis is spiralling, with the number of children suffering from acute hunger rising sharply due to the ongoing blockade.

“The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives,” the WHO posted on X. “Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, as reported by Nutrition Cluster partners.”

The WHO cited a threefold increase in acute malnutrition rates among children aged 6 to 59 months in Gaza City since June—making it the worst-affected part of the Strip.

The agency called for immediate and sustained action to flood Gaza with varied, nutritious food and ensure the delivery of therapeutic food for children, vital medicines, and essential supplies.

“This flow must remain consistent and unhindered to support recovery and prevent further deterioration,” the statement added

Hamas’s top official in Gaza said on Sunday there is no longer any justification to continue negotiations with Israel while the genocide against Gaza continues and civilians are deprived of basic needs, accusing Israel of withdrawing from talks to stall and intensify the war.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, delivered the remarks in a video statement days after Israel pulled its negotiating team out of Doha for what it called “further consultations”, despite Hamas issuing what it described as a constructive response to the latest ceasefire framework.

“There is no point in continuing negotiations under the siege, genocide, and starvation of our children and women in the Gaza Strip,” al Hayya said.

He added that “the immediate and dignified entry of food and medicine to our people is a serious expression of the feasibility of continuing the negotiations.”

Read more: Negotiations with Israel pointless while Gaza faces famine and genocide, says Hamas

At least 63 people have been killed in Gaza since Sunday morning, according to hospital sources in the enclave.

Israeli forces carried out heavy shelling and air raids in Tuffah and the Shujayea neighbourhoods, both located in eastern Gaza City.