Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours
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The Unicef’s Executive Director Catherine Russell said that an average of 28 children are killed daily in Gaza since the war has broken out in 7 October 2023.
“A whole a whole classroom of children killed every day for nearly two years,” she told the UN security council, adding that more than 17,000 kids have reportedly been killed and 33,000 wounded in the ongoing war.
Russell added that malnutrition has surged with nearly 6,000 children acutely malnourished in June. This is a 180 percent increase since February.
Food supplies are running out and Gaza civilians are being shot while seeking something to eat, UN Undersecretary-General Tom Fletcher said.
“Civilians are exposed to death and injury, forcible displacement, stripped of dignity,” Fletcher told the Security Council.
Al Jazeera is reporting that an Israeli air strike hit in the late hours of Wednesday the headquarters of the 107th Brigade in the village of Bzamel in the Latakia countryside, western Syria.
Al Jazeera is reporting, quoting a diplomatic source, that the United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss the Israeli escalation in Syria.
Earlier, a source has told Al Jazeera that the security council has received a request from Syria to convene as soon as possible following Israel’s attacks on governmental buildings in the capital Damascus.
Israel and the US appear to be on divergent paths in Syria.
While the allies aren't on a collision course yet, current and former Arab, US and Israeli officials say their differences could complicate the Trump administration's grand diplomatic plans.
On Wednesday, Israel carried out powerful air strikes on Damascus, blowing up a part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace, as it framed its attacks as an effort to protect Syria's Druze minority.
The strikes marked a significant Israeli escalation against the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and came despite his warming ties with the US and his burgeoning security contacts with Israel.
"Israel and the US are definitely not on the same page," Dareen Khalifa, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, told Middle East Eye.
Read more: With Damascus strikes, Israel seeks to tear up Trump's vision for Syria
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Israel on Wednesday following its attacks on governmental buildings in Damascus and other areas.
“The rabid Israeli regime knows no bounds and only grasps one language. The world, including the region, must unite to end its unhinged aggression,” he said.
Syria urged the United Nations Security Council to convene to “address the consequences of the Israeli aggression on Syrian territory”.
The Syrian state-run news agency Sana said on Wednesday that military troops have started withdrawing from Sweida, in the south of Syria, as part of the ceasefire reached between the Syrian government and the city’s religious Sheikhs.
Earlier, the US called upon Syria to pull out its troops from the southern border to de-escalate tensions with Israel.
Israel’s army chief said on Wednesday that it is acting with “sound judgement” in Syria.
Earlier, Israeli air strikes targeted governmental buildings, including the army headquarters in the capital, Damascus, and other parts of the country.
“The commanders and soldiers are acting with responsibility, restraint and sound judgement,” said chief of staff Eyal Zamir as he visited the frontier with Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that fighting sides in Syria have agreed on “specific steps” to end the tensions.
“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Rubio said on X.
“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do.”
Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday rejected Israel's request to withdraw arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Israel made the request while the ICC reviews its challenge over the court's jurisdiction to weigh in on its war on Gaza.
The decision, dated 9 July 2025, was published on the ICC website on Wednesday.
The judges also rejected an Israeli request to suspend the court's broader investigation into alleged crimes in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
Read more: ICC judges reject Israel's request to withdraw Netanyahu arrest warrant
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that a ceasefire could take hold in Syria within the next three to four hours, as Israeli military strikes continue to target Syrian government forces in Sweida and Damascus.
“By working together with the Americans, I hope that within the next three to four hours, we will enter a period of calm and ceasefire,” he told journalists on Wednesday in New York.
Fidan said he was coordinating Ankara’s efforts with Jordan and Saudi Arabia, seeking to halt hostilities not only between government forces and the Druze militia in the area but also to address broader regional tensions.
“It is, of course, unacceptable that some of the Druze there are being provoked and supported by Israel, and are becoming a source of instability,” he said.
“The clashes between the Druze and the Bedouins must be brought to an end, ideally through the intervention of security forces.”
Fidan emphasized that while Turkey wants to prevent civilian casualties, it is equally important for the central government to assert its authority throughout the country to ensure security.
“At the same time, we conveyed our views and suggestions on this issue to the Israelis through our intelligence agency,” he added.
The Syrian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that dozens of bodies were found in the Sweida National Hospital.
Syria’s state media agency Sana quoted the ministry as saying the bodies belonged to security forces and civilians.
Earlier, a ceasefire agreement was reached with the Syrian government in Sweida.
The truce will involve an immediate cessation of all military operations and a commitment by all parties to de-escalate the situation in Sweida.
The US called upon Syria on Wednesday to withdraw its troops from the southern border area in order to de-escalate tensions with Israel.
“We are calling on the Syrian government to withdraw their military in order to allow all sides to be able to de-escalate,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in an interview on Fox News.
The statements were made after fighting between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern city of Sweida hours following a ceasefire agreement.
Al Jazeera is reporting that a new Israeli air strike hit an area near Moadamiyet al-Sham in the Damascus countryside on Wednesday evening.
This follows raids that targeted governmental buildings in Damascus on Wednesday morning, including the army headquarters.
Around 81 Palestinians, including 25 aid seekers, were killed since the early hours of Wednesday by Israeli attacks on different areas in Gaza, according to medical sources.
According to the United Nations, at least 875 people have been killed trying to get food, since the Israeli-US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating in the strip in late May.
At least 674 of these deaths occurred “in the vicinity of GHF sites”, according to the United Nations.
Powerful Israeli air strikes hit Damascus on Wednesday, targeting the Syrian defence ministry, military headquarters and the vicinity of the presidential palace.
Footage broadcast on local TV channels showed an explosion in central Damascus, with huge plumes of smoke enveloping the area around Umayyad Square.
The Syrian state news agency Sana said, citing the country's health ministry, that one person was killed and 18 others wounded in the attacks.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted footage of the bombing on X, writing: "heavy blows have started".
Sana also said Israel struck targets in the southwestern province of Daraa.
