Live: Six more Palestinians die of famine as Israel blocks Gaza aid

Unidentified drones have been spotted pursuing the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters and flying at medium altitude over a number of ships, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Tuesday. 

The global fleet of boats, which are part of an international initiative aimed at delivering humanitarian aid to  people in Gaza, set sail for Gaza on 1 September.

In July, Egyptian-Dutch activist Anas Habib chained the gates of Egypt’s embassy in The Hague shut. The 27-year-old political exile filmed the act, posted it online, and within hours the video spread widely among Egyptian dissidents all around the world.

He might not have predicted that what he started would snowball into a wave of similar protests by Egyptians angered with what they see as their country's complicity with Israel's war on Gaza.

The protests have spread to different countries, and, along with it, an increasingly violent campaign of repression that has not limited itself to the exiled activists abroad, but to their families still in Egypt.

Inspired by Habib’s action, Nour Hossam, a 25-year-old journalist and political exile in Turkey who also goes by Onur Azad, walked up to the Egyptian consulate in Istanbul in early August with two colleagues who were filming him. 

You can read more here.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the US's decision to deny visas to Palestinian officials to attend the UN General Assembly in September, where France and other countries plan to recognise a Palestinian state, is "unacceptable" and has asked the US to reverse its decision.

In a post on X, he said, "The American decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials is unacceptable. We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured in accordance with the Host Country Agreement.

"Our objective is clear: to rally the broadest possible international support for the Two-State Solution - the only way to meet the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians...".

He also added that, "no offensive, annexation attempt, or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum we have created with the Crown Prince".

The 80th UNGA session begins on 9 September. 

Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will co-chair a conference on the Two-State Solution in New York on 22 September.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel in September, The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources.

Rubio is expected to arrive the week of 14 September and meet with high-level Israeli officials, as well as attend the inauguration ceremony of an archaeological site in Jerusalem, in the midst of an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City that has destroyed more than 1,500 homes and displaced thousands more Palestinians in Gaza.

Rubio last visited the country in February. 

 Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet with Pope Leo  XIV at the Vatican on Thursday, Vatican News reported.

It will be the second time the two meet. They first met during the inauguration mass held to mark the beginning of Pope Leo's pontificate.

The meeting comes as the last Christian stronghold in Gaza City is under attack by the Israeli army. 

Five children were among nine people killed while fetching water in southern Gaza by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday - an area that was designated a safe zone by Israel.

The attack happened in al-Mawasi, an area that the Israeli military encouraged people in Gaza City to flee to, before they began their invasion there in north Gaza. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military’s spokesperson for Arab media, Avichay Adraee, said in a post on X, "To all residents of the Gaza Strip, in preparation for the expansion of fighting into Gaza City, we remind you that the Al-Mawasi area will witness the provision of better humanitarian services, particularly those related to healthcare, water, and food".

Israeli authorities announced on Tuesday the seizure of 456 dunams (around 456 acres) of Palestinian land in the West Bank belonging to the villages of Jit and Farata, west of Nablus, saying it will now belong to the Israeli state.

The land is in the area where the illegal settlement of Havat Gilad was established in 2003, on the lands of the three villages of Jit, Far'ata, and Tal.

With this new seizure, the total land seized from this area of the occupied West Bank will amount to more than 26,000 dunams (approximately 26,000 acres), encompassing over 13 separate proclamations.

An Israeli attack on Gaza City's Zeitoun neighourhood has killed a Palestinian child and wounded others, Al Jazeera is reporting, citing medical sources.

Israeli forces seized the Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Tayseer Abu Sneineh, during a raid on his home in the southern occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the Hebron Municipal Council, Israeli troops vandalised the property, causing extensive damage.

"This brutal attack not only targets the mayor himself, but also the will of the people of Hebron and its elected institutions,” the council said.

“It constitutes a blatant assault on the democratic process and on our people's right to manage their affairs and serve their city with freedom and dignity.”

Abu Sneineh, a veteran figure in the Fatah movement, became mayor of Hebron in 2017 after winning local elections.

Read more: Israel arrests Hebron mayor as it 'considers independent tribal emirate'

Hundreds of reservists have said that they will refuse to report for duty if called up to fight as part of the government's operation to seize Gaza City, the Times of Israel is reporting.

Sgt First Class (res.) Max Kresch said at a Tel Aviv press conference that he was among some 365 reservists who had fought in Gaza since Israel's genocide on the territory began in October 2023 and would "not report for duty when called again".

“We refuse to take part in Netanyahu’s illegal war, and we see it as a patriotic duty to refuse and demand accountability from our leaders," Kresch said, adding that the group of reservists participated in fighting the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

Meanwhile, Captain (res.) Ron Feiner said: “The decision to occupy Gaza will always be at the risk of the hostages, soldiers and citizens. It was given by a messianic government with no public legitimacy, that is only interested in its own political survival."

Ireland's central bank has said it will no longer approve the sale of Israeli "war bonds" in a landmark move.

The Central Bank of Ireland is the only regulating authority in the EU that approves Israel's war bonds for sale across the bloc.

The Development Company for Israel Ltd sells the bonds on Israel's behalf to fund the country's military operations in Gaza.

This week the central bank said it will not renew approval for Israeli war bonds after it expires on Monday.

Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf announced the move on Monday, saying: "The Central Bank’s approval of the 2024 [Israeli bond] prospectus will expire today, 1 September 2025.

Read more: Ireland's central bank to stop approving sale of Israeli 'war bonds'

As the sun rose on Monday, thousands gathered at al-Sabeen Square in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, for the mass funeral of senior Houthi officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi. The 12 officials had been killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday afternoon.

At the funeral, caskets draped in the Yemeni flag were carried on military vehicles before crowds of officials and citizens.

Shock, sorrow, anger, and defiance marked the faces of participants. The strike was the first to sow such widespread confusion and grief in regions under Houthi control.

While Israel has targeted Houthi-held areas for more than a year, Thursday’s attack was particularly devastating, with more than half of cabinet members in the Sanaa government killed .

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strike was "a crushing blow" against the Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, warning that "this is only the beginning".

Read more: Shock and defiance in Sanaa after Israeli assassination of Houthi officials

Yemen's Houthi movement said on Tuesday that they had attacked a ship with two drones and a missile in the northern Red Sea over its connection to Israel.

The group did not say when the attack happened.

Reporting by Reuters

Israeli forces have detained over 10 Palestinians and assaulted one person in a large-scale military raid on the Nablus-area village of Kafr Qalil, Wafa news agency is reporting.

Local sources told Wafa that the Israeli army raided around 150 homes and invaded the village cemetery in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Troops also stormed the village and assaulted a Palestinian man. He was subsequently transferred to hospital for treatment.

Counterterrorism police on Tuesday arrested five members of a campaign group calling for the UK government to lift its ban on direct action group Palestine Action, hours before a press conference announcing a protest on Saturday.

Defend Our Juries (DOJ) has called regular protests since the government moved to proscribe the group in July, with mounting numbers of participants arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

According to London's Metropolitan Police, 114 people have been charged with Terrorism Act offences linked to Palestine Action support.

Over 500 people - most of them over the age of 60 - were arrested under the Terrorism Act at a previous action in London's Parliament Square on 9 August.

On 22 August, DOJ called for 1,000 people to pledge to participate in the upcoming protest, saying it would only go ahead if participant numbers reached that threshold.

Read more: Palestine Action campaigners seeking to lift ban rounded up in dawn raids