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

Caspar Veldkamp, Dutch foreign minister and ex-ambassador to Israel, told Channel 12 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is harming the country.

“As a friend of Israel, I believe that I must now warn that the military operation in Gaza City and the current actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet are harmful to Israel’s security - and ultimately to Israel’s identity,” the news outlet quotes him as saying.

Veldkamp resigned over the weekend after his proposal to ban on imports from Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank was rejected. 

Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians during a series of overnight raids across the occupied West Bank.

Two people were detained in Bethlehem and the nearby town of Husan, while a man and his son were arrested in Birzeit north of Ramallah.

At least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to Al Jazeera, citing medical sources.

Three Palestinians were killed and many wounded when an Israeli attack targeted a team providing aid in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital sources said.

Two Palestinians were killed and others were wounded in an attack on the al-Karameh area, northwest of Gaza City, while one person was killed and two others were injured in an attack on a tent where displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of ​​Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Israel's war on Gaza, now in its 688th day:

• Israeli strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday killed at least six people, according to the country's Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Israel in support of Palestinians.

• France's foreign ministry said on Sunday it would summon the US ambassador after he criticised the government for what he said was its insufficient action against antisemitism in a letter to President Emmanuel Macron.

• Qatar and Egypt, which have mediated Gaza ceasefire negotiations, kept pressuring Israel to agree to the proposal approved by Hamas, but Israel is unlikely to stop the occupation process of Gaza City, Haaretz reported, citing Palestinian sources involved in the talks.

• At least 64 people were killed and 278 wounded by Israeli fire in the last 24 hours, according to the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.

• Syria's President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced an advanced stage of negotiations with Israel based on 1974 armistice lines, with Syria maintaining air superiority over its territories, Sky News Arabia reported.

• Israeli military chief reportedly said that there is a captive deal "on the table, we need to take it," according to Channel 13 news.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 51 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.

• Munir al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, has issued a stark warning about the escalating famine crisis in the enclave. 

• Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has described Gaza’s famine as the “last calamity” hitting the besieged territory, calling the situation “Hell in all shapes”.

• UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called on leaders from the European Union to pressure Israel to release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. 

• Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has doubled down on his genocidal stance against Gaza, insisting that no humanitarian supplies should be allowed into the besieged enclave.

• A senior Houthi leader has condemned Israeli air raids on Sanaa, saying that Israel attacked civilian areas and warning of intensified retaliation.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened Yemen’s Houthi movement with further escalation, vowing they will “pay a heavy price” for striking Israel.

• Irish rap trio Kneecap used their set at France’s Rock en Seine festival to again condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide on Gaza, ignoring pressure from French officials and pro-Israel lobby groups to drop what they claimed was political messaging.

• Israel’s far-right finance minister has boasted of a “conquest of the land” while fighter jets bombed Yemen, drawing sharp criticism of the country’s ongoing military campaigns and settlement expansion.

• The Israeli army has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it could take over a year to demolish Gaza City if the military goes ahead with plans to invade the besieged territory.

• The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says Israeli forces detained 14 Palestinians during three days of raids in al-Mughayyir village, near Ramallah. Those arrested include the head of the local council and the brothers of a child killed in a previous Israeli attack.

• Soldiers bulldozed farmland, uprooted thousands of trees, and beat several Palestinians during field interrogations.

• In Bethlehem, Israeli special forces raided a home and arrested a recently released prisoner after assaulting him. Troops fired tear gas and stun grenades, according to the Wafa news agency.

• In Masafer Yatta, settlers bulldozed Palestinian lands, while in Shallat al-Auja near Jericho, a settler forcibly seized a Palestinian home.

• Two Palestinians, including 60-year-old Mustafa Abdel Qader Melhem, suffered serious head injuries after settlers attacked them with stones and batons while they harvested grapes in northern Hebron.

• Halhul Mayor Jamal Melhem told Wafa that settler attacks in the area have intensified as part of a wider effort to block Palestinian farmers from accessing their land near the illegal Karmei Tzur settlement.

• Israeli forces also stormed Aqraba near Nablus, clashing with locals, and raided Sa’ir, north of Hebron. No injuries have been reported from these incidents so far.

• In Susya, Masafer Yatta, settlers, backed by Israeli soldiers, attacked Palestinian homes with stones. Residents say settlers attempted to break into several homes, prompting confrontations, after which soldiers entered the area and attempted arrests.

Gaza’s Civil Defence says relentless Israeli bombardment has reduced large swathes of Gaza City to rubble, with more than 1,000 buildings destroyed in Zeitoun and Sabra since 6 August.

The group reported that hundreds of Palestinian bodies remain trapped under collapsed buildings, while heavy shelling and destroyed roads have made large-scale rescue efforts impossible.

Emergency workers said they are inundated with calls from residents reporting missing relatives and casualties but are unable to reach many areas. Medical teams, the statement added, are on the brink of collapse under the sheer scale of Israel’s assault.

“There is no safe area in the Gaza Strip,” the group warned, accusing Israel of targeting entire neighbourhoods in its campaign to seize Gaza City.

As reported earlier, Israeli tanks were seen rolling into Sabra on Saturday, signalling yet more devastation as the military pushes deeper into the besieged enclave.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has doubled down on his genocidal stance against Gaza, insisting that no humanitarian supplies should be allowed into the besieged enclave.

Channel 14 quoted the far-right minister as saying, “We cannot bring aid to our enemy (in the Gaza Strip), not water, electricity, fuel, or food.”

Smotrich’s comments underline Israel’s ongoing policy of collective punishment, as Gaza’s 2.3 million residents face a worsening humanitarian catastrophe marked by famine, disease, and relentless bombardment.

Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has described Gaza’s famine as the “last calamity” hitting the besieged territory, calling the situation “Hell in all shapes.”

“‘Never Again’ has deliberately become again. This will haunt us. Denial is the most obscene expression of dehumanisation,” Lazzarini wrote on X, invoking a phrase strongly linked to Holocaust remembrance.

He urged the Israeli government to “stop promoting a different narrative” and allow aid organisations access to the enclave, as well as enable foreign journalists to report from Gaza.

“Every hour counts. Open the gates. Ceasefire now,” Lazzarini added, warning of the urgent humanitarian toll on civilians trapped under Israel’s blockade.

Israeli forces have killed at least 51 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Among the dead are 24 people waiting to receive aid, highlighting the impact of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.

Gaza’s hospitals said 27 of the victims were in Gaza City, with casualties continuing as Israel’s bombardment shows no signs of abating.

Irish rap trio Kneecap used their set at France’s Rock en Seine festival to again condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide on Gaza, ignoring pressure from French officials and pro-Israel lobby groups to drop what they claimed was political messaging.

The group opened their performance in Saint-Cloud, near Paris, with chants of “Free, free Palestine!”, drawing cheers from thousands of supporters wearing keffiyehs and Irish football shirts, the AFP reported. Kneecap stressed they were “not against Israel” but denounced its actions in Gaza, which include famine and genocide.

French authorities in a bid to censor the act, had withdrawn tens of thousands of euros in subsidies from the festival after organisers refused to remove the Belfast-based group from the lineup.

Kneecap, who are known for their pro-Palestinian stance and criticism of British imperialism, have faced bans and charges over previous shows.

In June, they labelled Israel “war criminals” during a Glastonbury performance, and Hungary, one of Israel's strongest backers in the European Union, barred them from entering the country to play at the Sziget Festival.

Festival director Matthieu Ducos told AFP ahead of the event that he was confident the group would “perform in the correct manner”. The concert went ahead without incident.

Israeli forces have killed at least 45 Palestinians in attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Among the dead are 20 people who were receiving desperately needed aid, Gaza’s hospitals said.

The relentless bombardment comes as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens, with residents facing famine conditions and a collapsing health system under Israeli siege.

Israel has released 13 Palestinians, most of them young men, who were abducted from different parts of Gaza over the past three months.

The detainees were held at the notorious Sde Teiman military prison and were released to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah by the Red Cross.

Israel’s military routinely seizes Palestinians, including children, as part of its widening occupation of the enclave. Rights groups say around 3,500 Gazans remain in Israeli military facilities, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office.

Many former detainees have described facing torture, humiliation and starvation while in custody.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened Yemen’s Houthi movement with further escalation, vowing they will “pay a heavy price” for striking Israel.

“The Houthi regime is learning the hard way and will pay a heavy price for its attacks on Israel,” Netanyahu declared, warning the entire region of “the strength and determination of the State of Israel.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz issued similar threats, promising to double Israeli strikes for every missile fired. “For every missile fired at Israel, the Houthis will pay double the price,” he said, adding that Israel would tighten its air and sea blockade while destroying “infrastructure targets used to support Houthi terrorism.”

The comments come as Israel faces mounting global condemnation over its military campaign in Gaza, in which rights groups have declared as an active genocide.

The Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have declared support for Palestinians and vowed to stop the genocide and launched repeated drone and missile attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping linked to Israel.

Israel’s far-right finance minister has boasted of a “conquest of the land” while fighter jets bombed Yemen, drawing sharp criticism of the country’s ongoing military campaigns and settlement expansion.

Speaking in Jerusalem as air raids pummelled Sanaa, Bezalel Smotrich claimed Israel is witnessing “religious Zionism at the height of its glory” after two years of relentless war on Gaza.

“We will defeat the terror regime in Yemen as we defeated Hezbollah, the Syrians and the octopus head in Iran and as our righteous and heroic fighters defeat Hamas in Gaza,” Israeli media quoted him as saying. He also praised Israeli pilots striking targets nearly 2,000km away.

Smotrich openly rejected international pressure over settlement construction, boasting that his E1 settlement plan in the occupied West Bank “practically erases the two-state delusion and consolidates the Jewish people’s hold on the heart of the land of Israel”.