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

At least 62,263 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's genocide in Gaza started after 7 October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry. 

The majority of those killed has been women and children, while the number injured in Israel's genocide has risen to 157, 365. 

At least 2,060 Palestinians have been killed trying to retreive aid since the widely discredited US and Israeli run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been established. 

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry on Friday sharply criticised Israel after the UN officially declared that a famine is taking place in Gaza.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's deep concern in light of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report and the official declaration of famine in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said, adding it “also condemns the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation.”

Saudi Arabia said failure to stop Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people and end the famine would be "a stain upon the international community, particularly the permanent members of the Security Council."

US President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to give his backing for Israel's assault on Gaza City, claiming that it would be "safer" for the captives if Israel attacked the urban centre home to 1 million Palestinians, most of whom were forcibly displaced from other parts of Gaza.

“I actually think they're safer in many ways, if they went in fast and did it," Trump said. 

Trump also accused Hamas of "extortion". 

Trump's comments again appear to suggest the US is fine with the status quo of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. He also suggested there would be no full ceasefire even if the remaining roughly 20 alive captives in Gaza are freed and that Israel would continue its genocide. 

"Hamas knows that if they give them that's probably the end of their lives," he said. 

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp on Friday resigned after his government failed to agree on sanctions against Israel.

“I see that I am insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures to increase pressure on Israel,” Veldkamp told Dutch news agency ANP. 

The Dutch government did not agree on sanctions during a cabinet meeting on Friday. 

Israel is preparing to launch its ground assault on Gaza City in mid-September but is preparing to carry out a forced displacement of the city's roughly 1 million inhabitants as early as Sunday, according to an Israeli media report. 

Israel's Channel 12 reported that the offensive will begin two weeks after newly called-up reservists are set to report for duty on 2 September. 

Israel will issue a forced displacement notice as soon as Sunday, the report said.

At least 65 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's genocide in Gaza since dawn on Friday, according to Al Jazeera. 

At least six of those killed were trying to retreive aid from the discredited US and Israeli run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The UN earlier on Friday declared that Gaza had entered a famine. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he planned to be fighting in Gaza for decades, when he was warned about not crafting a so-called day after plan for governance of Gaza. 

"You're right. We are going to be fighting this war for decades to come," Netanyahu said, former State Department spokesman Matthew Miller recalled in an interview aired on Thursday with Hebrew media. 

Miller also said there were times members of the Biden administration discussed publicly declaring Netanyahu was an obstacle to the ceasefire but refrained from doing so because they believed it would harden Hamas' negotiating position. 

The UN agency for children, Unicef, said on Friday that one in four children in Gaza face severe malnutrition, underscoring the dire cost of the famine in Gaza imposed by Israel's genocide. 

The UN on Friday officially declared that Gaza is in a famine. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied the statement. 

At least 60 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's genocide since dawn on Friday, according to Al Jazeera. 

At least 36 of those Palestinians were killed in Gaza City where Israel is ramping up its full-scale assault on the city.

At least five Palestinians were killed while seeking food at US and Israeli run food distribution sites managed by the discredited Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that Gaza's famine is not "a mystery [but] a man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity".

The scathing remarks come after the UN officially declared a famine is taking place in Gaza.

"Famine is not only about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival. People are starving. Children are dying," he said.

"And those with the duty to act are failing. As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity," he added. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the UN's finding on Friday that the Gaza Strip is in a famine.

Netanyahu  rejected the UN-backed report as "an outright lie".

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory including Gaza City.

Israel has ignored the famine in Gaza and is pressing ahead with its genocide as it plans to assault Gaza City. 

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has condemned the famine in Gaza, calling it a "moral outrage" and "man-made catastrophe".

His statement follows the UN's recent announcement officially declaring the famine in Gaza - the first time this has been done in the Middle East.

"The confirmation of famine in Gaza City and the surrounding neighbourhood is utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable," the statement continued.

Lammy further called on the Israeli government, saying it "can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further".

Lammy said the UK remained opposed to Israel's plans to seize Gaza City: "We desperately need an immediate ceasefire, to enable aid delivery at maximum speed and at the scale required. This includes halting the military operation in Gaza City which is the epicentre of the famine."

Israel's military said that its air force successfully intercepted a drone launched from Yemen. The incident occurred near the Gaza Strip, the military added in a statement posted on Telegram.

“Let’s be very clear, this is a constructed and manufactured famine.”

Unrwa chief, Philippe Lazzarini, has warned that children in Gaza face death from malnutrition unless emergency aid is allowed in during Israel’s assault on Gaza City pic.twitter.com/RuciI8Dg6c

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 22, 2025

US subcontractors working for the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) fired at relief-seeking Palestinians together with Israeli forces, an eyewitness told CBS News. 

The witness named as Mike, whose real identity has been hidden for fear of reprisal, said he was hired by a US logistics company to drive aid trucks in Israel, not knowing he would be working with the Israeli and US-backed GHF in Gaza. 

GHF began operations in May as the only entity approved by Israel to distribute aid inside the blockaded enclave. 

At least 2,036 Palestinians have been killed and more than 15,064 wounded while collecting food or queuing for assistance at GHF sites or en route to its centres. 

"It took me two or three days to realise that they were actually shooting at people, they weren't shooting at combatants," Mike said, noting that both Israeli troops and US security personnel were firing at civilians. 

Read more: US guards at GHF sites in Gaza fired at Palestinian aid-seekers, new report says