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

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates on Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank:

• Israeli aircraft launched an air strike on a site near the tents of displaced people in northern Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

• The Trump administration has suspended approvals for nearly all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders. 

• US poll has revealed that 60 percent of Gen Z voters back Hamas over Israel in Gaza war. 

• Trump administration is reportedly preparing a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza and place it under American control. 

• Hamas has called on the Arab League, OIC, and UN to stop the "brutal genocide being committed by the government of war criminal Netanyahu" in Gaza. 

• Palestinian Authority has said Israel is carrying out secret excavations and demolitions beneath the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.

The German government's representative for human rights and humanitarian aid on Monday said that Israel must "immediately" improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, AFP news agency has reported. 

"The Israeli government must improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza immediately, comprehensively, sustainably, and in accordance with humanitarian principles and international law," said envoy Lars Castellucci. 

Castellucci made these comments ahead of a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. 

German humanitarian aid to Gaza "has been increased several times," but it is "pointless" as long as it does not reach those in need, he said.

The United Nations has officially declared a famine in Gaza. Israel has consistently blocked all humanitarian aid to the enclave, leading to a famine, as Israeli forces continue to shoot at Palestinian aid seekers. 

Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations to take action to stop the "brutal genocide being committed by the government of war criminal Netanyahu" in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Arabic has reported. 

Israel had announced on Sunday that it had killed Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson for the organisation. 

Abu Obeida was one of Hamas’ most prominent public figures and served as the spokesperson for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Palestinian group’s military wing, for nearly two decades.

Hamas has gained support among young Americans with a new survey revealing that those aged 18–24 overwhelmingly support Hamas as Israel carries out a genocide.

As per the survey, sixty percent of voters aged 18–24 expressed greater support for Hamas. Half of all respondents said they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.  

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has recorded seven new deaths as a result of the famine caused by Israel's months-long blockade of essential aid. 

• This brings the total number of deaths from malnutrition to 339, including 124 children.

• The death toll since Israel began its war in October 2023 has risen to 63,459, with more than 160,256 people injured.

• Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli forces have killed at least 78 Palestinians since dawn today.

• Gaza’s Government Media Office says the number of journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza has risen to 247 following the death of journalist Islam Abed on Sunday.

• A severe wave of influenza is spreading among children in the besieged enclave, the Palestinian health ministry has confirmed.

• Israeli ministers are arranging to detain Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in "terrorist-level conditions" after she set sail on the latest Gaza-bound flotilla, The Telegraph reported. 

• British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is set to tell MPs on Monday that the UK still plans to recognise a Palestinian state this month, The Guardian has reported.

The Trump administration has suspended approvals for nearly all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, US officials told The New York Times.

The measures prevent Palestinians from temporarily obtaining visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to family or friends, and business travel.

The restrictions apply to passports issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but not to Palestinians with dual nationality or those who already hold visas.

The decision follows previous limits on Palestinians from Gaza and Palestinian officials seeking to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

A new survey has revealed a sharp generational split in United States attitudes towards Israel’s war on Gaza, with younger voters showing unprecedented support for Hamas as Israel carries out a genocide.

The poll, conducted by The Harris Poll and HarrisX between 20 and 21 August among 2,025 registered voters, asked respondents: “In the Israel-Hamas conflict, do you support more Israel or more Hamas?”

Sixty percent of voters aged 18–24 expressed greater support for Hamas, in stark contrast to older demographics, where backing for Israel rose steadily: 65 percent among ages 25–34, 70 percent among ages 35–44, 74 percent among ages 45–54, 84 percent among those aged 55–64, and 89 percent of voters over 65.

Half of all respondents said they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Most voters (51 percent) attributed criticism of Israel to concern over Palestinian human rights rather than antisemitism.

The survey did not ask participants whether they support Palestinians more broadly, despite Israeli leaders repeatedly framing their war as being against all Palestinians, not only Hamas. 

Read m0re: US poll finds 60 percent of Gen Z voters back Hamas over Israel in Gaza war

US President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly preparing a plan to place Gaza under American control and forcibly remove its population, codifying ethnic cleansing and cementing Israel’s genocide.

The Washington Post reports that Gaza’s more than two million residents would be relocated abroad or confined to secure zones for at least ten years while reconstruction takes place.

The 38-page proposal, called the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust (GREAT Trust), envisions Gaza as a “Riviera of the Middle East.” Investors are promised returns on $100bn projects including luxury resorts, AI-powered “smart cities,” data centres, and EV factories.

Palestinian landowners would receive digital tokens redeemable for property in new developments or to finance life abroad. Those agreeing to exile would get $5,000 cash, a year of food, and four years of rent subsidies.

The plan was drafted with input from Israeli figures linked to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Gaza’s Government Media Office says the number of journalists killed in Israel’s war on Gaza has risen to 247 following the death of journalist Islam Abed.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation’s targeting and assassination of Palestinian journalists,” the office said in a statement.

It added that Israel and the countries “participating in the genocide” bear full responsibility for “committing these heinous crimes”.

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate says leaked footage shows Israeli authorities carrying out secret excavations and demolitions beneath the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.

“These operations deliberately target Islamic antiquities dating back to the Umayyad period, which stand as living witnesses and irrefutable evidence of Muslims’ rightful claim to the site,” the authority said in a statement, referencing the Islamic caliphate that ruled from 661 to 750.

It said Israel is working to erase the mosque’s Islamic heritage to prepare for a future Jewish temple, adding that the excavations are taking place without international oversight.

The authority called the works “a crime and a blatant violation of international laws and agreements protecting artefacts”.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly endorsed the project of "Greater Israel", telling i24 News that he is on a "historic and spiritual mission" of territorial conquest.

This maximalist vision builds on the existing Greater Israel and its settler-colonial control of East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and now, once again, Gaza - where the government hopes it will soon re-establish itself.

It seeks to expand Jewish colonial settlement to encompass all of historic Palestine, allegedly once the exclusive home of the ancient Hebrews and promised by the Jewish God to the "Chosen People", along with parts of neighbouring Arab countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.

Support for this ideology has surged amid Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, with images circulating online of soldiers displaying a map of this new, much Greater Israel stitched onto their uniforms.

For its part, the Israeli government is moving quickly to entrench its sovereignty over all the land. This month, it announced successive approvals of both a plan to take over Gaza City and the E1 settlement project in the West Bank - a measure that would cut off Palestinian access to East Jerusalem and displace Bedouins in the area, and which senior officials declared was intended to "bury the idea of a Palestinian state" once and for all.

Read more:  How to prove Israel is not a settler colony even as it pursues 'Greater Israel'

Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli forces have killed at least 78 Palestinians since dawn today, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is set to tell MPs on Monday that the UK still plans to recognise a Palestinian state this month, The Guardian has reported.

Lammy is expected to address the House of Commons and confirm that the government will proceed with recognition in September, citing Israel’s failure to meet the conditions set out by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in late July.

“We will assess all the factors relevant to recognition. But as things stand, we’re on a pathway to recognition later this month,” an unnamed UK official was quoted as saying.

Israeli officials have warned they could formally annex the occupied West Bank if the UK, France, and other major powers push ahead with recognition at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York.

At least 63 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza since dawn, including 32 people who were seeking aid, medical staff told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Doctors at the Nasser Medical Complex said Israeli troops shot and killed 15 aid seekers in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today.

Israeli ministers are arranging to detain Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in "terrorist-level conditions" after she set sail on the latest Gaza-bound flotilla, The Telegraph reported. 

More than 150 media outlets from over 50 countries are joining a major media campaign on 1 September demanding the "protection and emergency evacuation" of Gaza’s journalists.

The campaign, coordinated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the global campaigning movement Avaaz, follows Israel's repeated targeting of reporters, which has killed more than 210 journalists.

"At least 210 journalists have been killed in Gaza, and foreign press remain locked out. This is a direct assault on press freedom and the truth itself," the statement read. 

"This is a chance for the media to send an unmistakable message: stop killing journalists, open Gaza to the press, and let the media do its job."