Gazan Health Ministry: 266 Palestinians Have Died of Famine and Malnutrition
Three adults died from starvation and malnutrition in the last twenty-four hours, bringing the total number of famine-related deaths in the enclave to 266 (Guardian)
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks killed forty-eight people across Gaza, the civil defense agency said (France 24)
Additionally, the United Nations reported a 31 percent increase in global aid worker deaths in 2024, driven primarily by the war in Gaza, where 181 aid workers were killed (UN)
Hamas Accepts Arab-Mediated Ceasefire Plan
While senior official Basem Naim did not give further details, an unnamed Egyptian official told the Associated Press that the proposal is similar to a previous one accepted by Israel and stipulates the negotiation of a lasting ceasefire; Egypt and Qatar sent the proposal to Israel, a senior Egyptian official said (AP)
Hundreds of Thousands of Demonstrators Call for Return of Israeli Hostages and End to Gaza War
It was one of the largest protests in Israel since the war began; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the demonstrations only “harden Hamas’s stance” and further delay the release of hostages (CNN)
Netanyahu Backs Plan to Divide the West Bank
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs a plan to build three thousand new housing units in an area that would divide the West Bank (Times of Israel)
He called it a way to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” after several countries recently announced plans to recognize one (BBC)
Such settlements are illegal under international law (BBC)
The UN and European Union rejected the plan, while the U.S. State Department said “a stable West Bank keeps Israel secure” (Al Jazeera)
Israeli Bombing of Gaza City Kills 123 Palestinians
Netanyahu defended Israel’s actions, claiming that residents had the opportunity to leave “combat zones” ahead of the offensive and that Palestinians could depart Gaza entirely “if they want” (France24)
Additionally, at least twenty-five people were reportedly shot and killed while seeking aid, including fourteen in Teina, three kilometers from a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site, five near a GHF site in the Netzarim corridor, and six others waiting for aid trucks near the Morag corridor (AP)
Starvation in Gaza reached its highest level of the war, as 129 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June (AP)
Meanwhile, Israel’s military announced that Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, approved the “main concept” for Israel’s next attack plan in the Gaza Strip; details were not provided (Reuters)
Spain endorsed a French proposal for a UN-mandated international mission to stabilize Gaza in the aftermath of the current war (Reuters)
Macron floated the prospect on Monday, saying it should protect civilians and work to support Palestinian governance, without giving further details (Reuters)
Violence persisted in the West Bank, where Israeli security forces near Duma allegedly killed a Palestinian man; the military claimed that the soldier fired warning shots after he was targeted by dozens of Palestinians throwing rocks (AP)
Hamas Leader in Egypt for Peace Talks
While previous rounds of talks have failed to stop the war, international pressure is mounting to do so—especially before Israeli ground troops move into Gaza City, a one-million-person population center which Israel plans to retake as a first step toward complete military occupation of the territory (Reuters)
Egypt’s foreign minister stated that the country is collaborating with Qatar and the United States to develop a plan for an initial sixty-day truce and partial hostage release (Anadolu Agency)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel sought all hostages held by Hamas and that he believed the moment for a partial truce “is behind us” (AP)
Separately, Israel and South Sudan are discussing the possibility of resettling Palestinians to South Sudan in a process that Netanyahu considers “voluntary migration;” Israel’s Foreign Ministry and South Sudan’s foreign minister did not comment on the matter (AP)
Eighty-nine Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli fire in the past twenty-four hours, including in Zeitoun, Khan Younis, and Mawasi; five more people died of starvation and malnutrition (Reuters)
As hunger continues to spread in the territory, twenty-seven mostly European countries said today that new registration requirements may force international aid groups to leave; they called for “urgent action” against starvation (EU)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, furthermore, put Israel “on notice” that it could be listed among parties who are “responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence” (Reuters)
Israel Intensifies Bombardments of Gaza City
Israel launched its heaviest bombardments in weeks when tanks and planes struck Gaza City’s eastern suburbs of Sabra, Zeitoun, and Shejaia, causing people to flee westward (Reuters)
President Trump said that Hamas is “not going to let the hostages out in the current situation” and that the militant group “can’t stay” in Gaza, potentially signalling implicit agreement with Netanyahu’s decision for increased military pressure on Hamas (Axios)
Meanwhile, officials from Germany, Qatar, and the United Kingdom were among those who condemned Israel’s targeted killing of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza (Euronews)
Israel had previously claimed one of the reporters had run a Hamas cell, which the journalist and the network denied (AP)
The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 192 journalists have died in Gaza since the war began in 2023 (CPJ)
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that five more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, bringing the total to 222 since the start of the war (Reuters)
Separately, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Australia will recognize a Palestinian state in September (Axios)
Netanyahu Says New Offensive Will be Completed “Fairly Quickly”
During a press conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel’s planned offensive will occur “fairly quickly” amid growing international outrage that claims the operation risks violating international humanitarian law (BBC)
Netanyahu also said that Israel is obligated to complete the job and defeat Hamas since the group will not surrender, and Israel would be ending the war in a “fairly short” timeframe (Reuters)
Additionally, Netanyahu and Trump discussed Israel’s plans for its offensive, but specifics were not reported (Reuters)
Moreover, the Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted two projectiles that were launched from Gaza into Israel, and no injuries were reported (Reuters)
Israeli air strikes escalated in the evening, as at least five people were killed at a sandwich shop in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, and seven people were killed after a missile hit a tent used by journalists near Shifa Hospital (Reuters)
In the attack near Shifa Hospital, Israel’s military allegedly targeted and killed Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Qreiqeh, four other journalists, and two other people; Israel’s military previously accused al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell, though Al Jazeera and al-Sharif called the accusation baseless (AP)
Tens of Thousands Rally in Tel Aviv to Protest War in Gaza
One day after Netanyahu announced Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City, tens of thousands of people protested the decision and the war in Gaza; a group representing hostage families claimed that up to one hundred thousand people attended (Le Monde/AFP). Meanwhile, in a joint statement by nine countries including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK, the countries asserted that they “strongly reject” Israel’s decision to escalate the conflict in Gaza; a separate statement by Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, and fifteen other countries said that Israel’s escalation is “dangerous and unacceptable” (Politico)
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also condemned Israel’s decision to expand the military operation, saying that it “is fraught with the risk of exacerbating the already extremely dramatic situation in the Palestinian enclave” (Reuters)
The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Minister of Palestinian Foreign Affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin also condemned the international community for failing to act amid Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank (Al Jazeera)
In Gaza, eleven Palestinians were allegedly shot while seeking aid, and eleven adults died of malnutrition in the past twenty-four hours (Politico)
Israeli Cabinet Approves Plan to Take Over Gaza City
Gaza City is the territory’s capital and was its largest population center before the war displaced many of its residents (BBC)
The announcement runs counter to U.S. and other international calls for a negotiated end to the almost two-year war and has prompted criticism from some foreign governments (Reuters;Guardian)
Germany said today it would halt exports to Israel of arms that could be used in Gaza (Politico)
It also spurred fears that Israeli hostages and Palestinian civilians would be put at risk in an unpopular war expansion (AP)
Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza called the decision effectively “a death sentence for the living hostages” (Haaretz)
Netanyahu had said yesterday that Israel intended to take complete control of Gaza; the country’s military leadership, meanwhile, would prefer a truce instead of expanding the conflict, three unnamed officials told the New York Times(NYT)
The cabinet approved five principles for ending the war: Hamas’s disarmament, the return of all living and dead hostages, Gaza’s demilitarization, Israeli security control over the territory, and a civilian government in Gaza that is not Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (BBC)
Two recent polls found that around 70 percent of Israelis want the war to end and hostages to be brought home (Times of Israel)
Hamas said the plan would cost Israel “dearly,” while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called it a “full-fledged crime” (WaPo;NPR)
Countries including China, Finland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (UK) spoke out against the plan, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying it “will only bring more bloodshed” (Al Jazeera)
Reuters: Military Chief Pushes Back Against Netanyahu’s Gaza Plan
During a meeting where Netanyahu proposed annexing areas of Gaza not yet under Israeli control, Reuters reported that Military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned Netanyahu the next day that taking the rest of Gaza could trap the military and could cause harm to the hostages (Reuters)
Meanwhile, twenty-eight Palestinians seeking aid in the Morag Corridor and four near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site near Teina were killed; twelve people were also killed by Israeli airstrikes elsewhere in Gaza (AP)
A water crisis is unfolding in the Strip, as Palestinian officials stated that the two water pipelines operated by Israel into Gaza have not been working (Reuters)
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty condemned the international community for its response to the situation in Gaza (AP)
Israel to Allow Private Sector Merchants to Gradually Channel Aid Into Gaza
The decision marks the first time in almost a year that Israel has allowed the controlled entry of goods via private merchants into Gaza (Reuters)
It was not immediately clear how the permission for private sector aid disbursal would meet humanitarian needs in the enclave, which UN officials say require six hundred aid trucks per day (Haaretz)
Israeli forces killed at least twenty-five people with airstrikes and gunfire, including twelve seeking aid near the Morag corridor and in Teina near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site east of Khan Younis, seven others in southern Gaza, and six near a GHF site in central Gaza (AP)
Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the next stage of the war without offering specifics or ruling out harsher action (AP)
UN Warns All Gazan Children Under Five at Risk of Malnourishment
The UN’s World Food Programme announced that all children younger than five in Gaza, making up approximately 320,000 children, are at risk of life-threatening malnourishment and starvation-related deaths; 6 new deaths from famine and malnutrition occurred in the past twenty-four hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths to 181, including 94 children (Al Jazeera)
Seventy-four people were also allegedly killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes, including thirty-four aid seekers (Al Jazeera)
Foreign governments have appealed to Israel to end the war, citing growing starvation in Gaza; today, six countries airdropped food into Gaza, with Canada saying Israel was violating international law in blocking aid (Reuters)
Around six hundred former Israeli security officials—including former directors of the military and the Mossad intelligence agency—wrote an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling on him to steer Netanyahu to end the war and bring home the hostages; they wrote that Hamas no longer posed a strategic threat to Israel (Guardian)
Separately, Netanyahu said that he will convene his Cabinet this week to find options for him to achieve “all of” his goals “without exception” for the war after ceasefire talks collapsed last week (AP)
Netanyahu’s government also voted to dismiss the attorney general, who is prosecuting him on corruption charges; the country’s top court issued an injunction barring the move (Axios)
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited West Bank settlement Ariel while on an unannounced and private visit to Israel organized by a pro-Israel advocacy group that is expected to last until August 10 (Axios; Times of Israel)
According to Marc Zell, chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, Speaker Johnson said that “the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish people” (X)
Hamas “Prepared” to Work with Red Cross to Deliver Aid to Hostages
Representatives from Hamas said that the militant group was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to the hostages if Israel permanently opens humanitarian corridors and halts airstrikes while aid is being distributed (Reuters)
Moreover, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that 1,600 aid trucks arrived in Gaza since Israel eased restrictions in late July, but “many” of the trucks were looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs, though exact figures were not provided (Reuters)
Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across Gaza, additionally, killed eighty people, including an unspecified number traveling to aid sites (Reuters)
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson arrived in Israel with four other Republican lawmakers as part of an unofficial private trip and met with Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar; Johnson is set to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog (Axios; X)
Witkoff: United States Seeks “Shift” in Gaza Diplomacy
The Trump administration’s U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East told hostages’ families that Washington would not push for “piecemeal” deals but rather simultaneously seek the release of all hostages and an end to the war (Axios)
Israel and Hamas reiterated their contrasting demands; Israel seeks Hamas’s disarmament, while Hamas said that it would not disarm until a Palestinian state was established (Guardian)
Hamas released a second video in two days of Evyatar David, a hostage on the brink of death, digging a hole that he said is for his own grave (Reuters)
MSF Gaza Coordinator Says Israel is “Engineering Chaos and Massacres”
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Gaza Project Coordinator Caroline Willemen stated that food is “critically scarce” in Gaza, and there is “little indication that sufficient aid will arrive consistently;” Willemen also highlighted “chaos and massacres” caused by the current distribution methods whereby people are killed while attempting to reach aid trucks (Al Jazeera)
Additionally, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that from July 30-31 alone, 105 Palestinians were killed and at least 680 were injured in Zikim, southern Khan Younis, and near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites in Middle Gaza and Rafah; the total reported number of deaths while seeking food thus increased to 1,373 Palestinians, including 859 near GHF sites, mostly perpetrated by the Israeli military (UN)
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited a GHF site on Friday to gather information to report back to Trump for future aid delivery efforts; Huckabee defended the GHF after the visit, writing on his X account that “Hamas hates GHF because it gets food to people without it being looted by Hamas” and that the GHF has delivered over “100 million meals served in 2 months” (Politico)
Witkoff Meets Netanyahu, Discusses Humanitarian Aid
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to work towards new truce talks and discuss how the humanitarian crisis in Gaza can be addressed (Reuters)
The White House announced that Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will inspect food distribution in Gaza on Friday (AP)
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department also placed sanctions on Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials, saying they were trying to “internationalize [their] conflict with Israel” (Reuters)
This week, several countries—including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom—pledged to recognize Palestinian statehood, while all Arab League countries at a UN conference called for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza (NYT)
Moreover, at least ninety-one Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid in the past day, including fifty-four in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, and over six hundred were wounded (AP)
Separately, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz and Justice Minister Yariv Levin called on Israel to annex the West Bank, arguing that the current timing offers “a moment of opportunity that must not be missed” (Times of Israel)
Witkoff to Travel to Israel
Two U.S. officials reported that U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel to discuss Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, his first trip to Israel in three months (Axios; Reuters). Overnight, forty-six Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip, including twelve people waiting for aid trucks coming from the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, sixteen waiting for aid trucks near the Morag corridor between Khan Younis and Rafah, four near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site in the Netzarim corridor area, and fourteen others in the Jabaliya refugee camp, and the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and Khan Younis (AP)
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry also said that seven more people died from malnutrition in the past day (BBC)
Furthermore, Israeli security cabinet member Zeev Elkin said that Israel may give Hamas an ultimatum to reach a deal by threatening to annex territories in Palestine, a move which would likely harm the viability of a future Palestinian state (Reuters)
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will recognize a Palestinian state at September’s UN General Assembly if the Palestinian Authority holds an election this year and commits to reforms; his announcement echoes recent statements from France and the United Kingdom and came after a call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (CBC)
Trump posted on social media afterward that the move “will make it very hard” to reach a Canada-U.S. trade deal (Politico)
UK to Recognize Palestine If Ceasefire Not Reached
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire amid the “appalling situation” in Gaza, allows the UN to bring in aid, indicates that it will not annex the West Bank, and commits to long-term prospects for a two-state solution; Starmer added that “statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people” (AP)
Netanyahu condemned Starmer’s comments, saying that “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims” and that a Palestinian state would threaten Britain (Times of Israel, X)
In Gaza, the malnutrition issue has become the “worst-case scenario of famine,” according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), as “famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City” which will result in “widespread death” across the Gaza Strip (AP; BBC)
Additionally, fourteen Palestinians were killed near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site in central Gaza; over one thousand Palestinians have reportedly been killed while seeking aid since May (AP)
Moreover, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that over 60,000 Palestinians, including nearly 30,000 women and children, have been killed and over 145,000 have been wounded since October 7, 2023 (AP)
Trump Acknowledges Starvation in Gaza, Urges Netanyahu to Deliver Aid
While meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump acknowledged that “there is real starvation in Gaza,” contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim Sunday that there was “no starvation” in the territory (Axios)
Trump added that he wants Netanyahu “to make sure” Palestinians receive food deliveries, and that the United States would work with European countries to set up food centers in Gaza (AP)
Additionally, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that fourteen people died over the previous twenty-four hours from malnutrition (BBC)
This places the overall death toll from malnutrition since October 2023 at 147, including 88 children (Al Jazeera)
Israel’s actions came under attack domestically when two Israeli human rights groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza; Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer called the allegation “baseless”, said Israel abides by international law, and claimed to take unprecedented measures to prevent harm to civilians (Reuters)
Israeli Military Announces “Tactical” Pauses in Gaza
The daily ten-hour pauses in fighting in three population centers in Gaza will allow more aid trucks to enter the territory (AP)
Israel has also increased permissions for aid airdrops and restarted the power to a water desalination plant (WaPo)
Humanitarian groups welcomed the permissions but said they were still not enough to address rising hunger in the enclave (CNN)
Despite the pause, Israeli air raids across Gaza allegedly killed sixty-three people; one attack targeted Gaza City, a designated safe area (Al Jazeera)
Moreover, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that six Palestinians, including two children, died from starvation (Al Jazeera)
The World Food Programme stated that one in three Gazan residents has gone days without eating, nearly five hundred thousand people are in “famine-like conditions”, and 20 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished (Al Jazeera)
Israel to Revive Airdrops Into Gaza
Amid ongoing international pressure and a hunger crisis in Gaza, the Israeli military announced that it was going to restart the practice of dropping aid from airplanes and would work to ease the process for aid convoys entering by land (NYT)
However, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that the plan to distribute aid through airdrops “will not reverse the deepening starvation;” rather, he called for Israel to lift the siege and guarantee the safe movement of aid trucks into Gaza (CNN)
Separately, Israeli attacks killed at least fifty-three, including people waiting for aid in Zikim and Khan Younis, as well as civilians in Gaza City and the crowded tent camp in Muwasi (AP)
Netanyahu Pursuing “Alternative” Options to End War in Gaza
After claiming that Hamas allegedly does not want to make a deal to end the ongoing violence in Gaza, Netanyahu expressed that he was reviewing “alternative” options to bring the hostages home; Trump reiterated Netanyahu’s assertion that Hamas did not want to make a deal, adding that he thinks Hamas leaders “want to die” (Reuters)
Trump also downplayed French President Macron’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood, as he said: “what [Macron] says does not matter… that statement does not carry weight” (Reuters)
Meanwhile, thirty-eight people were killed across the Gaza Strip, including six Palestinians attempting to receive food aid (Al Jazeera)
Gaza Ceasefire Talks Stall as France Recognizes Palestinian Statehood
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office announced that its negotiators were returning to Israel to further discuss Hamas’s response to Israel’s ceasefire proposal (Reuters)
Sources suggested that Israel’s decision to bring the delegation home does not indicate that the talks have collapsed, but a rapid deal is reportedly not within reach (Reuters)
U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that the United States was also recalling its delegation because Hamas’s response “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” and added that the United States will “consider alternative options to bring the hostages home,” but did not specify further (Reuters; AP)
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that Washington will not attend an upcoming UN conference on a two-state solution (Reuters)
European leaders intensified their positions to end the war in Gaza, as President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will recognize Palestine as a state, which will be formalized at the UN General Assembly in September (France24)
Furthermore, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Israel to immediately allow aid into Gaza and reach a ceasefire agreement to pave the way toward recognizing Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution; he also asserted that the UK, France, and Germany would hold an emergency call to discuss urgent next steps in the conflict (AP; Barrons)
In Gaza, Israeli forces launched airstrikes and tank shelling across central Gaza, including in Nuseirat, Deir Al-Balah, and Bureij, killing at least eight people and wounding others; Israeli gunfire in southern Gaza near the Morag axis reportedly killed three people seeking aid (Reuters)
Additionally, Israeli forces allegedly killed two Palestinian teenagers and injured two more amid gunfire in al-Khader, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank; Israeli forces also arrested twenty-five Palestinians across the West Bank in multiple raids, including in Beit Ummar, Idhna, Dura al-Qari, Ramallah, al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya, and Nablus (Al Jazeera)
Separately, far-right Israeli government minister Amichay Eliyahu said in a radio interview that Israel does not have a duty to alleviate starvation in Gaza and Israel is “rushing toward Gaza being wiped out”; however, an Israeli military official said that Eliyahu’s comments are not reflective of Israeli military policy, and Israeli opposition politicians condemned Eliyahu’s statement (NYT)
The UN’s Palestinian Refugee Agency stated that over one hundred people have died of hunger in Gaza, and the crisis “has never been so dire” as one in five people is malnourished with cases rising daily; the agency also reported that “people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses” (BBC)
Additionally, the World Health Organization director said Gazans are experiencing man-made “mass starvation,” while the Associated Press, AFP, the BBC, and Reuters said that their journalists in Gaza are “increasingly unable to feed themselves” (Reuters;WaPo)
Israeli officials have previously denied the claims of starvation in Gaza and said that UN bodies are not distributing the food and aid supplies (Times of Israel)
Hamas Turns in Response to Ceasefire Proposal
According to an Israeli source, Hamas submitted a “disappointing” response to mediators regarding Israel’s ceasefire proposal; the most contentious aspects of the deal are over guarantees that Israel will not resume fighting during a ceasefire, Israeli control of major routes in the Gaza Strip, aid distribution, and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages (Haaretz)
To help achieve the ceasefire, U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff traveled to Europe to meet with various key officials in the Middle East, including Ron Dermer, a top advisor to Netanyahu (AP; CBS)
In Gaza, overnight airstrikes by Israel in northern Gaza, Nuseirat refugee camp, and Gaza City reportedly killed at least twenty-nine people; Israeli forces claim that they killed one Islamic Jihad militant and one Hamas operative (AP)
More than one hundred aid organizations said mass starvation was spreading across Gaza in an open letter; they called on Israel to lift aid restrictions and for an immediate and permanent ceasefire (AP)