Closing summary
Israel has dismantled the proven and internationally backed ‘civilian model’ of aid distribution, furthering its military and objectives in Gaza and furthering starvation, according to a newly published joint report by Forensic Architecture (FA) and the World Peace Foundation (WPF).
The report by the research agency and charity respectively– published today at the same time as the UN-backed body, IPC confirmed Famine in Gaza – examines two models for aid distribution in Gaza, revealing how since 18 March 2025, Israel has dismantled the proven and internationally backed ‘civilian model’ of aid distribution, replacing it with a ‘military model’ which furthers Israel’s military and political objectives in Gaza while starving the region’s civilian population.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, has condemned Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza and has described the crisis in Gaza as a catastrophic humanitarian situation after a Famine was confirmed by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. His statement today read: “The confirmation of famine in Gaza City and the surrounding neighbourhood is utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable. The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a report from a global hunger monitor on Friday that said Gaza City and surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine, saying it ignored recent humanitarian steps by Israel. “The IPC report is an outright lie. Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation. Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled two million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Far more aid required to tackle the malnutrition threatening the lives of 130,000 Palestinian children, a children’s charity has warned. Plan International UK said in reaction to the IPC’s report that the Famine was an “entirely man-made hunger catastrophe that is killing Gazan children every day”.
Foreign ministers from European countries, Australia and the United Kingdom on Friday condemned Israel’s plans to construct a settlement east of Jerusalem, they said in a joint statement. “The decision by the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, East of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law,” the statement said.
Mothers in Gaza have resorted to using legume water and herbs as alternative to infant milk amid famine, charity warned. Dr Ra’ed Al-Baba, who works at Al Awda Hospital run by ActionAid’s partner Al-Awda, said usage of alternatives to infant milk had “catastrophic” consequences..
Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found. As of May, 19 months into the war, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead”.
The Indonesian government is working on plans to treat 2,000 people from war-ravaged Gaza, holding a series of inter-ministerial discussions to discuss logistics, legality and foreign policy implications relating to the highly sensitive proposal, according to a senior government official. Indonesia announced earlier this month that it would provide temporary medical assistance to 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza, with the uninhabited island of Galang identified as one possible site.
Israel’s plans to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. The Red Cross became the latest voice to condemn the plan on Thursday, calling it “intolerable”. The Israeli defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorises the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.
Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have urged Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to accept a proposed ceasefire deal, saying a failure to do so is “a death sentence for the living hostages and a sentence of disappearance for the deceased ones.”
Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital said at least 17 Palestinians were killed Friday as Israel escalates its activity in the area in the lead-up to its broader planned offensive. An Israeli airstrike hit a school in Sheikh Radwan, a Gaza City neighborhood where tens of Palestinians shelter in makeshift tents in the schoolyard. It killed at least seven people, according to an eyewitness and hospital records.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and his French, British and German counterparts agreed on Friday to resume talks next week on nuclear and sanctions issues, Iranian state media reported. The three major European powers have threatened to re-activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Tehran does not return to negotiations on a deal to curb its disputed uranium enrichment programme.
A Palestinian girl waits at a community kitchen before donated food is distributed in Gaza City, earlier today.
