Closing summary
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Here’s an overview of what happened today:
The death toll in Gaza rose to 61,897 people, with 155,600 others wounded, since 7 October 2023, according to the local health ministry.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli attacks killed at least 22 people today. According to the agency, at least 13 people were killed while trying to access aid distribution sites.
At least 11 people, including a child, also died of hunger-related causes since yesterday.
Denmark’s prime minister condemned the “horrific images” coming out of Gaza, but said the time is not right to recognise a Palestinian state. Posting on Facebook, Mette Frederiksen said recognition must take place when a “sustainable and democratic state in Palestine without the influence of Hamas” can be created. “And of course it must happen with mutual recognition of Israel,” she added.
Four Palestinians were wounded in an attack by Israeli settlers north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported. One person was also wounded after reportedly being shot in the Sheikh Saad area of al-Eizariya, a town bordering occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
A cross-party group of MPs called on the government to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK for treatment “without delay”. A letter to senior ministers signed by 96 MPs stressed that children are at risk of imminent death and any barriers to their evacuation should be lifted.
Thousands of people are expected to attend a protest in Tel Aviv today to demand the release of the hostages held in Gaza. The demonstration is set to take place at Hostages Square outside Tel Aviv Museum at 8pm local time, before a nationwide strike is held on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) told the Guardian its staff members in Gaza have witnessed “mass casualty events” as people are killed while seeking aid, with some “shot at by the Israeli army”.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) told the Guardian civilians in Gaza are forced to choose between drinking water or using it to wash themselves and keep clean.
The Metropolitan police said that 60 more people will be prosecuted for showing support for Palestine Action, which was proscribed by the UK government last month. More than 700 people have been arrested for supporting the group since its proscription on 5 July.
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza have “extremely deteriorated”, Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, has said.
He told the Guardian Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City will “forcibly displace” more than a million people to areas in the south of the territory where they will live in “open spaces with no tents”.
He added: “We have high concerns about the conditions of tens of thousands of people who cannot move, entire families who have elders, people with disabilities, widows, orphans. There is no safe place in Gaza. Where can you go? These questions are raised while Israel continues invading and destroying.”
Shawa said it was “shocking to think how anyone can displace these people while they are starving and thirsty”.
Describing Gaza City as “the heart of the Gaza Strip”, he called on the international community to block Israel’s operation.
“Day by day, we are losing hope,” he said. “It is real time for action from the international community to stop this. We need you now, to act, to stop it.”
