The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports seven deaths from starvation and malnutrition in Gaza hospitals over the past 24 hours, bringing the total famine-related deaths since the war began to 154, including 89 children. Israeli media confirmed the announcement.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, speaking to Spanish radio Cadena Ser, drew stark parallels, stating images of people “starving to death” in Gaza “recall” tragic historical moments like “the Warsaw Ghetto” or “the liberation of Auschwitz.” She described the situation as “a Dantesque spectacle, intolerable, inhuman, and immoral.”
Concurrently, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported two Palestinians killed and others wounded by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fire near the Netzarim crossing in central Gaza. The IDF also bombed the western Satar area in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
Amid the crisis, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced that food distribution centers in Gaza will become operational “very soon,” stating, “We’re dealing with Israel and I think they can do a good job. They want to do it.”
A controversy erupted as former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett fiercely criticized The New York Times. Bennett accused the newspaper of “slander” after it updated an article about a malnourished 18-month-old Gaza child, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, initially presented as a symbol of the humanitarian crisis, to include information about serious pre-existing medical conditions provided later by his hospital. Bennett posted on X: “You knew exactly what that photo would provoke… Have you no shame?” Israel’s Consul General in New York, Ofir Akunis, condemned international media for “repeatedly believing Hamas’s abominable lies,” calling the NYT correction merely “a beginning” in countering Hamas propaganda.
Diplomatic tensions flared over potential recognition of a Palestinian state. The Hostages Families Forum condemned European initiatives, arguing that recognition while “50 hostages remain in Hamas tunnels rewards terror” and constitutes “a shameful and dangerous legitimization of the most horrendous war crimes.”
Following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that Britain is prepared to recognize Palestine at the UN in September alongside France if Israel rejects strict peace conditions, diplomatic sources suggest Canada could be the next traditionally pro-Israel Western nation to move towards immediate recognition. Starmer reportedly discussed the Palestinian issue specifically with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney immediately after his announcement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the UK move as “appeasement” towards Hamas. While the US has not explicitly criticized the initiative so far, Donald Trump, who met Starmer shortly beforehand, avoided the topic and instead denounced Gaza’s hunger emergency.