π️Lonny's War Update- October 655, 2023 - July 22, 2025 π️
π️Day 655 that 50 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
Hostage families express alarm as IDF moves into area where captives are believed held
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum expresses alarm amid reports the IDF has moved into the central Gaza area of Deir al-Balah for the first time, saying that the move endangers the captives who are believed held in these areas.
“The families of the hostages are shocked and alarmed by these reports,” the forum says in a statement.
“The families demand that the prime minister, defense minister, chief of staff, and IDF spokesperson appear before them and the Israeli public this evening to clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir al-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk,” they say. “As of this moment, we have received no official, organized updates or satisfactory answers on this matter.”
“The people of Israel will not forgive anyone who knowingly endangered the hostages — both the living and the deceased. No one will be able to claim they didn’t know what was at stake,” the forum says.
Hostage mother urges IDF to take care as it moves into Gaza areas where captives are thought to be
Hostage mother Ruhama Bohbot, whose son Elkana Bohbot is held captive by Hamas in Gaza, speaks at a gathering of Shift 101, a mostly silent sit-in that gathers several times a week outside government institutions, this time in Mevasseret Zion outside Jerusalem.
“I’m a little tense. The IDF have begun operating in Gaza in the place where Elkana is being held, and I’m a little worried and suspicious like the other families,” says Bohbot. “I don’t have any idea why they started doing this now, now, when there’s supposed to be a deal.”
“I hope that the army will know what to do and how to do it,” she says. “And God forbid not touch the hostages. The government said it wouldn’t be the worst thing if some hostages were harmed, an unbelievably terrible thing to say.”
Bohbot seems to be referring to Elhanan Danino, whose son, Ori Danino, was killed in captivity in August 2024, and who said last week in an interview that he was told recently by the Prime Minister’s Office that they could handle another “200 bereaved families.”
Bohbot continues, talking about her recent mission to Washington, DC, when she met with ambassadors, senators, and other officials, all of whom listened to her, cried with her, and felt her pain.
“And despite that, I come home to Israel and hear the rumors that the government that represents me, that is supposed to represent me, that is supposed to fight for me and Elkana and it’s not happening,” she says at the Shift 101 gathering, a mostly silent sit-in that gathers several times a week outside government institutions.
"The hostages will be the first to pay the price": Survivors of captivity warn against expanding the fighting
The harsh testimonies of captivity survivors once again highlight the price of the fighting in Gaza – especially for the hostages left behind • Noa Argamani told of an Air Force bombing that killed Yossi Sharabi z”l and almost led to her death • Gadi Moses described: “When you hear the sounds of war, it chokes your throat and paralyzes your soul” • Omer Shem Tov and Ohad Ben Ami described the harm to hostages as the army neared: “We’ll put a bullet in your head”While the IDF’s ground activity expands into the central camps, where there is concern hostages are held, and while Minister Orit Strock proposes fighting even at the cost of risking them – the anger of the families grows stronger. Last night (Monday) on the “Main Edition,” we presented the testimonies of those who returned from captivity – and told of the danger as the fighting in Gaza intensifies.
All the hostages who returned from captivity spoke of mortal fear of the IDF fighting in the area where they were held. Israel learned in the most painful way imaginable the terrible price: the six young people who were held in tunnels in Rafah and were executed in August last year. According to the military investigation, the maneuvering of the forces in the area influenced the terrorists’ decision to murder them. So too the six hostages who were murdered by their captors in February last year, during IDF activity in the Khan Younis area. According to the IDF investigation, even if they had not been executed by the terrorists – the bombing in the area would likely have killed the hostages.
Gadi Moses on the impact of the bombings on the hostages | Photo: Oren Ben Hakun, Flash 90Noa Argamani on the impact of the bombings on the hostages | Photo: Oren Ben Hakun, Flash 90
The six hostages who were murdered in the tunnelNoa Argamani, who was rescued in a military operation, told how the Air Force bombing in the area where she was held nearly led to her death. Yossi Sharabi z”l, who was held with her – was killed. Tal Shoham, who survived captivity, also spoke of the danger: “They had a camera. They filmed us all the time. Next to the camera, from what I understood, there was some kind of projectile device. It was aimed at us, in such a way that it would simply sweep away everything in our tunnel if the IDF tried to rescue us.”
Liri Elbag, who returned from captivity, also tried to warn: “Every return to fighting endangers the hostages. These are orders from Hamas’s top ranks – the hostages are the first who will pay the price.” Yair Horn, who returned from captivity, told how he almost lost his kidnapped brother Eitan in an IDF strike: “One time they bombed a place we were in and it was really close to us. We ran out – we had to, because in addition to the missiles or whatever it was, there are also toxic gases. And Eitan stopped.”
Demonstrators in favor of a hostage deal during a march to the U.S. Embassy (Photo: Paulina Patimer)
The fighting intensifies – and so does the anger of the families. Demonstrators in favor of a hostage deal, archive | Photo: Paulina PatimerProgram page images from Liri Elbag’s captivity journal (Photo: 12+)
“Every return to fighting endangers the hostages.” Captivity survivor Liri Elbag, archive | Photo: 12+Gadi Moses described in pain: “When you hear the sounds of war, it chokes the throat and paralyzes the soul. You lose all hope. Shells like that killed and can kill our helpless brothers.” Ohad Ben Ami also described the immediate harm to hostages still there: “From the moment fighting resumes, they are in danger of death. The attitude of the captors changes dramatically. They reduce our food, there’s nothing to eat. If in this fighting, God forbid, friends of the captors or their family members are killed – it immediately affects how they treat us. They told us: ‘As soon as the army gets close, we’ll put a bullet in your head.’”
Omer Shem Tov added about the terror of a military force approaching the area where hostages are held: “They placed booby traps in the house above the tunnel. They told me: ‘Omer, when soldiers arrive at this house, you blow it up.’ I told them: ‘Not going to happen, I’m not going to do it.’ Then they said to me: ‘If you don’t do it – we’ll shoot you in the head.’” link
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
When is it too much - by Gershon Baskin
When I first came to Israel for my Bar Mitzvah in 1969—at my request to my parents—I remember sitting on the veranda of my cousin’s apartment in Givatayim, gazing out toward Tel Aviv shortly before Shabbat began, and telling my mother: “I feel at home.”
Israel is my home. “Home”—that one very large word—is still the best description I have for Israel since moving here 47 years ago. I have no other place in the world where I feel at home. And yet, Israel in 2025 is a very different place from the country I knew in 1969 or even in 1978 when I made aliyah.
Now, I find myself conflicted every day by the question: When is the time that I can no longer live in the place I call home?
Israel is rapidly becoming a foreign land to me—where people who share my values are attacked by the police, silenced in the media, and pushed to seriously consider that Israel may no longer be a place we can live. I know the talk-backers from the poison machine of the current regime will write: Good riddance—we don’t want you and your kind here. If I weren’t Jewish, they’d call me an antisemite. Since I am, they’ll label me a self-hating Jew.
Israel is committing horrendous war crimes in Gaza. I physically experience pain as I write these words.
Israel has systematically destroyed a civilization in Gaza, where the death toll of non-Hamas civilians—women, children, the elderly, the sick, boys and girls, men searching for shelter, food, and water—climbs every day. Yes, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and committed horrific crimes against humanity. They bear responsibility for what has become of Gaza. But for almost two years, Israel has been responsible for unspeakable horrors that will stain our name for years to come.
Now people in Gaza are dying of hunger before our eyes. About 80% of Gaza’s buildings have been erased. Entire neighborhoods and towns—bombed, bulldozed, destroyed. And now even private Israeli contractors are profiteering from the destruction of buildings and lives.
There is no safe place in Gaza for more than two million people.
Just last night, I sent money to a family living in a tent in Deir el-Balah. It is no longer safe even there, where they had found some fragile refuge from Israeli bombs. Another young family in Gaza I’ve known for years sends me WhatsApp messages: “We are hungry and thirsty.” It breaks my heart.
I see the human tragedy Israel has created in Gaza every day on social media—the reports censored by Israel’s mainstream press. Even when an extraordinary journalist like Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps tries to speak out on Channel 13 about the death and starvation in Gaza, she is shut down by commentators like Berko and Moria for daring to “defame” Israel.
This is the reality of almost all of Israel’s media: deafening silence and self-censorship.
Israelis don’t want to know. Many seem to have no regrets and are even pleased by the suffering of over two million Gazans. This war of revenge enjoys deep support across Israeli society. It is not just the government.
Yes, a majority of Israelis want a deal to bring the hostages home and end the war. But many also believe there are no innocent people in Gaza.
Hatred against Arabs in Israel has reached new peaks.
An Arab Member of Knesset, Ayman Odeh, is violently attacked—nearly lynched—while the police stand by. He is accused of being a traitor, a fifth column. Yet ironically, Odeh is one of the few MKs who would still agree to sign Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Most, if not all, members of the current ruling coalition would refuse to sign that founding document—because it calls for peace and affirms full equality for all Israeli citizens, including Palestinians.
Some right-wing MKs might even label the Declaration of Independence antisemitic—or anti-Zionist.
Violence against Palestinians is all around us. Arab workers at a Jerusalem cinema are beaten on camera to chants of “Death to Arabs,” and passersby stroll past as if it’s normal. Arab bus drivers are attacked by Jewish passengers and then arrested by Ben Gvir’s police for defending themselves.
Across the West Bank, settlers attack Palestinians with soldiers and police standing by. Palestinians are driven off their land and even killed. No one is arrested, no one convicted. In fact, these violent settlers are protected by the Israeli army and police, who attack and arrest the victims.
Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. Israel is committing war crimes in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Israel’s media is complicit. The Israeli public is responsible. We cannot escape that.
These crimes are being done in my name, in our name—in the name of the people of Israel. We cannot be silent.
Calling it out makes me, in the eyes of many Israelis, a traitor. And we know what happens to traitors.
Since the war began, my youngest son (age 31) asks me every Friday night at Shabbat dinner what line would have to be crossed for me to say I can no longer live in Israel.
Eventually, I gave him two red lines. The first was easy: If Ben Gvir becomes Prime Minister, I cannot stay.
The second is more likely: If, after everything since October 7, Netanyahu wins another election, I will say Israel is beyond repair.
And yet, I say this with deep sorrow. I have no other home in the world. No other place where I feel I have a mission or purpose.
I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to shape Israel to reflect the values I thought were Jewish values. I’ve dedicated myself to building bridges between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians. I still do that work. I am more convinced than ever that peace—and a two-state solution—is closer than most believe. But that vision may also be farther away than ever.
If no new leadership emerges, if we cannot transform this trauma into healing, the damage may be irreversible. That is the fear I carry daily.
I think often of anti-apartheid South Africans, who wrestled with whether to remain in an unjust, brutal society—or leave. I am now facing that same question.
There are still amazing Israelis doing courageous, beautiful things. There is still so much that is good. But I fear our country is being overtaken by the ugly, the unjust, the criminal, the hateful, and the fearful.
Our society is violent—how could it not be? Hundreds of thousands of Israelis commit acts of war in Gaza and return with trauma, rage, and guilt. These do not stay on the battlefield. They return home with them. The dehumanization required to carry out the violence in Gaza and the West Bank collides with life back home, where some try to justify actions that can never be justified.
This is Israel in July 2025.
Fifty Israeli hostages remain abandoned in Gaza. Thousands of citizens displaced by war have been left behind by a government more concerned with power and corruption than with the people. Israel grows more messianic and fundamentalist. Israel is becoming the most hated country in the world. And Israelis are feeling increasingly unwelcome abroad.
That is Israel in 2025.
Still, there is no other place I can call home. No other country where I have a mission to complete. But we are rapidly approaching a moment when Israel becomes a place I do not want to call home—a place I cannot call home. A place where I no longer feel welcome. A place I no longer want to be associated with.
That is Israel in 2025. link
When I first came to Israel for my Bar Mitzvah in 1969—at my request to my parents—I remember sitting on the veranda of my cousin’s apartment in Givatayim, gazing out toward Tel Aviv shortly before Shabbat began, and telling my mother: “I feel at home.”
Israel is my home. “Home”—that one very large word—is still the best description I have for Israel since moving here 47 years ago. I have no other place in the world where I feel at home. And yet, Israel in 2025 is a very different place from the country I knew in 1969 or even in 1978 when I made aliyah.
Now, I find myself conflicted every day by the question: When is the time that I can no longer live in the place I call home?
Israel is rapidly becoming a foreign land to me—where people who share my values are attacked by the police, silenced in the media, and pushed to seriously consider that Israel may no longer be a place we can live. I know the talk-backers from the poison machine of the current regime will write: Good riddance—we don’t want you and your kind here. If I weren’t Jewish, they’d call me an antisemite. Since I am, they’ll label me a self-hating Jew.
Israel is committing horrendous war crimes in Gaza. I physically experience pain as I write these words.
Israel has systematically destroyed a civilization in Gaza, where the death toll of non-Hamas civilians—women, children, the elderly, the sick, boys and girls, men searching for shelter, food, and water—climbs every day. Yes, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and committed horrific crimes against humanity. They bear responsibility for what has become of Gaza. But for almost two years, Israel has been responsible for unspeakable horrors that will stain our name for years to come.
Now people in Gaza are dying of hunger before our eyes. About 80% of Gaza’s buildings have been erased. Entire neighborhoods and towns—bombed, bulldozed, destroyed. And now even private Israeli contractors are profiteering from the destruction of buildings and lives.
There is no safe place in Gaza for more than two million people.
Just last night, I sent money to a family living in a tent in Deir el-Balah. It is no longer safe even there, where they had found some fragile refuge from Israeli bombs. Another young family in Gaza I’ve known for years sends me WhatsApp messages: “We are hungry and thirsty.” It breaks my heart.
I see the human tragedy Israel has created in Gaza every day on social media—the reports censored by Israel’s mainstream press. Even when an extraordinary journalist like Emmanuelle Elbaz-Phelps tries to speak out on Channel 13 about the death and starvation in Gaza, she is shut down by commentators like Berko and Moria for daring to “defame” Israel.
This is the reality of almost all of Israel’s media: deafening silence and self-censorship.
Israelis don’t want to know. Many seem to have no regrets and are even pleased by the suffering of over two million Gazans. This war of revenge enjoys deep support across Israeli society. It is not just the government.
Yes, a majority of Israelis want a deal to bring the hostages home and end the war. But many also believe there are no innocent people in Gaza.
Hatred against Arabs in Israel has reached new peaks.
An Arab Member of Knesset, Ayman Odeh, is violently attacked—nearly lynched—while the police stand by. He is accused of being a traitor, a fifth column. Yet ironically, Odeh is one of the few MKs who would still agree to sign Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Most, if not all, members of the current ruling coalition would refuse to sign that founding document—because it calls for peace and affirms full equality for all Israeli citizens, including Palestinians.
Some right-wing MKs might even label the Declaration of Independence antisemitic—or anti-Zionist.
Violence against Palestinians is all around us. Arab workers at a Jerusalem cinema are beaten on camera to chants of “Death to Arabs,” and passersby stroll past as if it’s normal. Arab bus drivers are attacked by Jewish passengers and then arrested by Ben Gvir’s police for defending themselves.
Across the West Bank, settlers attack Palestinians with soldiers and police standing by. Palestinians are driven off their land and even killed. No one is arrested, no one convicted. In fact, these violent settlers are protected by the Israeli army and police, who attack and arrest the victims.
Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. Israel is committing war crimes in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Israel’s media is complicit. The Israeli public is responsible. We cannot escape that.
These crimes are being done in my name, in our name—in the name of the people of Israel. We cannot be silent.
Calling it out makes me, in the eyes of many Israelis, a traitor. And we know what happens to traitors.
Since the war began, my youngest son (age 31) asks me every Friday night at Shabbat dinner what line would have to be crossed for me to say I can no longer live in Israel.
Eventually, I gave him two red lines. The first was easy: If Ben Gvir becomes Prime Minister, I cannot stay.
The second is more likely: If, after everything since October 7, Netanyahu wins another election, I will say Israel is beyond repair.
And yet, I say this with deep sorrow. I have no other home in the world. No other place where I feel I have a mission or purpose.
I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to shape Israel to reflect the values I thought were Jewish values. I’ve dedicated myself to building bridges between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians. I still do that work. I am more convinced than ever that peace—and a two-state solution—is closer than most believe. But that vision may also be farther away than ever.
If no new leadership emerges, if we cannot transform this trauma into healing, the damage may be irreversible. That is the fear I carry daily.
I think often of anti-apartheid South Africans, who wrestled with whether to remain in an unjust, brutal society—or leave. I am now facing that same question.
There are still amazing Israelis doing courageous, beautiful things. There is still so much that is good. But I fear our country is being overtaken by the ugly, the unjust, the criminal, the hateful, and the fearful.
Our society is violent—how could it not be? Hundreds of thousands of Israelis commit acts of war in Gaza and return with trauma, rage, and guilt. These do not stay on the battlefield. They return home with them. The dehumanization required to carry out the violence in Gaza and the West Bank collides with life back home, where some try to justify actions that can never be justified.
This is Israel in July 2025.
Fifty Israeli hostages remain abandoned in Gaza. Thousands of citizens displaced by war have been left behind by a government more concerned with power and corruption than with the people. Israel grows more messianic and fundamentalist. Israel is becoming the most hated country in the world. And Israelis are feeling increasingly unwelcome abroad.
That is Israel in 2025.
Still, there is no other place I can call home. No other country where I have a mission to complete. But we are rapidly approaching a moment when Israel becomes a place I do not want to call home—a place I cannot call home. A place where I no longer feel welcome. A place I no longer want to be associated with.
That is Israel in 2025. link
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*3:20pm yesterday - Air Force downs drone launched at Israel, likely from Yemen
A drone launched at Israel from “the east” was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the IDF says.
No sirens sounded, “according to protocol,” the military says.
The drone was likely launched from Yemen, according to preliminary IDF assessments.
*5:50am - Gush Dan, Shfela, Sharon and Jerusalem areas - Ballistic missile from Yemen - intercepted successfully. This was expected after our drone attack on Yemen yesterday
*1:45pm - a second Ballistic missile launched today by Houthis falls short of Israel, IDF says; no sirens sound
A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a short while ago fell outside the country’s borders, according to a military official.
The IDF identified the launch, but no sirens sounded in Israel because the missile did not pose a threat.
IDF reservist soldier killed in south Gaza fighting
An IDF reservist soldier was killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Vladimir Loza, 36, of the 5th Brigade’s 7020th Battalion, from Ashkelon.
According to a preliminary IDF probe, Loza was killed after a blast caused a building to collapse during operations in the Rafah area. The military suspects the blast was caused by a planted explosive device.
Source: Hamas negotiators have been unable to reach group’s Gaza leaders, slowing hostage talks
Hamas’s negotiators in Doha have been unable to reach the group’s leaders in Gaza since late last week, preventing talks for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal from moving forward, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
Last week, Israel submitted updated maps showing its proposed redeployment of troops during the 60-day truce under discussion. The maps had mediators bullish about the chances for an agreement as they envisioned Israel coming down from previous demands to remain in control over larger swaths of Gaza territory, Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel at the time, adding that they expected Hamas to approve the Israeli maps.
But Hamas deliberations on the updated Israeli proposal have continued since Thursday with no response from the terror group, the source says, lamenting the daily loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza that have taken place in the interim.
The source adds that Israel’s decision to enter the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for the first time since the start of the war may further harm efforts to reach Hamas’s leaders in order to respond to developments in the Doha negotiations.
With frustration growing from mediators over perceived Hamas foot-dragging, the source indicates that the group will likely issue a statement in the coming hours declaring that it is conducting internal deliberations on the Israeli proposal in a positive manner.
An Arab diplomat separately tells The Times of Israel that despite the delay in Hamas’s response, mediators are still optimistic about the chances of reaching an agreement in the coming days, given the softened Israeli stance on its troop redeployment and Hamas’s willingness to forgo its demand for an upfront Israeli commitment for a permanent ceasefire.
GHF says UN agencies refusing offers to work together to bring more aid into Gaza
A spokesman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says that the US- and Israeli-backed initiative is willing to deliver food to Palestinians for the United Nations, which he says “has given up distribution altogether.”
“We can get their aid into Gaza safely and securely and have offered to help repeatedly, but they continue to reject our offers,” says GHF spokesman Chapin Fay in a media briefing.
After a steadily improving situation, “desperation levels” in Gaza are rising, says Fay, as the other aid organizations cut back operations, and looting is widespread .
Fay says he was on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing yesterday, and saw tons of aid from UN organizations sitting on the ground undelivered.
“What I saw was disturbing,” he says. “Desperately needed flour rotting on the side of the road. Rice from Jordan that has been sitting, baking for over 90 days. Already expired medical supplies. We spoke with drivers for other aid operations who described harrowing experiences of trucks being overrun and all their cargo looted, their trucks being destroyed.”
He says the driver asked if the GHF could provide security.
“We can provide security,” says Fay. “We can help them deliver aid. The fact that tens of thousands of pallets of aid are sitting inside Gaza, out of reach of starving civilians, is unacceptable.”
“GHF is ready, willing, and able to help the UN and any other aid organization in Gaza deliver aid,” he says.
In the coming days, he says, the GHF will start its “community distribution program,” which 370 individuals and groups have signed up for.
The UN says Israel restrictions and permit rejections are the reason for the mounting stockpiles of aid at the crossings, as aid organizations are regularly barred from transferring aid to warehouses and distribution sites.
Moreover, international organizations say that Israel’s refusal to name a viable alternative to Hamas has created a Somalia-like situation on the ground where the chaotic and desperate situation has significantly marred aid distribution.
Lifelines keeping people alive in Gaza are collapsing, says UN
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is appalled by an accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, “where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” his spokesperson says.
“He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.
“Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations.”
25 Western nations issue joint call for end of war in Gaza, slam ‘dangerous’ aid distribution mechanism
Britain and 24 Western allies including Australia, Canada, France and Italy say in a joint statement the war in Gaza “must end now,” arguing civilians’ suffering has “reached new depths.”
“We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire,” the group adds in the communique.
They say more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid and condemned what it called the “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians.”
The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.
“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the countries’ foreign ministers say in a joint statement.
Israel rejects 25 nation statement calling for end to Gaza war
AFP journalists’ union warns colleagues in Gaza are at serious risk of starvation: ‘We refuse to see them die’
The Journalists Association for Agency France Presse (AFP) says in a statement that its colleagues reporting in the Gaza Strip are at serious risk of starvation, and that “without intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die.”
AFP’s union says it has “one freelance writer, three photographers, and six video freelancers” still working in Gaza after most of its staff departed last year, and that along with a handful of others, they are some of the last journalists reporting on the ground in the Strip.
According to the statement, the news agency’s journalists in Gaza have warned recently that they no longer have enough strength to report, with one photographer in the enclave saying in a post on Facebook on Saturday: “My body is thin and I can no longer work.”
The photographer, identified as Bashar, 30, has been “moving from one refugee camp to another as Israeli bombardments dictate,” the union says in a French-language statement. “For over a year, he has lived in complete destitution and works at enormous risk to his life.”
The union adds that even though the journalists get a monthly salary from AFP for their work, “there is nothing to buy, or only at completely exorbitant prices.”
“We see their situation worsening,” the union says. “They are young, and their strength is leaving them. Most no longer have the physical ability to travel the enclave to do their job. Their heartbreaking calls for help are now daily.”
The union adds that “We risk learning of their deaths at any moment, and this is unbearable for us.”
“We refuse to see them die,” it adds.
Responding to the statement, AFP’s management says it “shares the anguish” expressed by the union, and that it has been “helplessly witnessing the dramatic deterioration of their living conditions.”
The agency says it is now working to evacuate its remaining freelance journalists and their families from Gaza, “despite the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory subject to a strict blockade.”
“Since October 7, Israel has banned all international journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. In this context, the work of our Palestinian freelancers is crucial to informing the world,” the agency says.
“But their lives are in danger, so we urge the Israeli authorities to allow their immediate evacuation with their families.”
Troops said operating in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah for first time since start of war
Israeli troops have begun ground operations in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza, for the first time since the beginning of the war.
Earlier, it was reported in Gaza that IDF tanks advanced into southern and eastern areas of Deir al-Balah. Several people were reportedly killed by tank shelling there.
The IDF yesterday issued an evacuation warning for several zones in the southwest of Deir al-Balah.
The ground operations come after Palestinian reports of artillery shelling and airstrikes overnight and this morning in the area.
The IDF has not yet officially commented.
WSJ: Reservist says troops fired on aid-seeking Palestinians who were carrying white flags
An Israeli reservist tells the Wall Street Journal that soldiers fired at aid-seeking Palestinians who veered off approved paths even though some of them were carrying white flags.
The testimony from the unnamed reservist comes amid repeated instances of troops opening fire on Palestinians near aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“We have an unwritten rule that if you are worried and they get too close and you see that it could be something that puts you and your team at risk, you don’t take that risk,” he tells the WSJ.
The report quotes the soldier as saying that the troops warned the Palestinians not to come close to the military positions, but they were ignored.
He says if the Palestinians cross a red line, the soldiers open fire, with instructions to shoot in the air or at their legs.
This specific incident occurred in mid-June, the reservist says. link Let this sink in - over 800 Gazans have
French FM urges Israel to allow foreign press free access to Gaza to ‘bear witness’
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urges Israel to allow foreign press into the Gaza Strip, as warnings of famine mount after 21 months of war, including among journalists on the ground.
“I ask that the free and independent press be allowed to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to bear witness,” he tells France Inter radio in an interview from eastern Ukraine.
Israel has imposed a near-total ban on foreign press entering Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, citing “extreme security concerns” for those who would enter, unless on escorted visits arranged by the IDF. link This is a fully reasonable request, even demand but is unlikely to occur at this stage. The Israeli government doesn't want anyone to 'bear witness'. The only press that has been allowed into Gaza since the beginning of the war has been the Israeli press and they are fully accompanied by army forces which take them where they want, not where the press may want to go. Even though this war has been the most photographed and videoed in history, most of it was done by the soldiers themselves. War crimes have been committed in Gaza in huge numbers and the government will not open up its arms for it to be freely exposed and investigated. This corrupt government, in particularly the prime minister has prevented a state commission of inquiry that would also investigate the management and actions of the war, so they are not about to allow foreign press to go in and find what they don't want to be found.
Palestinian media: Israeli strikes kill 16 people in Gaza City, 2 in Deir al-Balah
According to reports in Palestinian media, 16 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this morning in the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City.
Two additional fatalities and several injuries were also reported in a separate strike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
Additionally, the director of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry tells Al Jazeera that 20 people have died from starvation in the past 48 hours.
The figures could not be independently verified.
There is no comment from the IDF
Gaza and the South
WHO says staff residence, Deir al-Balah warehouse attacked three times on Monday
The World Health Organization says that its staff residence and main warehouse in Gazan city of Deir al-Balah were attacked three times on Monday.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the Israel Defense Forces entered the UN agency’s staff residence, forced women and children to evacuate on foot, and handcuffed, stripped and interrogated male staff at gunpoint.
Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, three of whom were later released while the other remains in detention, according to Tedros.
“WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff,” he says.
Tedros also says “the latest evacuation order in Deir al-Balah has affected several WHO premises, compromising our ability to operate in Gaza and pushing the health system further towards collapse.”
“WHO’s main warehouse located in Deir al-Balah is within the evacuation zone, and was damaged yesterday when an attack caused explosions and a fire inside,” he adds.
IDF tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday, an area where Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held.
IDF confirms it entered WHO’s Deir al-Balah facility, detained several staff suspected of terror
IDF says dozens of terror targets hit in Gaza over past day; multiple casualties reported in Strip
The Israeli Air Force struck dozens of terror targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including operatives, booby-trapped buildings, anti-tank launch posts, tunnels, and other infrastructure, the military says in a daily update.
Dozens of casualties were reported by media outlets in Gaza in the past day, but there are no immediate tolls from the Hamas-run health ministry or other health officials. Yesterday, the Hamas health ministry reported that 134 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
The strikes come as five divisions continue ground operations across the Strip.
Israeli Medical Association head calls on IDF to ensure entry of aid, medical supplies to Gaza
Prof. Zion Hagay, President of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA), calls on Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to ensure the entry of medical supplies and basic humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
In the letter, Hagay references a report from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claiming that 73 people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid on Sunday.
“If this is accurate, it represents a serious violation of medical ethics and international law,” Hagay writes.
“We would appreciate your detailed response clarifying the facts so that we can address the claims coming to us from various sources,” he says.
In response to the Hamas health ministry claims about the deaths near the aid site, the IDF admitted that it fired “warning shots” to control the crowd, but said the reported death tolls were “inflated.”
‘Unprecedented’ 20 starvation deaths in Gaza over past 48 hours, says Hamas health official
The director of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry tells Al Jazeera that an “unprecedented” 20 people in Gaza have died from starvation in the past 48 hours.
Munir Al-Barash says that “the figure of 20 deaths in two days is unprecedented.”
“A total of 88 people have died from hunger in Gaza [since the start of the war] so far, including 78 children,” he tells the Qatari outlet.
The figures cannot be independently verified.
Earlier today, the journalists’ union at the AFP news agency warned that their colleagues in the Strip were at serious risk of starvation, and yesterday UNRWA said it was “receiving desperate messages of starvation” from its Gaza staff.
AFP and several other news outlets this morning published graphic pictures of Palestinian youth Abdul Jawad al-Ghalban, 14, who AFP said died of starvation, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed reports of widespread starvation in the Strip, saying it is permitting humanitarian aid, including food, to enter. link. Let's say that Hamas is inflating the disaster numbers by 100%. That still would mean 10 starvation deaths over 48 hours. Can anyone find that number reasonable or acceptable? This is not starvation by drought or country wide crop failure or any other natural disaster. This is starvation due to a deep humanitarian crisis that Israel created and continues to exacerbate on a daily basis. Our government doesn't care about the lives of our soldiers or the hostages. How can we expect them to care about the lives of the refugees that we don't stop making them refugees multiple times over with constant evacuation orders by the army and continued total destruction and devastation of 90% of the structures and almost 100% destruction of the infrastructure of Gaza. Netanyahu and his extremist government have furthered the humanitarian crisis by its total failure to enable enough humanitarian aid to reach the refugees and has only allowed 4 distribution points of aid in the entire Strip. And if that wasn't bad enough, soldiers are killing refugees daily who are just trying to get food and water for their families. How are these not war crimes? How can we allow this to continue?
Death toll from south Syria violence tops 1,260, monitor says
Sectarian violence in southern Syria killed more than 1,260 people before the implementation of a recent ceasefire, a war monitor says, offering an updated toll, as it continues to document deaths that took place prior to the truce.
The dead from the violence in Sweida province included 505 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, 194 of whom were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”
They also included 408 government security personnel and 35 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians who were “summarily executed by Druze fighters.” Another 15 government troops were killed in Israeli strikes, the Observatory said.
Talks between Israel and Syria have resumed, Saudi news outlet reports
Israel and Syria have resumed dialogue on security matters, according to the Saudi channel Al-Hadath, in the wake of the deadly sectarian clashes and IDF strikes in Damascus and southern Syria’s Sweida province last week.
According to the report, the talks are being mediated by Turkey and the United States, and an Israeli delegation is expected to travel soon to Baku, Azerbaijan, to finalize understandings with Syria.
However, the report also states that Israel is not currently committing to halt its strikes in Syria and is demanding a demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border, as well as a permanent Israeli presence in the buffer zone along the border.
There is no immediate comment from Israel.
Israel intervened in Syrian sectarian conflict earlier this month on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military.
Syria and Israel have been opposing sides of conflicts in the Middle East for decades, including direct and often bitter combat.
However, Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s Iran-backed dictator, fled the country in December, and the new Islamist rulers in Damascus are eager to present a moderate face to the West.
Palestinian reports: PA security forces busted Nablus terror cell, seized explosive devices
Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas report that the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security Force arrested a terror cell in the West Bank city of Nablus overnight.
According to the reports, the cell was found in possession of dozens of explosive devices intended for use against Israeli forces.
There has been no official confirmation of the arrests from either Israeli or PA security services. link Most of the Israeli public is unaware that the joint security cooperation between the Israel and the Palestinian security forces has remained a constant since Oslo and has never stopped. There have been many times that Abu Mazan (President of the Palestinian Authority) has threatened to end the cooperation but hasn't done so as it benefits both sides. In addition, Abu Mazen has never been a proponent of violence in their fight for a Palestinian State. He and Arafat were always at odds about violence as a means to their end. Arafat always favored an olive branch in one hand and a gun in the other. Abu Mazen was against this. The Palestinian security forces have prevented or warned the Israeli security forces about thousands of terror attacks against Israelis. This is one of the rare occasions that it gets into the press. The Israeli government under Netanyahu certainly doesn't talk about it as they/he want the public to see the PA is evil through and through. They don't want the public to know that anything positive for Israel comes from the PA.
Staunchly pro-Israel GOP senator demands punishment for settlers who lit fire next to church ruins in West Bank
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the strongest pro-Israel voices in Congress for decades, says he is “incredibly upset” by settler violence near the ruins of a historic church in the West Bank.
“There was a Catholic Church burned in the West Bank,” says Graham, referring to a brush fire reportedly set by Jewish extremists that reached the walls of the compound of the 5th-century church, as well as the nearby Christian cemetery.
Graham says he is sending a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government demanding an account of what happened in the incident.
At the same time, Graham stresses that he is an “unapologetic supporter of the State of Israel.”
“As a Christian, you can go to Jerusalem and worship safely. As a Muslim, you can do the same. It’s a very religiously diverse country.”
“What’s happening in the West Bank bothers the hell out of me,” he continues.
“You had a Palestinian Catholic Church burned to the ground,” he says, misrepresenting the incident. The site consists of the stone ruins of the 1,500-year-old church, and the fire reached the grass along the remaining walls of the church.
“I want to find out who did it, and I want them to be punished,” he says. “And if it was settlers from the West Bank, I want them to be punished.”
Such violence, he says “needs to stop.” link What Lindsey Graham and others like him who have been blind and deaf for years to what really happens to Palestinians under Israeli occupation, and have accepted everything that comes out of the mouth of Netanyahu have no basis for their 'demands' of punishment for the Jewish terrorists. They continue to ignore the fact that this is terrorism; it is not simply the euphemism of 'settler violence' or 'Jewish Extremists'; IT IS TERRORISM! These died in the wool Republican and American fundamentalist supporters like the US Ambassador Huckabee and Graham have given Netanyahu carte blanche for so long, never saying anything negative about the Israeli government's actions or words. Their current 'outrage' may be tied to statements coming out of the White House because they would never go against anything that Trump says or stands for. I don't believe it is sustainable unless there would be a major change in Trump's relationship with Netanyahu, but I don't believe that will happen either. Trump pathological need for the Nobel Peace Prize is tied to ending the war in Gaza. He hoped he would be able to end the Russia/Ukraine War but that didn't go his way, so he is dependent on Netanyahu. Trump occasionally talks tough about Netanyahu and to him and has forced Netanyahu twice to do things he didn't want to: the last hostage deal and the attack on Iran after the ceasefire started. Trump is unpredictable and changes his mind without explanation but his attacks on Netanyahu are momentary and don't last, so no one should expect real American pressure on Netanyahu to take strong and continuous action against the settler terrorists. Instead, they will 'demand' an investigation and Netanyahu will appease this demand with some 'investigatory data' and weak actions against the terrorists that won't be more than a facade because Netanyahu won't ruffle the feathers of his extremist messianic partners.
- IDF: 16 wanted suspects arrested in West Bank overnight, including cell planning attack
Security forces arrested 16 wanted suspects in the West Bank overnight who are suspected of involvement in terrorism, including a terrorist cell in Bethlehem that was planning to carry out an attack. Seven of the wanted individuals were arrested in the villages of Halhul, Sa'ir and Beit Sahour. In the Judea Brigade area, forces arrested four wanted suspects, confiscated a pistol and terrorist funds, while in Amjun village in Samaria, forces seized an M16 rifle and additional combat equipment. Three suspects were arrested in Shweika, A-Dik and Azbet Shufah in the Ephraim Brigade area, and two more wanted individuals were detained in the Menashe Brigade area. The IDF spokesperson reported that the suspects and confiscated weapons were transferred to security forces for further processing. Settlers torch vehicles in West Bank village, Palestinians report
Palestinian media publishes footage showing unidentified individuals setting fire to several vehicles last night in the West Bank village of Beitin, near Ramallah.
According to the reports, the assailants were Israeli settlers.The footage also shows graffiti with the word “revenge” sprayed in Hebrew. video
No casualties are reported in the incident. link The settler terrorism continues daily unabated and undeterred and with no police or military intervention. This is a government that supports and encourages terrorism.
- Politics and the War and General News
- The Region and the World
Trump didn’t like seeing reports of Gazans killed while seeking aid — White House
Press secretary says US president ‘caught off guard’ by Israeli strikes on Syrian government sites and shelling that hit Gaza church, called PM to ‘quickly rectify those situations’
US President Donald Trump has not liked seeing reports from recent days of Palestinians killed while trying to obtain humanitarian aid in Gaza and was “caught off guard” by recent Israeli strikes targeting Syrian government sites as well as deadly IDF shelling that struck a church in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
Leavitt’s willingness to highlight Trump’s displeasure pointed to continued US discomfort with Israeli policy in Syria and the Gaza Strip, even as the two countries have remained broadly aligned strategically.
Asked by reporters outside the White House about the latest mass-casualty incident involving Gazan aid seekers that occurred Sunday, Leavitt responded, “The president never likes to see that. He wants the killing to end, and he wants to negotiate a ceasefire in this region.”
“He wants to see all of the hostages released from Gaza. That has been a top priority for this president,” she added.
The Israel Defense Forces has admitted to firing warning shots that struck some Palestinians who it said approached troops in a threatening manner as thousands converged on a UN convoy in northern Gaza on Sunday. Hamas authorities said 79 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. The IDF accuses Hamas authorities of inflating the death toll, but has not provided an alternative figure and continues to ban foreign journalists from freely reporting in Gaza to verify casualty figures reported by Hamas authorities.
Leavitt said Trump wants aid to be distributed “in a peaceful manner where more lives are not being lost,” while also ensuring that the assistance cannot reach Hamas.
Relatives of Palestinians killed at an aid distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-, Israeli-backed organization, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 19, 2025. (AP/Mariam Dagga)Trump “hated seeing the pictures of starvation of women and children who desperately need that aid,” she added.
Leavitt noted the administration’s decision to back the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been delivering aid in Gaza over the past two months under a new mechanism aimed at diverting Hamas theft.
But that system, too, has been plagued with problems, as it has forced Palestinians to walk long distances while crossing IDF lines in order to pick up aid. GHF has also not been vetting the thousands of aid recipients picking up boxes of food, due to the utterly chaotic situation at distribution sites, so there is no way to confirm the humanitarian assistance is reaching its intended recipients. Hamas has come out strongly against GHF, warning civilians not to cooperate with the organization.
Asked whether Trump has expressed his frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over recent Israeli strikes in Gaza, Leavitt said that the two leaders have a “good working relationship” and are in frequent contact.
However, Leavitt acknowledged that Trump was “caught off guard” both by Israel’s recent strikes in Syria and the attack that hit Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three civilians. Israel has apologized for the church incident, insisting that the site was struck by errant tank fire.
“In both accounts, the president quickly called the prime minister to rectify those situations,” the White House press secretary said.
Over the weekend, several US officials were anonymously quoted in the Axios news site expressing their frustration with Netanyahu, arguing that Israeli strikes on Syrian government forces risk toppling the fledgling leadership that Washington is trying to support in an effort to stabilize the country.
The Axios report cited Trump aides who were frustrated with Netanyahu, but Leavitt’s comments indicated the dissatisfaction in the administration has extended to the US president himself.
Earlier Monday, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack criticized Israel’s recent military intervention in Syria, saying that it was poorly timed and complicated efforts to stabilize the region.
Israel has insisted that its conduct has been motivated by a desire to protect Syria’s Druze population and has accused President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s forces of complicity in recent deadly attacks against the minority group in the country’s south. LINK The bottom line here is that Trump doesn't like anything that makes him look bad and that could jeopardize the peace that he desperately wants in order to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He is just like Netanyahu, they are both narcissists who don't care about the 'little' people who are getting killed, not the Gazans especially, not the soldiers and not the hostages. For Netanyahu, none of it matters. He sees all of the deaths as fodder for his political survival, and as one of his close aids told a hostage family that he has no problem dealing with another 200 bereaved families (soldiers and hostages). Trump also doesn't give a damn about the deaths themselves or the people affected but these incidents. He is disturbed by the optics of the chaos and killing in Syria and Israel's bombings. He is disturbed by the bombing of the church in Gaza because these are the things that are getting press and angering his base as well as jeopardizing the chances of ending the war and his coveted prize. For so many of us, we don't care what his reasons are as long as he will apply the pressure to Netanyahu to end this damn war. Unfortunately, his anger still hasn't reached the point that he will slam the table and tell Netanyahu unequivocally that he demands that the war ends immediately and not according to Netanyahu's plan and timetable which will take 4 or more months.Two Israelis at Tomorrowland festival briefly detained, questioned by Belgian police after activist group called for their arrest
Two Israelis were briefly detained and questioned by Belgian police while attending the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, Belgium’s public broadcaster reports, citing the federal prosecutor’s office, after a complaint was lodged against them by the Hind Rajab Foundation.
In its complaint, the anti-Israel group had alleged that the two were “responsible for grave international crimes, including war crimes and genocide” in the Gaza Strip
According to public broadcaster RTBF, the federal prosecutor’s office moved to detain the two Israelis after reviewing the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint and determining that it had the jurisdiction to do so based on a 2024 amendment to the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure.
The men were detained by police, questioned, and then released, the report says.
It adds that the federal prosecutor’s office has declined to provide any more information on the matter at this time.
The Hind Rajab Foundation lauds the incident as a “turning point in the global pursuit of accountability.”
Launched in September 2024, the Hind Rajab Foundation has used social media posts by Israeli soldiers, officers and reservists to locate them in an attempt to have them arrested for alleged war crimes when they travel abroad.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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