KEY POINTS
- Israeli attacks kill 29 Palestinian aid seekers in the last 24 hours in Gaza.
- Israeli forces intensify strikes on Gaza City after Netanyahu vows to expand offensive.
- Six journalists killed in an Israeli strike on Al Shifa Hospital, drawing global condemnation.
- Hunger deaths rise to 222 in Gaza, including 101 children among the victims.
- Pakistan, European nations and UN agencies condemn Israeli actions.
- New Zealand and Australia signal moves to recognise Palestinian state in September.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 68 Palestinians, including 29 humanitarian aid seekers, have been killed and 326 wounded in the past 24 hours as Israeli attacks intensified across Gaza, the territory’s health ministry said on Monday. The ministry added that another body from an earlier strike had also been recovered.
These latest casualties bring the war death toll since October 2023 to 61,499, with 153,575 others injured, the health ministry stated.
Palestinians reported the heaviest Israeli bombardment in weeks in areas east of Gaza City, according to Reuters, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected to complete a newly expanded offensive against Hamas “fairly quickly”.
Witnesses told Reuters that Israeli tanks and aircraft pounded the eastern suburbs of Sabra, Zeitoun and Shejaia, forcing many families to flee westwards.
Hamas said Gaza City is now sheltering about one million displaced people from northern Gaza.
The Israeli military claimed its forces had targeted Hamas positions and dismantled a rocket launch site east of the city on Sunday.
Netanyahu said the operation would focus on Gaza City, which he called Hamas’s “capital of terrorism”. He said that parts of central Gaza may also be targeted.
Journalists killed in airstrike
An airstrike on the Al Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City killed six journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif, health officials said.
Gaza’s media office said at least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the war began in October 2023.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), accused Israel of seeking to “silence voices reporting atrocities” and condemned the killing of journalists as occurring “with total impunity”.
“The Israeli Army continues to silence voices reporting atrocities from #Gaza.
I am horrified by the killing of another 5 journalists in Gaza city.
Since the war began, more than 200 Palestinian journalists have been reported killed in total impunity.
Israel is also blocking… pic.twitter.com/i2CTwnErcg
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 11, 2025
The UN human rights office condemned the killing of the six journalists as a “grave breach of international humanitarian law” and called on Israel to protect civilians, including members of the press.
#Gaza: We condemn the killing by Israeli military of 6 Palestinian journalists by targeting their tent, in grave breach of international humanitarian law. #Israel must respect & protect all civilians, including journalists. At least 242 Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza… pic.twitter.com/Y6nTHcHQ2B
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) August 11, 2025
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani described the attack as “crimes beyond imagination”.
The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination, amid the inability of the int'l community & its laws to stop this tragedy. May God have mercy on journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, & their colleagues.
— محمد بن عبدالرحمن (@MBA_AlThani_) August 11, 2025
Reporters Without Borders accused the Israeli army of “acknowledged murder” after it labelled Al Sharif a Hamas “terrorist”.
Former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the killings “sickening beyond words” and a “desperate attempt to silence the truth”.
The deliberate and relentless killing of Palestinian journalists is sickening beyond words — and is a desperate attempt to silence the truth about Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity.
Shame on all those who empowered Israel to murder with impunity.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) August 11, 2025
Civilian casualties and hunger deaths
An Israeli strike in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood killed a family of eight, including six children, Wafa news agency reported.
Another six Palestinians were killed while seeking aid near distribution centres in Rafah, Al Jazeera reported, citing Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said five more people, including a child, had died of malnutrition in the past day, raising the total to 222 hunger-related deaths since the war began — 101 of them children.
Most of these deaths have occurred in the past three weeks.
UNRWA warned on social media that “children in Gaza are dying from starvation and bombardments” and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Children in #Gaza are dying from starvation and bombardments.
Entire families, neighbourhoods, and a generation are being wiped out.
Inaction and silence are complicity. It’s time for statements to turn into action and for an immediate #Ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/OyBy2f0bmX
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 11, 2025
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) condemned Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation food sites as an “orchestrated killing” and urged the restoration of UN-led aid coordination.
What we think about GHF-run food sites in Gaza:
• This is not aid. This is orchestrated killing.
• GHF must be dismantled immediately.
• No state donor should fund GHF.
• The UN-led coordination system must be restored.
• The siege on Gaza must be lifted to allow safe,… pic.twitter.com/TPfBs1d7aY— MSF International (@MSF) August 11, 2025
Pakistan condemns Israeli strike
Pakistan strongly condemned a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza that killed numerous civilians, calling it “yet another serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law”.
In a statement, the Foreign Office extended condolences to victims’ families, reaffirmed solidarity with the Palestinian people, and urged the international community to take “immediate and decisive action” to end Israeli impunity.
International reaction
The Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City has drawn global criticism. Germany announced it would halt certain military exports to Israel, while Britain and other European allies urged reconsideration of the plan.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the plan was a “disaster waiting to happen” and proposed a UN-mandated international coalition to stabilise Gaza.
Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto accused Israel of “losing its reason and humanity” and suggested possible sanctions.
Recognition of Palestinian state
New Zealand is considering recognising a Palestinian state, with a formal decision expected in September, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
He stressed that the move was a matter of “when, not if”, but would be weighed against whether the Palestinian territories could become a viable and legitimate state.
On Sunday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” he said on Monday.
