KEY POINTS
- Israeli strikes killed 98 Palestinians on Monday, pushing Gaza’s total death toll past 63,557.
- Health Ministry reported 9 more famine deaths, bringing hunger-related fatalities to 348, including 127 children.
- The International Association of Genocide Scholars said Israel’s actions meet the UN definition of genocide.
- GCC and SCO leaders demanded an immediate ceasefire and condemned civilian casualties.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli airstrikes killed 98 Palestinians and injured 404 in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday, adding that the overall death toll since 7 October 2023 has surpassed 63,557 with more than 160,000 wounded.
The ministry also reported nine new deaths from famine and malnutrition—including three children—bringing hunger-related fatalities to 348, of whom 127 were children.
Gaza authorities said at least 46 people were killed while seeking food aid in the latest incidents, taking deaths linked to aid distribution to 2,294 and injuries to more than 16,800.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) said 86% of voting members backed a resolution stating Israel’s “policies and actions in Gaza” meet the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 UN Convention.
“This is a definitive statement from experts in the field,” IAGS president Melanie O’Brien told Reuters.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the statement “disgraceful” and said it was “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies”, reiterating that Israel rejects genocide allegations and says its campaign is self-defence.
Israel is also contesting a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Diplomacy and ceasefire calls
Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Kuwait called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and condemned Israel’s actions as genocide, urging unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, according to statements cited by Middle East Monitor.
A Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders’ statement “strongly condemned acts causing civilian casualties and humanitarian disasters in Gaza” and urged a comprehensive, lasting ceasefire, Xinhua reported.
The SCO communiqué also condemned Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, according to Xinhua.
Fighting on the ground
Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City on Monday, detonating explosives-laden vehicles in the eastern Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, destroying several homes and forcing new displacements, Palestinian officials and local residents told Reuters.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was continuing operations across the enclave and had struck “several military structures and outposts” used to attack its troops.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had targeted the spokesperson of Hamas’s armed wing, Abu Ubaida, in a joint military–intelligence operation.
“We still don’t know the final result. I hope he is no longer with us,” Netanyahu said, quoted by Reuters.
Meanwhile, one more Palestinian journalist, Islam Abed of Al-Quds Today TV, was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City, bringing the number of media workers killed since the war began to 247, Gaza’s Government Media Office said, according to Anadolu Agency.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned what it called systematic targeting of reporters.
Worsening famine crisis
Aid deliveries remain far below need: only 534 trucks entered Gaza over the past five days versus an estimated 3,000 required, Gaza’s Government Media Office said, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
The office alleged chaos around entry points and accused Israel of engineering famine and instability—claims Israel denies.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said children were again being forced from their homes amid intensified operations and that shelter supplies had been blocked “for almost six months”.
“There is not enough space. There are not enough tents,” the agency wrote on X, urging permission to bring in stocks.
Children in #Gaza are not walking to school.
They are once again being forced to try to find somewhere safe.
But there is nowhere.
There is not enough space.
There are not enough tents.
The intensified Israeli military operation is pushing thousands into the unknown.
Let us… pic.twitter.com/Y1fWrxrsyR
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 31, 2025
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Israeli forces were demolishing roughly 300 housing units a day in parts of Gaza City and Jabalia, describing an effort to “wipe out the city” and compel displacement.
More than 250 media outlets have joined a campaign led by Reporters Without Borders and Avaaz condemning attacks on journalists, the groups said.
Ahead of a visit to the region, Germany’s human rights and humanitarian aid envoy Lars Castellucci said Israel must “immediately” improve conditions in Gaza “comprehensively” and in line with international law, AFP reported, noting Germany has increased aid that cannot reach those in need without access.
Hamas rejects US plan to take over Gaza
The Washington Post reported that the White House is considering a post-conflict proposal under which the United States would take over Gaza for at least a decade, relocate the population temporarily, and rebuild the territory as a tourism and manufacturing hub.
The newspaper said a 38-page prospectus envisages “voluntary” departures abroad or movement into secured zones inside Gaza during reconstruction, a “digital token” in exchange for land-redevelopment rights, and $5,000 cash plus rent subsidies and a year of food for those who leave.
Hamas denounced the reported plan. “Gaza is not for sale … [it] is part of the greater Palestinian homeland,” senior official Bassem Naim said, according to AFP.
Another Hamas official, speaking anonymously, said the group rejects proposals that “abandon our people and keep the occupier on our land”.
