Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas\u2019s attack on Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May \u2013 in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.<\/strong><\/p>\n A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam,<\/strong> warned that \u201cour colleagues and those we serve are wasting away\u201d.<\/p>\n The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms.<\/p>\n Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid.<\/p>\n In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods.<\/p>\n The signatories said:<\/p>\n Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions.<\/p>\n It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage.<\/p>\n The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.49 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Keir Starmer<\/strong> is under pressure from cabinet ministers for the UK<\/strong> to immediately recognise Palestine as a state,<\/strong> as global outcry grows over Israel\u2019s killing of starving civilians in Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n The prime minister is understood to have been urged by a number of senior ministers in different cabinet meetings over recent months that the UK should take a leading role in issuing recognition.<\/p>\n The UK plans to formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other western countries and \u201cat the point of maximum impact\u201d \u2013 without saying what that would be.<\/p>\n However, there has been a growing sense of desperation and horror inside the Labour cabinet in recent weeks over Israel\u2019s killing of starving Palestinian civilians<\/a> in Gaza and its attacks on humanitarian agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say that recognising Palestinian statehood is a really important symbol that you can only do once. But if not now, then when?\u201d one cabinet minister said.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, nearly 60 Labour MPs demanded<\/a> that the UK immediately recognise Palestine as a state, after Israel\u2019s defence minister announced plans<\/a> to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The US<\/strong> said on Tuesday that a top envoy will travel to Europe for talks on a ceasefire and finalising an aid \u201ccorridor\u201d for war-ravaged Gaza,<\/strong> where authorities said people are dying of starvation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.<\/p>\n Steve Witkoff,<\/strong> president Donald Trump\u2019s globe-trotting negotiator, will head this week to a European destination for talks on Gaza, according to US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Clarifying an earlier statement, officials said Witkoff may travel after Europe to the Middle East to continue diplomacy.<\/p>\n Witkoff comes with \u201ca strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow, that both sides have in fact agreed to,\u201d state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters.<\/p>\n Bruce declined to give further details on the corridor.<\/p>\n She did not say how the diplomacy would relate to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,<\/strong> a logistics group backed by Israel<\/a> and the US that has seen chaotic scenes of troops firing on hungry Palestinians racing for food.<\/p>\n The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the GHF began its operations in late May, with most near the foundation\u2019s sites.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Israel is facing intensifying international condemnation for its killing of starving Palestinian civilians<\/a> in Gaza,<\/strong> and its attacks on humanitarian efforts, as the UN secretary general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres,<\/strong> said the \u201clast lifelines keeping people alive [in the strip] are collapsing\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to the UN security council on Tuesday, Guterres described the situation in Gaza as a \u201chorror show\u201d condemning the Israeli attacks on UN offices.<\/p>\n Guterres said:<\/p>\n Malnourishment is soaring and starvation is knocking on every door in Gaza.<\/p>\n And now we are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles. That system is being denied the conditions to function. Denied the space to deliver. Denied the safety to save lives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Guterres\u2019 comments came hours after a hard-hitting joint statement<\/a> on Monday by 27 western countries including the UK, France, Australia and Canada<\/strong> harshly criticising Israel\u2019s restrictions on humanitarian aid and calling for an immediate end to the war.<\/p>\n Guterres said he \u201cdeplored the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition\u201d as health officials in Gaza<\/a> reported a further 33 deaths, including 12 children, in the past 48 hours.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Sally Weale is the Guardian\u2019s education correspondent.<\/p>\n Pressure is mounting on ministers to intervene on behalf of 40 students in Gaza<\/a> who have been offered full scholarships to study at UK universities, but are unable to take up their places this September because of government red tape.<\/p>\n A high-level meeting is understood to have taken place at the Home Office<\/a> on Tuesday after MPs and campaigners highlighted the students\u2019 plight, calling on ministers to take action to help secure their safe passage to the UK. Some students are reported to have been killed while waiting, while others are said to be in constant danger.<\/p>\n Campaigners say students are unable to travel and begin their studies because of a Home Office requirement for biometric data for a visa application. The UK-authorised biometrics registration centre in Gaza<\/a> closed in October 2023 and it has been impossible for them to travel to other centres in neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n They are calling on the government to grant the students a biometrics deferral, and to help them find a safe route to a third country where they can complete their visa application and travel on to the UK.<\/p>\n Dr Nora Parr, a researcher at Birmingham University who is supporting the students in Gaza, said Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy had already helped evacuate students with university places in their countries.<\/p>\n The students who studied, took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) tests, wrote admissions essays and did virtual campus interviews under the most horrendous conditions imaginable \u2013 many from tent homes and makeshift wifi hubs \u2013 now must wait for a government decision.<\/p>\n To not act is to decide to leave them without these hard-earned educational opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n You can read more of Sally Weale\u2019s piece here: Ministers urged to help students trapped in Gaza with places at UK universities<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a>More than 100 aid organisations warn of ‘mass starvation’ in Gaza<\/p>\n More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that \u201cmass starvation\u201c was spreading in Gaza<\/a>, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas\u2019s attack on Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May \u2013 in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.<\/strong><\/p>\n A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam,<\/strong> warned that \u201cour colleagues and those we serve are wasting away\u201d.<\/p>\n The groups called for an immediate negotiated ceasefire, the opening of all land crossings and the free flow of aid through UN-led mechanisms.<\/p>\n Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid.<\/p>\n In their statement, the humanitarian organisations said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods.<\/p>\n The signatories said:<\/p>\n Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions.<\/p>\n It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage.<\/p>\n The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises. Humanitarians cannot operate on shifting timelines or wait for political commitments that fail to deliver access.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.49 EDT<\/p>\n Opening summary<\/p>\n Hello and welcome back to the Guardian\u2019s coverage of the Middle East.<\/p>\n More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that \u201cmass starvation\u201d was spreading in Gaza<\/a> ahead of the US top envoy\u2019s visit to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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Pippa Crerar<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Peter_Beaumont,_L.png\")
Peter Beaumont<\/p>\n\n
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Sally Weale<\/p>\n\n
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