Updates: 18 in Gaza die from starvation in one day amid Israeli blockade

Read our editor’s analysis on whether Israel will face any blowback for its attacks across the region, here.

To find out more about how the new forced displacement orders issued by the Israeli army in central Gaza affect Palestinians, go here.

And you can always follow our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

Let’s recap the most important developments today:

• The Israeli military killed at least 115 Palestinians, including 92 aid seekers and two civil defence aid workers, and wounded more than 200 people as famine reached its peak in Gaza, and children are dying of Israeli-imposed starvation.
• The Gaza Health Ministry said that 18 people had died of hunger in its last 24-hour reporting period.
• The Israeli army dropped leaflets over a residential area in Deir el-Balah, warning residents to leave the area as its military chief visited Shujayea in the north and touted plans to continue the war.
• Protesters across the Muslim world, including in Tunisia, Iraq, Turkiye, Morocco, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah, took to the streets to denounce the Israeli siege of Gaza.
• Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed blocking a visa extension for the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank because he testified about “weaponised hunger” in Gaza.
• In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli settler attacks on water supplies are making it harder to stay in their villages.

Heavy Israeli bombardment has been reported in areas near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Footage shared by the Quds News Network shows large plumes of smoke rising from the area.

Earlier, our colleague on the ground reported that Israeli air attacks and artillery shelling are targeting the southern area of the city.

Deir el-Balah, home to thousands of displaced Palestinians, has come under increasing fire in recent weeks.

اشتعال النيران جراء قصف من طائرات الاحتلال على شرق دير البلح وسط قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/T7zkbP9kNc

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 20, 2025

Translation: Fires broke out due to bombing by occupation aircraft on the east of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen has posted an image of himself on X holding a glass of water and telling the Iranian people: “I know you don’t have enough drinking water.

“This is because your oppressive regime, instead of investing in providing drinking water, has diverted water resources to its failed nuclear programme, which has now ended up in the dustbin of history,” he wrote in Farsi, in reference to the water shortages in Iran amid a heatwave.

“To the people of Iran: The day this oppressive regime is overthrown, your lives will be much better – and you, too, will be able to benefit from Israel’s water technologies.”

پیامی به مردم ایران از سوی وزیر انرژی اسرائیل:

من رنج شما را می‌بینم و می‌دانم که حتی به اندازه کافی آب آشامیدنی ندارید.
این به این دلیل است که رژیم ستمگر شما، به جای سرمایه‌گذاری برای تأمین آب آشامیدنی، منابع آبی را صرف برنامه شکست‌خورده هسته‌ای کرده که اکنون به زباله‌دان تاریخ… pic.twitter.com/OAEcDWD5wy

— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) July 20, 2025

Gaza’s only Catholic church has been hit, and Muslim cemeteries have been desecrated.

Hundreds of mosques have also been damaged or destroyed.

In the occupied West Bank, attacks on Christians and Muslims are increasing.

Why is this happening?

Watch Al Jazeera’s Inside Story to hear the conversation:

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, has released a video attacking Gaza journalists reporting on the starvation of Palestinians, including Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif.

He claimed the reports are “a fabricated and deceitful Hamas theatrical performance”.

Al-Sharif wrote in a post on X that this is another attempt by Israel to silence the truth and “cover up a genocide unfolding in real time”.

"استمر يا أنس.. أنت صوتنا".. رسالة من أحد أبناء #غزة لمراسل الجزيرة أنس الشريف، تعبيرًا عن دعمهم لصوته الذي ينقل معاناة الناس تحت العدوان#فيديو pic.twitter.com/QGMgNvZ03h

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) July 20, 2025

Translation: “Keep going, Anas… you are our voice.” A message from one of the sons of #Gaza to Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, expressing their support for his voice that conveys the suffering of the people under aggression.

Protesters gathered on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis to express solidarity with Gaza and condemn what they called Israel’s “systematic starvation war” against Palestinians.

Demonstrators demanded a ceasefire and the immediate opening of border crossings to allow the entry of food and medical aid.

Similar protests are also being held in Baghdad, Iraq, and in Ankara, Turkiye today.

Meanwhile, large crowds marched through the streets of Rabat, Morocco’s capital, in a separate show of support for Gaza. Footage shared on social media showed thousands rallying against what they described as a war of genocide and starvation.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has confirmed reports in Israeli media that has has blocked a visa extension for Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

In a Hebrew post on X, he said the decision was made “due to biased and hostile conduct against Israel, which distorted reality, presented false reports, slandered Israel, and even violated the UN’s own rules on neutrality”.

“Whoever spreads lies about Israel – Israel will not work with them.”

This comes after Whittall testified about catastrophic conditions in Gaza and at aid distribution sites of the so-called GHF, which he said were “created to kill” and are assisting the “weaponised hunger” created by Israel.

For a second day, there was a major march in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah to denounce the Israeli massacres and starvation policy in Gaza.

"وينك يا أحرار بلادي، غزة تصرخ غزة تنادي"..

هتافات المواطنين خلال مسيرة تجوب شوارع مدينة رام الله، نصرًة لغزة وتنديدًا بسياسة التجويع والعدوان الإسرائيلي. pic.twitter.com/gJdbodKLeU

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) July 20, 2025

Translation: “Where are you, free people of my country? Gaza is screaming, Gaza is calling..”

Chants by citizens during a march through the streets of Ramallah, in support of Gaza and in condemnation of the starvation policy and Israeli aggression.

Protesters also rallied in southern Lebanon to condemn Israel and express their solidarity with Palestinians.

#شاهد.. مسيرة جماهيرية في مخيم البرج الشمالي بمنطقة صور جنوب لبنان استنكاراً لسياسة الحصار والتجويع والعدوان المتواصل الذي يمارسه الاحتلال الصهيوني على قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/knd635wfDL

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 20, 2025

Translation: A mass march in al-Burj al-Shamali camp in the Tyre area, southern Lebanon, in protest against the siege, starvation policy, and ongoing aggression carried out by the Zionist occupation against the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers in armoured vehicles stormed the town of Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin, firing live ammunition at civilians, with no injuries reported so far.

The Wafa news agency reported that a number of Palestinian children were tear gassed during an Israeli raid on the town of Tuqu, located southeast of Bethlehem. The Israeli forces had positioned themselves in several neighbourhoods before advancing.

South of Tubas, Israeli forces stormed the Wadi al-Fara area and took up positions on a main street in the area. Another raid was reported in the town of al-Mazaraa ash-Sharqiya, located east of Ramallah.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its fighters targeted an Israeli military command post in northern Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The group reported that shortly after the attack, an Israeli evacuation helicopter landed at the site and that gunfire and smoke grenades were used in the area, suggesting possible casualties or injuries among Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has released footage of chief Eyal Zamir visiting and cheering soldiers in the northern Gaza’s long-besieged neighbourhood of Shujayea.

He was quoted as saying by the military that Israeli ground forces have reached considerable “operational achievements” and that the army has presented the government with different scenarios to continue the war on Gaza.

Zamir said the fighting is “advancing the defeat of Hamas” and “creating the potential for a hostage deal”.

The Israeli military also released more footage of destruction in Gaza, showing two months of ground assault on Khan Younis in the south by its Paratrooper Brigade. More buildings were shown being blown up by Israeli forces, with the army labeling them “terrorist infrastructure”.

مشاهد من عمليات عسكرية للجيش الإسرائيلي في جباليا شمال قطاع #غزة#فيديو pic.twitter.com/ZYz5Hs6QJg

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) July 20, 2025

Translation: Scenes from Israeli military operations in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says the Handala, a Gaza-bound aid ship, was sabotaged before its departure from Gallipoli, Italy.

A rope was found tightly wrapped around the engine propeller, and a corrosive chemical was discovered in the water tank, injuring two crew members.

Despite the attacks, the vessel has set sail towards Gaza, carrying international activists and humanitarian supplies including baby formula, medicine, and toys. The journey is expected to take about a week.

The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza condemned the sabotage attempts and called on the international community to guarantee the vessel’s safe passage and prevent any acts of “Israeli piracy”.

The voyage follows a similar mission by the vessel Madleen six weeks ago, which included activists such as Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan.

Several Palestinian children were injured from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces stormed the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

According to Tayseer Abu Mifreh, the head of the Tuqu municipality, Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas at a group of children playing football near the municipal building, leading to multiple cases of suffocation.

Earlier, Israeli forces had entered the town and deployed in several neighbourhoods, including the area surrounding the municipality, Wafa said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says families in Gaza are facing “catastrophic hunger,” with children “wasting away” and some dying before food reaches them.

In a post on X, OCHA said people searching for food are risking their lives, with many being shot at. The agency described the situation as “unconscionable” and stressed that unimpeded humanitarian access is both a legal and moral imperative.

The post comes as Israeli forces killed at least 92 people waiting for aid across Gaza today, bringing the total number of hungry aid seekers killed since May to over 900.

The spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, Khalil al-Daqran, has issued an urgent appeal to the international community and UN agencies to secure fuel supplies and prevent a collapse of the enclave’s healthcare system.

Speaking to reporters, al-Daqran accused Israel of deliberately targeting the health sector, saying most power generators have been destroyed and fuel is nearly impossible to obtain.

“We receive hundreds of patients daily suffering from exhaustion due to hunger,” he said. “The international community must act immediately to bring in medicine and fuel, and pressure Israel to stop its systematic destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure.”

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has condemned the ongoing ban on international media entering Gaza, saying the “livestream of horrors” has continued for 650 days and warning that “no one can claim they didn’t know”.

In a post on X, the agency said its teams continue to work despite being “starving and exhausted,” and reiterated its call to lift the siege and allow the entry of urgently needed supplies, including food and medicine.

The ban on international media to enter Gaza continues.

The livestream of horrors from #Gaza goes on despite the ban, for 650 days. No one can claim they didn’t know.

UNRWA teams work although they themselves are starving and exhausted.

Lift the siege, allow UNRWA to bring in… pic.twitter.com/050CWiWNaH

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 20, 2025

A source at the hospital, located in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, reports that a person with special needs has succumbed to medical complications that arose from malnutrition.

Yesterday, at least two Palestinians, one a weeks-old infant, also died of malnutrition, as Israel’s blockade of Gaza continues.