Updates: Hamas says it approved Gaza truce deal as Israel steps up attacks

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Find out more about the situation on the ground in Gaza here.

See more details about the latest developments around the Gaza ceasefire talks and the response by Hamas here.

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

We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of today’s main events:

• The Israeli army killed at least 30 Palestinians across Gaza as it pushes to seize Gaza City, the enclave’s largest city.
• Hamas said it agreed to a proposal put forward by mediators to reach a 60-day truce in Gaza with a path towards a sustainable ceasefire.
• Top Israeli officials said that Hamas is under pressure because of Israel’s plans to conquer Gaza City, and that far-right Israeli ministers have emphasised that the war must continue.
• Israeli settlers and soldiers detained the Palestinian Authority’s culture minister in the occupied West Bank, and several Palestinians were injured in a string of attacks in the territory.
• At least four Syrian workers were injured after an Israeli drone dropped a bomb in Wadi al-Asafir, near Khiam in southern Lebanon.
• Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund said it was excluding six Israeli companies with connections to the occupied Palestinian territory from its portfolio.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over a decision to block visas for Palestinian children seeking medical treatment in the US after being wounded in Gaza.

CAIR’s deputy executive director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, said Rubio appeared to have acted under pressure from far-right activist Laura Loomer, calling the move “insanity”.

“By caving to Loomer’s pressure and banning Palestinian children injured by American weapons from seeking specialised medical care in America, Secretary Rubio has effectively given a notoriously unhinged bigot and her online mob veto power of State Department policy,” he said.

Loomer has previously described herself as a “proud Islamophobe”.

The aid and development organisation warns that Israel’s plan to displace Palestinians again, as it pushes to seize Gaza City, “would deepen an already devastating pattern of destruction and suffering”.

“Every nation must act, using every diplomatic, legal, and economic tool at its disposal, to stop this crime,” Oxfam said in a statement. “History will not be kind to those who chose silence in the face of Gaza’s obliteration.”

2 million Palestinians have endured starvation, bombardment, and the systematic stripping of their rights by Israel. Forcibly displacing them yet again would deepen an already devastating pattern of destruction and suffering.

Every nation must act, using every diplomatic,… pic.twitter.com/JnpBCybRgk

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) August 18, 2025

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has welcomed Trump’s call to allow foreign reporters into Gaza, as Israeli authorities continue to block them from entering the territory.

“CPJ and hundreds of news organizations across the world have been calling for unhindered, independent media access as Palestinian journalists face killings, and starvation,” CPJ’s chief global affairs officer, Gypsy Guillen Kaiser, said in a statement.

“It is time to break the chokehold on reporting about this devastating conflict and allow all journalists to work freely and safely.”

There are many Palestinian journalists working in Gaza, but Israel has been systemically targeting and killing them as its supporters in the West question their credibility.

Last week, Trump said he “would like to see” foreign journalists report from Gaza.

A medical source at the Kuwait Field Hospital in southern Gaza tells Al Jazeera that an Israeli attack on displaced people’s tents in the al-Mawasi area has killed one girl and wounded several other people.

The Gaza Government Media Office has released updated figures highlighting the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

Authorities said that each day, residents require 7.5 million meals and a minimum of 600 aid trucks to cover basic needs, while infants need 250,000 milk cartons every month. A small fraction of these amounts has entered Gaza over the past three months.

Since Israel’s assault began, hospitals have recorded 62,004 Palestinians killed and 156,230 wounded, with a further 9,500 dead or missing people whose bodies never reached medical facilities.

The figures also include 1,965 Palestinians killed and 14,701 injured in what officials called “aid massacres and death traps” at GHF distribution sites.

At least 263 people, including 112 children, have died from Israeli-induced hunger and malnutrition, the statement added.

Palestinian journalist Marwa Musallam was buried under the rubble after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in July. Her cries for help went unanswered amid pleas to pressure Israel to allow rescuers to reach her.

Musallam’s remains were discovered 45 days later.

Watch our video report on the killing of Musallam below.

The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has sought the recommendations of reporters, editors and rights experts to explore new ways to protect Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

In a newly released feature, the CRJ called for a bold, new strategy to protect reporters on the ground, who face assassinations and smear campaigns amid the collapse of legal and institutional protections.

The suggestions included sanctions on Israeli officials, media strikes, coordinated blackouts, and war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court.

“Journalists in Western newsrooms could strike. They could refuse to work until some sort of substantive demand for a policy change at these institutions is fulfilled,” Drop Site News’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous said.

“What could this policy change be? Perhaps a disclaimer at the bottom, or within, every article that quotes Israeli authorities that Israel has killed far more journalists in Gaza than anywhere in the world since the Committee to Protect Journalists started keeping records, and therefore the veracity of any statement is dubious.”

The article follows the killing of Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif and five colleagues near al-Shifa Hospital, bringing the number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023 to well over 200.

Violent Israeli settlers have launched another attack in the occupied West Bank under protection from armed Israeli soldiers.

The Wafa news agency cited a local official as reporting that settlers attacked homes in the Susya village, in Masafer Yatta south of Hebron.

They threw stones at homes and broke windows while also damaging a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian family. Several people were injured and later treated at the scene by paramedics.

Several other Israeli military raids were also reported across the occupied territories, including in several towns and villages in Nablus.

قوات الاحتلال تقتحم قرية كفر قليل، قضاء نابلس. pic.twitter.com/fnarVD1QFj

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 18, 2025

Translation: Occupation forces storm the village of Kafr Qalil, Nablus District.

A medical source has confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least three Palestinians were killed and several others were injured in an Israeli strike on the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Local Palestinian outlets reported that journalist Islam al-Koumi was among the victims.

More Israeli strikes have also been reported in the al-Amal neighbourhood, located northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. We will bring you more information when we can.

Breaking | Palestinian journalist Islam Al-Koumi and his son were killed in an Israeli strike on Al Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/XD1G28Yy3f

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 18, 2025

German police have once again been filmed assaulting demonstrators in a rally supporting Gaza, this time near the headquarters of the Federal Chancellery in the capital, Berlin.

Footage shared online showed police violently taking a supporter who was chanting with a microphone. Another protester was also assaulted while security forces accompanied by police dogs tried to arrest him.

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A post shared by 🇵🇸 عين على فلسطين | Eye on Palestine (@eye.on.palestine)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israel’s plans to seize Gaza City could displace thousands of Palestinians “into an overcrowded area in the south of the [Gaza] Strip, which is almost devoid of basic infrastructure and services”, including water, food and medical care.

“The UN reiterates that it will not participate in any forced displacement of the population,” OCHA said in a statement.

“The UN and its partners reiterate their commitment to serve people wherever they are. All civilians must be protected, whether they choose to stay or move. Those who decide to move must have their essential needs met, and they must be able to voluntarily return when the situation allows.”

Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir has addressed a conference near the borders of Gaza, saying that an “unprecedented” military campaign is ongoing.

“We are at a turning point in the war, preparing to move to the next phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which focuses on deepening the impact against Hamas in Gaza City,” he said.

A day after Zamir approved the Gaza City invasion plans, he said the army had “decisively defeated Hamas in the areas where we operated” and must prepare to continue “operational developments” in Gaza.

“We will continue to act and create the conditions for the release of our abductees.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump has denied intervening to ensure the release of Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, a senior Israeli cybersecurity official who was arrested earlier this month in the US state of Nevada as part of an undercover law enforcement operation targeting “child sex predators”.

Alexandrovich’s release and subsequent return to Israel had sparked controversy and speculations that he may have been freed by pressure from the US federal government and Israeli authorities. But today, the US State Department distanced itself from the case.

“The Department of State is aware that Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, an Israeli citizen, was arrested in Las Vegas and given a court date for charges related to soliciting sex electronically from a minor,” the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs said in a statement.

“He did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the US government intervened are false.”

Court records from Nevada’s Clark County show that Alexandrovich was charged with luring or attempting to lure a child online to engage in sexual conduct – a felony that carries up to 10 years in jail in the case of a conviction.

Alexandrovich posted a $10,000 bond on August 7, nearly a week before his arrest was publicly announced, according to court records.

While it is common for suspects accused of crimes to be released on bail, it is not clear why Alexandrovich’s passport was not withheld to ensure that he does not flee to Israel.

Defendants at high risk of flight are also often put under electronic monitoring when released, but it appears that Alexandrovich was freed with minimal conditions despite the severity of the charge against him.

The Israeli official’s next court appearance is set for August 27.

A Palestinian activist has released footage of starved and injured aid seekers who were brought to the al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged northern part of Gaza after being targeted by Israeli forces.

“Their faces show the fatigue and pain they experienced from Israeli occupation snipers west of Gaza City,” said Mohammed Abu Salama.

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A post shared by • Mohemmed Abusalama (@mohemmed_abusalama)

Echoing far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has expressed opposition to any ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

“We fight only to win! Under no circumstances to stop in the middle with a partial deal that abandons half of the hostages and could lead to ending the war in defeat,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Hamas is under great pressure from the occupation of Gaza because it understands that this eliminates it and ends the story. Therefore, it is trying to stop it by returning to a partial deal. Precisely for this reason, we must not give in and grant the enemy a lifeline. Continue to the end, win, and bring back all the hostages in one fell swoop.”

Smotrich has been a vocal advocate for ethnically cleansing Gaza.