Documentation of the Israeli abuse of power, mistreatment of humanity, and perpetration of the genocidal war on the Palestinian people in the  Gaza Strip.

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87 Palestinians Killed, 644 Injured, Mostly Children, Women, and Aid Seekers,

Which Brings the Death Toll of the Israeli Genocidal War on the Gaza Strip to 61,020 and the Injuries to 150,671

by August 5, 2025

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Editor's Notes:  

Here are some initial (not final) statistics, which show the Israeli war crimes against humanity, during the current Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, based on the reliable data reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza:

By August 5, 2025, the initial death toll of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip is 74,092.   

This includes the accounted for deaths (61,020) and those who are still missing under the rubble (an estimate of at least 13,072+). 

By August 5, 2025, the documented injuries exceeded 150,671.

By August 5, 2025, according to news report, 1,019 Palestinians who were killed, 6,983 who were injured, and 12,959*, who were abducted by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, since October 7, 2023.      

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(The Palestine Information Center reported that there were 925 deaths and 14,500 kidnappings but without mentioning how many were released, by February 27, 2025).  

Note About the Missing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip:

On February 26, 2025, the Palestinian Center for Political and Development Studies announced that the number of the missing in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 14,000 people, including 2,000-3,000 held in Israeli occupation prisons, without releasing any information on their fate.

***

*** 

87 Palestinians were killed, 644 were injured by the Israeli genocidal air strikes, mostly children, women, and aid seekers, which brings the death toll in the Gaza Strip to 61,020 and the injuries to 150,671, by August 5, 2025.	87 Palestinians were killed, 644 were injured by the Israeli genocidal air strikes, mostly children, women, and aid seekers, on August 5, 2025.
The death toll as a result of the Israeli starvation policy in the Gaza Strip has risen to 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, on August 5, 2025.	The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has reported that about 28 children are killed daily in the Gaza Strip by the ongoing Israeli bombardment and starvation, which has been ongoing for more than 660 days, August 5, 2025.
UN experts have urged member states to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel over its repeated violations of international law, particularly the daily massacres of Palestinian aid seekers, August 5, 2025.	The Coordination Committee for Palestine announced the start of preparations for the Global Solidarity Flotilla to Gaza, which includes participation from 44 countries, to break the siege on the Gaza Strip, August 5, 2025.
Grieving, at Al-Shifa hospital, the death of the Palestinians, most of whom were massacred by the Israeli occupation forces, while waiting to get some of the food aid, at the Israeli-controlled aid center, in northern Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2025	Grieving, at 'Hamad hospital, the death of the Palestinians, who were massacred by the Israeli occupation forces, while waiting to get some of the food aid, at the Israeli-controlled aid center, in northern Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2025
Grieving, at Nasir hospital, the death of the Palestinians, who were massacred by the Israeli occupation forces, while waiting to get some of the food aid, at the Israeli-controlled aid center, in western Rafa'h, in southern Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2025	Site of a Palestinian residential neighborhood, which was destroyed by the Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment on in Al-Nusayrat, in central Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2025.

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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا"  (الْمَائِدَةُ ، 5: 32).

"وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا" (النِّسَاءُ ، 4: 93).

"إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ الْآخِرَةِ لِيَسُوءُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا الْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا مَا عَلَوْا تَتْبِيراً ‎(الإسْرَاءُ ، 17: 7). 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had killed humankind entirely" (The Holy Quran, Al-Ma-ida, 5: 32).

"And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him, and has cursed him, and has prepared for him a great torment" (Al-Nisa, 4: 93).

"If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, (you do it) to yourselves. Then, when the latter (final) promise came, they (your enemies) will sadden your faces, and to enter the Masjid (in Jerusalem), as they entered it the first time, and will destroy what they had taken over with (total) destruction (Al-Isra, 17: 7). 

***

While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written human history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of Prophets David and Solomon , peace be upon them, and Solomon's son).

 After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus, peace be upon him, started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

No matter what the Zionists and their supporters do, they cannot change the will of God, Who promised the Holy Land to Abraham and his descendants, basically the Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

No matter how much persecution and aggression the Zionists and their supporters inflict upon the Palestinian people, they will never be able to force them out of the Holy Land, which Allah, praise to Him, promised for them, and kept His promise ever since.

This is a necessary brief background to understand the US-Backed Zionist Israeli continuous wars against the Arab nation generally, and the Palestinian people in particular, which included the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, the brutal crushing of the two Uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2004), 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and the current genocidal war on Gaza (Since October 7, 2023), which has culminated a blockade of Gaza since 2007. In addition, the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime launched so many covert operations, raids, and air strikes on many Arab states since 1948.

The following news stories are just examples, not a systematic record, of the Israeli occupation government abuse, mistreatment, and violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

Killing and Injuring of Palestinians in Ghazza (Gaza) by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces

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Gaza death toll reaches 61,020 since start of Israeli aggression in October 2023 - Medical sources

GAZA, June 26, 2025 (WAFA, PIC) -

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 87 bodies, including eight bodies that were covered from under rubble, and 644 injured individuals were brought to hospitals in Gaza during the past 24 hours.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 61,020, the majority of whom were women and children, since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war on the Palestinian territory, in October 2023. At least 150,671 others have also been injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

This toll remains incomplete, as many victims remain trapped under rubble, inaccessible to ambulance and rescue crews.

The Ministry also reported that of the total casualties, 9,519 civilians have been killed and 38,630 have been injured since March 18, 2025, when the Israeli occupation regime resumed its aggression on the Gaza Strip after breaking the ceasefire agreement. 

In addition, among the massacred Palestinians in the past 24 hours, 52 aid seekers who were killed and 352 who were injured were brought to hospitals, bringing the total number of aid seekers brought to hospitals to 1,568 killed and 11,230 injured.

T.R.

***

UNICEF: 28 children killed by Israel every day in Gaza

Tuesday 5-August-2025

GAZA, (PIC)

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that about 28 children are killed daily in the Gaza Strip due to ongoing Israeli bombardment and starvation, which has been ongoing for more than 660 days.

“Death by bombardments. Death by malnutrition and starvation. Death by lack of aid and vital services,” UNICEF said in social media remarks on Monday. “In Gaza, an average of 28 children a day — the size of a classroom — have been killed.”

The agency stressed that children in Gaza are in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and protection, adding that “more than anything, they need a ceasefire, now.”

Since March 2, the Israeli occupation army’s closure of Gaza’s crossings has prevented goods and aid from entering, triggering an unprecedented famine across the territory.

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 The Israeli genocidal attacks continue to claim more lives in Gaza

Tuesday 5-August-2025

GAZA, (PIC)

The Israeli occupation army continued, last night and on Tuesday, to carry out its genocidal attacks on different areas of the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.

According to local media sources, Israeli forces also continued today to detonate and bomb more homes and displace families in the Gaza Strip, further deepening the dire humanitarian crisis as the population grapples with worsening famine.

According to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reporter in Gaza, Israeli attacks have continued across the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli airstrike that injured citizens near Al-Andalus apartment building in the northwest of Gaza City. Some of the wounded citizens are in critical condition.

Israeli forces opened fire at aid seekers near the Netzarim corridor area in central Gaza, killing eight of them and injuring many others.

Three other people were shot dead by Israeli forces in the US aid distribution area in the south of Khan Younus.

Two civilians were martyred following an Israeli airstrike on an apartment belonging to the family of Al-Sa'eedi in Gaza City’s Al-Nasr street.

Casualties were also reported following Israeli strikes on homes in different areas of Gaza City.

Another airstrike on a tent claimed the lives of five citizens in the west of Khan Younus.

Two brothers were killed and other citizens were injured following an artillery attack on an area in the north of Al-Nusayrat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Israeli army also launched attacks on other areas of the Gaza Strip last night and today, killing and wounding more civilians, including children and women.

Meanwhile, several Palestinians in Gaza were pronounced dead after they succumbed to injuries they sustained in recent attacks.

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Several civilians killed, dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes on different areas in Gaza

GAZA, August 5, 2025 (WAFA) –

Several Palestinian civilians were killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday evening in Israeli shelling targeting various areas in the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.

They reported that six people were killed and several others were injured, including critically, after Israeli shelling targeted aid workers in the northern Gaza Strip.

Separately, five more civilians were also killed and others were injured after Israeli airstrikes near the Andalusia Tower, northwest of Gaza City.

An airstrike on the Al-Rumaida area of Bani Suhayla town, east of Khan Younus, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulted in the killing of one Palestinian.

The Israeli military also demolished multiple buildings in the city of Rafa'h in southern Gaza and renewed artillery shelling on eastern areas of Al-Buraij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Medical sources announced that 31 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire since dawn today, including 14 aid seekers.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of 61,020 Palestinians, the majority of whom were children and women, with nearly 150,671 reported wounded.

Hundreds of victims remain trapped under rubble or in areas unreachable by emergency responders due to continued bombardment and limited resources.

Y.S.

***

Several Palestinian civilians killed, dozens wounded in Israeli strikes northwest of Gaza

GAZA, August 5, 2025 (WAFA) – 

Several Palestinian civilians were killed and dozens injured on Tuesday evening in an Israeli airstrike northwest of the Gaza Strip, according to WAFA correspondent.

The airstrike struck seven civilians waiting for aid near the Morag axis, south of Khan Younus, in the southern Gaza Strip. 

Meanwhile, six more people were also killed in Israeli shelling on a group of civilians in the Al-Karama area, northwest of Gaza City.

A total of 31 Palestinians have been killed from Israeli gunfire since dawn today, including 14 aid seekers, according to medical sources.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of 61,020 Palestinians, the majority of whom were children and women, with nearly 150,671 reported wounded.

Hundreds of victims remain trapped under rubble or in areas unreachable by emergency responders due to continued bombardment and limited resources.

 Y.S.

***

Starvation in Gaza: 188 martyrs, children wasting away as aid blockade tightens

Tuesday 5-August-2025

GAZA, (PIC)

The death toll as a result of the Israeli starvation policy in the Gaza Strip has risen to 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, on Tuesday.

In the last 24 hours alone, eight new deaths of starvation and malnutrition were recorded, one child and seven adults, marking a grim escalation in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide war on October 7, 2023, Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to a deadly blockade that has resulted in what international organizations now describe as “catastrophic” levels of hunger and deprivation.

On March 2, 2024, the situation worsened as the Israeli occupation closed all crossings before humanitarian, medical, and relief aid, deliberately accelerating the spread of famine.

Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, Director General of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, issued a powerful humanitarian appeal on Tuesday.

“The children and elderly of Gaza have wasted away to the point that their skeletons are visible,” he said. “We are recording daily deaths from starvation and malnutrition. The reality is beyond description, and there is an urgent need for immediate intervention before it is too late,” he added.

His plea comes amid growing calls for international action, as hospitals, makeshift shelters, and even family homes report running out of basic food items. The situation, according to Abu Salmiya, is nothing short of genocidal: “This is a war of extermination in all forms—bombing, displacement, and starvation.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that 28 children die every day in Gaza due to a combination of Israeli bombing and starvation. The agency emphasized that Gaza’s children urgently need food, water, medicine, protection, and above all, a ceasefire now.

Meanwhile, Farhan Haq, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that less than half of the needed aid is entering Gaza, and the primary obstacle remains the Israeli occupation’s full control over all border crossings and its deliberately complex and prolonged inspection process.

Adding to the crisis, over 1,500 Palestinians have been martyred since May while trying to obtain food at Israeli-militarized aid distribution points and along UN relief routes.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 10,000 others have been injured. The so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation,” an Israeli- and US-backed body rejected by the UN, has taken control of aid delivery since May 27, excluding credible international organizations and intensifying suffering.

Estimates by the World Food Program indicate that 25% of Gaza’s population faces famine-like conditions, including 100,000 children and women suffering from severe malnutrition.

The total casualties of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza now exceeds 210,000 martyrs or wounded, the majority of them children and women, with over 9,000 still missing.

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‎***

Killing, Injuring, and Abduction of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces 

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Several Palestinians injured, others kidnapped by IOFs in the West Bank

Tuesday 5-August-2025

WEST BANK, (PIC)

Several Palestinian citizens were injured and others were kidnapped last night and on Tuesday morning after the Israeli occupation forces (IOFs) stormed West Bank areas.

According to local and medical sources in Nablus, many citizens were injured after exposure to tear gas, while one sustained burn injuries and another fell from a height during clashes between local youths and Israeli forces in the eastern part of the city

The Red Crescent said its paramedics provided medical assistance for the wounded during the events and transferred several of them to the hospital.

The events started after a large number of the Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers stormed the eastern area of Nablus at dawn to perform rituals at Joseph’s Tomb.

The Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers storm every week the eastern area of Nablus to perform rituals at the tomb, which they think is the resting-place of the biblical patriarch Joseph, while locals and Palestinian historians affirm that the grave belongs to a local medieval Muslim shaikh called Yousuf Al-Duwaik.

In Ramallah, the IOFs kidnapped at dawn three young men during a raid in Silwad town and Al-Mazra’ah Al-Gharbiya village.

In Jineen, the IOFs carried out a large-scale arrest campaign in Barta’ah town, where at least 15 citizens were reportedly kidnaped from their homes.

Local sources in Barta’ah said that Israeli occupation soldiers detained several young men and interrogated them before releasing some of them and kidnapping others.

They added that the soldiers also stole money form homes and wreaked havoc on personal belongings and cars during their raids in the town’s neighborhoods.

In Al-Khaleel (Hebron), the IOFs assaulted and kidnapped two brothers after ransacking their home in Doura town.

The IOFs also set up makeshift checkpoints at the entrances of Al-Khaleel (Hebron) City, its towns, villages and refugee camps, and blocked some roads leading to them.

In a separate incident, a horde of the illegal Israeli settlers stormed Aree'ha (Jericho)’s Shallal El-'Auja area in the morning and harassed local residents.  

20 kidnapped.

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Palestinian resistance prisoner, 'Abbas El-Sayyid endures physical abuse and isolation in an Israeli occupation regime prison

Tuesday 5-August-2025

RAMALLAH, (PIC)

Palestinian prisoner, 'Abbas El-Sayyid, a prominent resistance figure from Al-Qassam Brigades of 'Hamas, was reportedly brutally beaten by the Israeli occupation regime prison guards during his recent transfer to solitary confinement in Megiddo prison.

According to human rights sources, prisoner El-Sayyid is currently facing torture and isolation, and being denied medical care, communication and independent monitoring of his condition.

For long months, prisoner El-Sayyid has been suffering from several health issues and facing deliberate medical neglect since his transfer to an isolation cell in Ramon jail following the October 7th events in 2023.

He reportedly suffers from severe eye and skin inflammations while being held in extremely humid and unhygienic detention conditions.

El-Sayyid is also being starved in the jail, where he receives insufficient and poor-quality food. As a result, his weight dropped to only 55 kilograms.

El-Sayyid has been restrained and assaulted several times by Israeli prison forces during raids on his cell. He is also denied any visits by doctors or lawyers.

***

IOAR issues new demolition notices across Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) towns

Tuesday 5-August-2025

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), (PIC)

The Israeli occupation apartheid regime (IOAR) on Monday issued demolition orders targeting multiple residential and commercial structures in several towns around Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), continuing its systematic campaign to displace Palestinians under the pretext of building without permits.

In Qalandya, northwest of Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), local sources reported that IOAR municipality crews, backed by military forces, stormed the eastern area of the town and handed out notices for the demolition of three residential buildings comprising 12 apartments.

In Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, resident Mu'hammed Samreen received a demolition order for his two-room house, with a 21-day deadline to carry it out. Samreen had previously been fined 24,000 shekels for allegedly building without a permit.

Meanwhile, in Al-'Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, Israeli occupation regime police forces delivered demolition notices targeting several buildings and shops, escalating the IOAR efforts to erase Palestinian presence and livelihoods in the area.

These notices come as part of a broader campaign. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority reported Monday that in July alone, the IOAR carried out 75 demolition operations, targeting 122 structures, including 60 inhabited homes,11 uninhabited houses, 22 agricultural facilities, and 26 economic structures.

The demolitions were concentrated in the governorates of Occupied Jerusalem (53 structures), Ramallah (22), and Bethlehem (18).

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Aggression and Attacks by Illegal Israeli Settlers and Soldiers

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Note: Despite the Trump administration support for the Israeli occupation apartheid regime, the U.S. official policy is still considering the Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territories as illegal.

***

Several Palestinian residents injured in an attack by the illegal Israeli settlers, west of Salfeet

Salfeet, August 5, 2025 (WAFA) –

Several Palestinian residents were injured on Tuesday evening in an attack carried out by the illegal Israeli settlers on the western area of Dair Ballout town, west of Salfeet, according to local sources.

Sources told WAFA that a group of settlers attacked residents in the area and sprayed them with pepper spray, causing burns to their faces and eyes. The injured were treated at the scene.

The settler violence and provocations against Palestinians and their properties have significantly increased since the onset of the all-out Israeli genocidal war on the Palestinian people, in the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023.

T.R.

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Dozens of the illegal Israeli settlers defile Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem)

Tuesday 5-August-2025

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), (PIC)

Scores of the illegal Israeli settlers desecrated Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) on Tuesday morning, amid tight restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the holy site.

According to local sources, 121 settlers entered the Mosque through its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards under police protection.

During their tours at the Islamic holy site, the settlers received lectures from rabbis about the alleged temple mount and a number of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation police imposed movement and entry restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and gates and prevented many of them from entering the holy site.

In a related context, Palestinian religious and national figures and institutions have urged Palestinian citizens to intensify their presence at Al-Aqsa Mosque to protect it against desecration by the illegal Israeli settlers.

***

  Israeli occupation forces demolish water tank, seize residential tent and generator east of Toubas

Toubas, August 5, 2025, WAFA –

Israeli occupation forces today demolished a water tank, seized a residential tent and an electricity generator, and destroyed a water pipeline east of Toubas in the northern Jordan Valley.

Mu'taz Bisharat, an official in charge of monitoring the illegal Israeli settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, said that Israeli forces demolished a 1,000-cubic-meter metal water tank belonging to one of the farmers east of Tubas. The forces also destroyed an 800-meter-long water pipeline owned by another local resident.

In a related development, Israeli troops stormed Khirbet Yarza village, also east of Tubas, and seized a residential tent along with its contents belonging to a local resident.

Israeli forces also confiscated a power generator that serves the Yarza Village Council.

T.R.

***

 The Israeli occupation army razes a Palestinian school and a house in the West Bank

Tuesday 5-August-2025

WEST BANK, (PIC)

The Israeli occupation army demolished on Tuesday two Palestinian buildings under construction in Toubas and Bait La'hm (Bethlehem) in the West Bank.

'Azmi Balawna, the director of education in Toubas, said that the Israeli occupation forces with bulldozers stormed al-Aqaba village and embarked on knocking down a French-funded school under construction.

Several months ago, the Israeli occupation army delivered a stop-work order for the school and confiscated heavy machinery from the site, claiming it was unlicensed construction.

In Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), the Israeli occupation army demolished an unfinished house in Artas village under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

***

***

News Related to the Israeli Genocidal War on the Palestinian People

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UN experts call for immediate dismantling of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

GENEVA, August 5, 2025 (WAFA) -

UN experts today expressed grave concern over the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) operations, saying Palestinians are paying the ultimate price of the international community’s legal, political and moral failure.

The experts recalled that under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, has binding obligations to the people under its control. “As per Geneva Convention IV and the Hague Regulations, civilians in occupied territory must be protected and provided with essential services. Humanitarian relief operations must be protected and facilitated, but must also strictly respect the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

“The GHF, a non-governmental organization created by Israel in February 2025, with US support, to allegedly distribute aid in Gaza, is an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law,” the experts said. “The entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous non-governmental entities underlines the urgent need for robust international oversight and action under UN auspices.”

“Under any circumstances, when war crimes are overlooked in exchange for temporary relief, impunity can become normalized. Yet, in this case, we are leaving a State accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in charge of feeding the population affected by the genocide without oversight and with impunity. This overt hypocrisy is disturbing,” the experts said.

They added: Israeli forces and foreign military contractors continue to open indiscriminate fire on people seeking aid at so-called “distribution sites” operated by GHF, since it was set up to take-over functions previously performed by United Nations agencies, most notably UNRWA, the UN’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees.

Nearly 1400 people have been killed and more than 4000 injured while seeking food. At least 859 people have been killed around GHF sites since the beginning of GHF’s operations in late May 2025, said the UN experts in a statement.

“The sites are especially difficult to access to the most vulnerable conditions, such as women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons. Calling it “humanitarian” adds on to Israel’s humanitarian camouflage and is an insult to the humanitarian enterprise and standards,” the experts said.

“This tragic development comes amid the forced displacement of over 90 per cent of the population and a staggering death toll is now more than 60,000 people in Gaza. Only in the last few weeks, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported 180 deaths due to malnutrition, including 93 children.”

“Seeing children dying of hunger in their parents’ arms should shake us out of our complacency,” the experts said.

“Blocking or delaying aid is not just inhumane – it is a war crime where it is intended to starve civilians and in the context of a well-documented and globally denounced genocide," the experts said.

“Securing access to food, water, medicine and critical services is not a matter of charity – it is a legal duty, all the more in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory. We must recall that the ICJ has found the Israeli occupation to be unlawful and ordered Israel to withdraw its troops, dismantle the settlements, and stop exploiting Palestinian resources while racially segregating Palestinians,” the experts said. “Israel must comply with the ICJ decision, and Member States are required to support its enforcement."

“Without clear accountability, the very idea of humanitarian relief may ultimately become a casualty of modern hybrid warfare,” they said.

“The credibility and effectiveness of humanitarian assistance must be restored by dismantling the GHF, holding it and its executives accountable, and allowing experienced and humanitarian actors from the UN and civil society alike to take back the reins of managing and distributing lifesaving aid.”

The experts urged Member States to impose a full arms embargo on Israel due to its multiple violations of international law, and suspend trade and investment agreements that may result in harming the Palestinians and hold corporate entities accountable.

Y.S.

***

Over 100 photojournalists and war correspondents demand immediate access to Gaza

Tuesday 5-August-2025

DOHA, (PIC)

Over 100 internationally recognized journalists, photographers, and war correspondents have signed a petition demanding immediate and uncensored access to the Gaza Strip to cover the ongoing war.

The petition, launched under the “Right to Cover” initiative by award-winning war photographer Andre Liohn, urges both Israel and Hamas to grant independent media full access to report on the ground.

The signatories include prominent figures from leading global outlets such as Sky News’ Alex Crawford, journalist Mehdi Hassan, CNN’s Clarissa Ward, and acclaimed war photographer Don McCullin. They emphasized that the current ban on foreign journalists since the war began in 2023 constitutes a blatant violation of the public’s right to know.

“This is not just about Gaza,” the petition states. “This is about safeguarding press freedom globally. The truth must not be the exclusive domain of those who carry weapons and control the narrative.”

The “Right to Cover” initiative pledged to support journalists’ entry into Gaza “by any legitimate means,” whether independently or in coordination with humanitarian or civil society organizations. The petition asserts that media presence is not only necessary to document atrocities but also essential to prevent the manipulation of reality by parties to the conflict.

Hamas welcomed the initiative, condemning the Israeli ongoing policy of banning international journalists from entering Gaza as a deliberate attempt to suppress the truth and hide its war crimes.

'Izzat Al-Resheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, described the ban as “a crime added to the occupation’s long list of violations against media professionals in Gaza, the West Bank, and occupied Jerusalem.”

Al-Resheq noted that since the start of the war, 233 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been martyred, calling on the international community to escalate pressure to criminalize such acts and ensure journalists are allowed to witness and report the full reality of the genocide, starvation, and destruction being inflicted on the people of Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal war in Gaza marked by mass killings, forced displacement, systematic starvation, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Despite international condemnation and binding rulings from the International Court of Justice, the war continues with US backing. To date, over 210,000 Palestinians have been martyred or wounded, most of them women and children, while more than 9,000 remain missing amid famine affecting hundreds of thousands.

***

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Editorial Notes about terms & names of people and places:

1. Names of people and places have been standardized to match standard Arabic grammatical rules.

2. Underlined letters and letters preceded by an apostrophe are references to Arabic letter sounds, which does not exist in the English alphabet.

3. The English letter i is equivalent to the Arabic short vowel known as kasra, as in Ibraheem and Qasim as well as in the English words sit and bit. So, it is incorrect to use it as a long vowel for such Arabic names as Jameel and Jibreel.

4. The English letter e is equivalent to the Arabi short vowel known as fat'ha, as in A'hmed and Mu'hammed.

5. It is more accurate to refer to the land-grabbing Israelis, who establish illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, as illegal Israeli settlers, than referring to them as colonists.

The term colony is a reference to a large entity or a country, such as American states before independence. It was also a reference to Egypt, and India, when they were British colonies.

In addition, the term "colony" represents a positive nostalgic theme, in the minds of native speakers of English, particularly in America and Britain.

6. It is more accurate to use the verbs "abduct" and "kidnap" than the verbs "detain" and "arrest," in reference to taking Palestinian citizens by force to prisons and interrogation centers, by Israeli occupation regime soldiers. This is because the presence of the Israeli occupation regime forces is illegal in the Palestinian territories, and they have no jurisdiction over the Palestinian people.

Click here for more about using the apostrophe and the underlining of letters in the transliteration of Arabic names. 

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Names of some of the Palestinian cities, as pronounced in standard Arabic, and their foreign names in parentheses: 

Al-Khaleel (Hebron)

Al-Nusayrat

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem)

Aree'ha (Jericho)

Al-Zaytoun (al-Zeitoun)

Bait (Beit)

Bait La'hm (Bethlehem)

Dair El-Bala'h

Jineen (Jenin)

Khan Younus (Khan Younis)

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Person's names as pronounced in standard Arabic:

A'hmed, 'Hasan, Mu'hammed, Younus, Yousuf,  

'Hasan Mulai'hat,

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Conflict terminology

The Israeli occupation apartheid regime (the Israeli government)

Illegal Israeli settlers (instead of settlers, colonists)

A group of the illegal Israeli settlers

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