Netanyahu to give press conference after announcement of Israeli plan to escalate war on Gaza – latest updates | Middle East and north Africa
Benjamin Netanyahu to hold press conference with international media this afternoon
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold a press conference with international media in Jerusalem at 4:30pm local time (13:30 GMT; 14:30 BST).
He will likely be asked about the security cabinet’s controversial decision on Friday to expand its assault on Gaza and take control of Gaza City.
The decision saw Netanyahu ignore the advice of the Israeli military and warnings that expanding the war could endanger the hostages being held there and kill even more Palestinian civilians. Hamas warned of “fierce resistance” to the move.
Key events
Another quick reminder: the UN security council is set to hold a rare weekend session in about half an hour from now to discuss Israel’s plan to takeover Gaza City (see post at 09.21 for more details). We will also bring you the latest lines from this.
As a reminder, we are expecting to hear Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, speak at an international news conference at 14:30 BST (13:30 GMT). We will have a live feed at the top of the page up shortly you can watch along to.
Lisa O’Carroll
Lisa O’Carroll is a senior correspondent for the Guardian
Spain, Norway and Ireland are among nine European countries which have penned a letter saying they “strongly condemn the recent announcement of the intensification of the occupation and the military offensive, including in Gaza City.”
The letter also signed by the foreign ministers of Malta, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Portugal said any territorial changes would be regarded as a “flagrant violation of international law” and a “serious obstacle” to a two-date solution.
“The Gaza Strip must be an integral part of the State of Palestine, along with the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The recognition of both Palestine and Israel is the best security guarantee for both and will ensure stability for the whole region,” it said.
The letter comes as global outcry over Israel’s plans grows and just days after the German chancellor indicated a significant shift in Berlin’s staunch support for Israel.
The letter, signed by the foreign ministers of the nine countries, stated Hamas “cannot have a role in the future government and security operations in Gaza and must be disarmed” but said Israel’s military intentions would just “deepen” the crisis and “further endanger the remaining hostages” and lead to an “unacceptable high toll of deaths” and the displacement of nearly 1m civilians.
Officials say only 14% of the aid Gaza’s population needs entered the Strip over the last fortnight
Gaza’s Government Media Office said only 1,210 aid trucks entered Gaza over the past two weeks, amounting to only 14% of what the territory needed over this time period (8,400 trucks). Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis. The daily breakdown provided by Gaza’s Government Media Office was:
-
27 July 2025: 73 trucks
-
28 July 2025: 87 trucks
-
29 July 2025: 109 trucks
-
30 July 2025: 112 trucks
-
31 July 2025: 104 trucks
-
1 August 2025: 73 trucks
-
2 August 2025: 36 trucks
-
3 August 2025: 80 trucks
-
4 August 2025: 95 trucks
-
5 August 2025: 84 trucks
-
6 August 2025: 92 trucks
-
7 August 2025: 87 trucks
-
8 August 2025: 83 trucks
-
9 August 2025: 95 trucks
In a post on Telegram, the media office wrote:
The total number of trucks that entered the Gaza Strip was only 1,210 aid trucks out of a supposed 8,400 trucks, equivalent to 14% of the actual needs, and most of them were subjected to looting and robbery in light of the fabricated security chaos pursued by the Israeli occupation as part of a systematic policy of “engineering starvation and chaos,” with the aim of breaking the will of our Palestinian people and striking their steadfastness.
Invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers, Italy’s foreign minister says
“The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,” Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, has said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.
Senior Israeli military officers and former senior commanders have warned that Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City would endanger the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages, risk further international isolation of Israel and require its soldiers to administer a population in which Hamas fighters were still present.
My colleague Lorenzo Tondo has written more on the divisions between the PM and the military:
A group of Dutch activists have been blocking access to the grounds of the Microsoft datacentre in Middenmeer, north of Amsterdam, following revelations from the Guardian that the Israeli military had undertaken an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on the company’s servers.
Several activists climbed the roof and lit flares. The group, Geef Tegengas (Push Back), is demanding that all data from Israeli intelligence services be removed from the site and is calling for a boycott of Microsoft products.
Police in London are braced for another day of demonstrations as protesters demanding the immediate release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza plan to march through central London to the prime minister’s residence at No 10 Downing Street.
The march on Sunday comes a day after police arrested 474 people at a protest in support of Palestine Action, which is proscribed in the UK.
The Associated Press reports that among those expected to attend Sunday’s rally is Noga Guttman, a cousin of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David. Last week Hamas released a video showing an emaciated David who said that he is digging his own grave inside a tunnel in Gaza.
Hamas-led militants kidnapped 251 people when they attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. Some 50 of the hostages still haven’t been released, of whom 20 are thought to be alive.
“We are united in one clear and urgent demand: the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Stop the Hate, a coalition of groups organising the march, said in a statement. “Regardless of our diverse political views, this is not a political issue – it is a human one.”
The far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to take over Gaza City, describing it as half hearted.
Smotrich said:
The prime minister and the cabinet gave in to weakness. Emotion overcame reason, and they once again chose to do more of the same – launching a military operation whose goal is not decisive victory, but rather to apply limited pressure on Hamas in order to bring about a partial hostage deal.
They decided once again to repeat the same approach, embarking on a military operation that does not aim for a decisive resolution.
The far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, told Kan radio on Sunday: “It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonisation. This plan will not endanger the troops.”
Netanyahu’s fragile right-wing coalition is extremely reliant on Smotrich and Ben Gvir. The Israeli leader is on trial for corruption and fending off calls for an official inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks, and is also keen to avoid early elections.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reaches 61,430, says health ministry
At least 61,430 Palestinian people have been killed and 153,213 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
At least 61 Palestinian people were killed and 363 others injured in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said.
Details about Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City
Here are some details about Israel’s Gaza City takeover plan, which could be the first phase of a full scale takeover of the Strip (you can read the full story by my colleagues, Lorenzo Tondo and Julian Borger, here):
The proposal is reported to have opened a deep rift between Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) leadership but has not been opposed by the Trump administration, Israel’s most important backer…
Before the security cabinet meeting, which began on Thursday and ran through the night, the Israeli prime minister had said Israel planned to take control of the entire territory and eventually hand it to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.
The plans announced on Friday morning stop short of that goal, perhaps reflecting the opposition of the IDF chief of general staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, who told Netanyahu on Tuesday he was “walking into a trap” according to Israeli press reports, warning it would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel’s army after nearly two years of regional wars.
However, in a meeting with the leadership of the IDF southern command on Friday, Zamir vowed to carry out the government’s orders…
Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids in its devastated streets, returning to different neighbourhoods again and again as militants regrouped. It is one of the few areas of Gaza that has not been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.
The Netanyahu plan would mean sending ground troops into the few areas of the territory that have not been totally destroyed, making up about 25% of the Gaza Strip. It would force approximately 1 million Palestinians in Gaza City and surrounding areas into evacuation zones in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Sources familiar with details of the meeting said the evacuation of the city was scheduled to be completed by 7 October.
