July 22, 2025: Gaza death tolls rise due to starvation as Israel ramps up offensive

Our live coverage has wrapped up for the day. Read through the posts below to catch up.

Razan Abu Zaher’s shrouded body is carried after she died from malnutrition.

Four-year old Razan Abu Zaher gave up her fight for life on Sunday.

She died at a hospital in central Gaza from complications brought on by hunger and malnutrition, according to a medical source. Her skeletal body was laid out on a slab of stone.

At least 76 children in Gaza have died of malnutrition since the conflict began in October 2023, as well as ten adults, the Palestinian health ministry says. According to the World Health Organization, most of these occurred since Israeli authorities imposed a blockade at the beginning of March.

Razan was one of at least four children to succumb in the last three days, the youngest just three months. Over the past 24 hours, 18 deaths have been recorded due to famine in Gaza, the health ministry says, reflecting a deepening crisis in the territory.

CNN first met Razan a month ago. She was already weak with hunger and pitifully thin. Her mother, Tahrir Abu Daher, said then that she had no money to buy milk, which was in any case rarely available.

“Her health was very good before the war, but after the war, her condition began to deteriorate due to malnutrition. There is nothing to strengthen her,” she said.

That was on June 23. Razan had already been in hospital for 12 days. She clung on to life for another 27 days.

Razan died amid growing starvation in Gaza, with the flow of humanitarian aid severely reduced since the beginning of March, when Israeli authorities banned convoys from entering Gaza.

Read the full story here.

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, today.

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to spiral, the United Nations’ human rights office had a clear message: “Palestinians in Gaza are starving to death,” a statement read today.

In the past 24 hours, 15 people including four children, died of starvation across the territory according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Separately, at least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to access food aid in Gaza, the UN human rights office added in its statement.

Here’s what to know:

The mother of Yahya Fadi al-Najjar, an infant who died due to malnourishment, mourns as she holds his body during the funeral at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Sunday.

Starvation is “knocking on every door” in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said, calling the situation a “horror show.”

“Around the world, we see an utter disregard for, if not (an) outright violation of, international law,” Guterres told the United Nations Security Council.

The UN’s humanitarian system is being “denied the conditions to function” in Gaza, including the space to deliver aid and the safety to help people in need, Guterres said.

The Israeli military’s new operation in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza has meant that “devastation is being layered upon devastation.”

Guterres also said that he is “appalled” by the striking of UN premises inside Gaza, including the facilities of the United Nations Office for Project Services and warehouses and residences belonging to the World Health Organization.

“These premises are inviolable and must be protected under international humanitarian law without exception,” he said.

Growing numbers of children are suffering from malnutrition in the besieged enclave with several dying in recent days.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to access limited aid supplies. Watch CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau report above.

Back to Syria now and the country’s government said it “categorically” rejects crimes against civilians, Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesperson Nour al-Dean Baba told CNN on Tuesday.

His comments came after CNN reported on how American citizen Hosam Saraya and his family were rounded up and killed in an execution-style attack during the sectarian violence that flared in Syria last week.

Anyone who has committed violence against civilians “will be held accountable in accordance with the laws of the Syrian Arab Republic. This is the firm position of the Ministry of Interior, as reaffirmed also by both the Syrian Presidency and the Ministry of Defense,” the spokesperson said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the 17th International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul on Tuesday.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday urged the international community to “stand together” against Israeli “brutality” in Gaza.

“Let us say ‘enough is enough’ to this oppression and this savagery,” Erdogan said at a defense fair in Istanbul.

Since the war in Gaza began, Erdogan has been one of Israel’s harshest and most vocal critics.

Last month, Erdogan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the “greatest threat” to security in the Middle East.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad escort Arbel Yehud to hand her over to a Red Cross team Khan Yunis on January 30, as part of their third hostage-prisoner exchange.

In the 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas, ceasefires have been in place for a total of only nine weeks.

More than 59,000 people, of which more than 17,000 are children, have been killed in Gaza during the fighting, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

First ceasefire: This came into effect in November 2023, but lasted only a week. In that time, 105 hostages were released from Gaza, in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.

Second ceasefire: This was not struck until January 2025, shortly before Trump’s return to the White House.

In just over eight weeks – the first “phase” of this ceasefire – Hamas freed 33 hostages, with Israel releasing around 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli freed.

Under the planned second stage, Israel was supposed to agree to a permanent ceasefire. But Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, shattering the ceasefire and derailing the talks, saying it did so to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

Nearly a week after mediators submitted the latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal to Hamas, all parties are still waiting for Hamas’s leaders in Gaza to respond, two sources familiar with the negotiations told CNN.

After successfully pressuring Israel last week to drop its objections to withdrawing its troops from a southern corridor in Gaza, the US has now communicated to Hamas that it is running out of patience and that the group must soon provide an answer to the latest framework for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the sources said.

Hamas’s Qatar-based leader, Khalil al-Hayya, has indicated privately that he supports the latest framework, the sources said, but has said he is waiting for the approval of Hamas’s leadership inside Gaza, which will be responsible for implementing any deal.

CNN has reached out to Hamas for comment.

Assurances at risk: The US has provided assurances that Israel will negotiate an end to the war during the 60-day ceasefire. One of the sources said the US could withdraw those assurances if Hamas doesn’t quickly agree to a deal.

Both sources said the US, Qatar and Egypt are now bringing heavy pressure on Hamas to reach a deal.

“We don’t have time,” one of the sources said, pointing to the high daily death toll in Gaza and deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

While the pressure and frustrations are now focused on Hamas, people involved in the talks said it was Israeli intransigence — in particular over withdrawal maps — that had previously held up progress toward a deal.

An aerial view shows the city of Suwayda with smoke rising from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria, on July 19.

More now on Hosam Saraya, the US citizen from Oklahoma who was executed amid fighting in Syria last week.

Saraya, who had studied in Oklahoma before returning to Syria, belonged to the Druze community, an Arab religious group of roughly one million people who primarily live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

The 35-year-old had gone to Syria to care for his father who was ill, a US relative who asked not to be named for her safety said.

His killing was captured on a video that circulated on social media over the weekend. CNN cannot independently verify the identify of the gunmen in the footage.

The relative said female family members who survived the massacre recalled how militants had stormed the family’s multi-story home early in the morning, prompting the residents to fight back in defense.

After one of the family members was wounded, the rest surrendered their weapons, she said, and the men were taken outside.

The friend who CNN spoke to corroborated these details, saying he witnessed the militants storm the home and forcibly remove eight men, while leaving female family members inside.

The US relative first learned of the attack when one of the female survivors sent her a desperate message: “Pray for us, they kidnapped the boys, they shot the house, they stole stuff”.

Twelve hours passed as the family desperately waited for news, hoping their relatives would return safely. It wasn’t until another overseas relative saw the videos circulating of their execution that they realized the eight men had been killed.

When asked about Saraya, the US State Department confirmed yesterday that an American citizen had died in Suwayda. Read more here.

People carrying aid parcels walk along the Salah al-Din road in central Gaza used by food-seeking Palestinians to reach an aid distribution point set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on June 25.

At least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military while trying to access food aid in Gaza, the United Nations’ human rights office said in a statement Tuesday.

“Palestinians in Gaza are starving to death,” the statement said.

Desperate, hungry people are approaching aid sites run by the controversial Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the statement said, “even though between May 27 and July 21, 1,054 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military in Gaza while trying to access food.”

The GHF began operating in the Gaza Strip on May 27. Some 766 people were killed in the vicinity of their sites since then, the UN office said, while 288 were killed around aid convoys run by groups including the UN.

CNN has reached to the Israel Defense Forces for comment. In a post on X, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Hamas of shooting civilians trying to collect aid, but did not provide any evidence for this.

The UN office called on Israel to allow more humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip and lift its restrictions on the UN and other humanitarian groups in the enclave.

CNN’s Dana Karni contributed to this reporting.

Smoke rises as people walk with their belongings in the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, on Tuesday.

Israeli military operations in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will “invariably lead to further civilian deaths,” the United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Türk, said Tuesday.

Tanks rolled into Deir al-Balah on Monday, according to Israeli media. It was the first time military operations were carried out in the area since the 21-month long war between Israel and Hamas began.

The recent attacks “have added more misery to the suffering of hungry Palestinians,” Türk said. “It seemed the nightmare couldn’t possibly get worse. And yet it does.”

Türk stressed that Israel, as the occupying power over Gaza, “must ensure food, medical and other supplies are provided for the population,” adding that it also needs to allow humanitarian aid into the Strip unconditionally.

“Instead of launching round upon round of new military attacks, there must be an immediate end to the killings, destruction and the wide scale violations of international law,” Türk said. “More and more countries are joining the calls to shake us out of this nightmare.”

Israeli troops man a position near the border with Gaza on Monday.

If you’re just joining our coverage of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, here’s a look at the latest developments.

For the first time in its 21-month war on Gaza, Israeli tanks rolled into the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah yesterday, according to Israeli media, aid agencies and witnesses.

Many civilians had been sheltering in the city, and the United Nations said the evacuation order had “dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on its operations. However, Israel Army Radio said the operation had begun.

Here’s what else to know:

• Trump “surprised” by Israeli actions: President Donald Trump said he was caught by surprise last week by Israeli actions in Gaza and Syria, and in both instances phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “rectify” the matter, according to the White House. Notably, a strike last Thursday on the only Catholic Church in Gaza drew an immediate negative reaction from Trump. Read more about his phone call to Netanyahu here.

• Starvation in the territory: A total of 15 people, including four children, have died of starvation across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Starvation in Gaza is growing, with the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave severely reduced since the beginning of March, when Israeli authorities banned convoys from entering.

• Western nations slam Israeli aid delivery: The foreign ministers of 25 Western nations have slammed Israel for “drip feeding” aid into the Gaza Strip, as the health ministry in the territory said that more than 1,000 people have been killed seeking humanitarian relief there since late May. Read more about the Palestinians killed while seeking aid here.

Separately, in Syria:

• US man executed: An American citizen from Oklahoma was among eight men, all family members, rounded up and killed in an execution-style attack during the sectarian violence that flared in Syria last week.

• Ceasefire appears to be holding: At least 558 people were killed and more than 783 injured since clashes broke out on July 13 between Druze armed groups and Bedouin tribes in Syria’s southern Suwayda region, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). Those killed include women, children, medical personnel and members of the media, the SNHR said.

A total of 15 people, including four children, have died of starvation across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

“Cases of malnutrition and starvation are arriving at Gaza’s hospitals every moment,” Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, told CNN Tuesday.

Key context: Starvation in Gaza is growing, with the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave severely reduced since the beginning of March, when Israeli authorities banned convoys from entering.

That ban was partially lifted at the end of May, but aid agencies say the amounts reaching the territory are too little to sustain the population.

The Israeli agency that manages the flow of aid into the Gaza strip, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said in a previous statement that the Israel Defense Forces is “working to allow and facilitate the transfer” of humanitarian aid, including food.

Hosam Saraya, a 34-year-old Syrian-American, was identified by a friend as one of eight men whose killing was captured on a video that circulated on social media over the weekend.

An American citizen from Oklahoma was among eight family members, rounded up and killed in an execution-style attack during the sectarian violence that flared in Syria last week.

Hosam Saraya, a 35-year-old Syrian-American, was identified by a friend and a US relative as one of eight men whose killing was captured on a video that circulated on social media over the weekend.

The video, which has been geolocated by CNN, shows a group of armed men wearing military uniforms and face masks firing on eight captives while shouting “God is great.”

CNN cannot independently verify the identify of the gunmen in the video. It has reached out to the Syrian government for comment.

Saraya’s brother Kareem and other family members were also executed, according to the US relative, who asked not to be named for her safety. She spoke directly with relatives in Syria who said the family’s male members had all been killed – leaving only their wives and daughters.

The killings took place on July 17 amid an outbreak of sectarian violence between Syrian Druze groups and Bedouin tribes in the Druze-majority Suwayda province which left hundreds dead.

The Syrian government says the clashes have now stopped after what was a week of violence.

Demonstrators and journalists gather to protest against hunger in the Rimal district of Gaza City on July 19.

Agence France-Presse (AFP), one of the world’s largest news agencies, says it is trying to evacuate its remaining freelance staff from Gaza because the situation has become “untenable.”

It comes after the French news agency’s main journalist union, Société de Journalistes (SDJ), warned that some of AFP’s remaining freelance journalists inside Gaza were starving and too weak to work.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France hopes to evacuate some journalists’ colleagues “in the coming weeks” following calls from SDJ.

“We are dedicating lots of energy,” to get them out, Barrot said in an interview with French radio station FranceInter.

He added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “inhumane,” describing it as a “scandal that must stop immediately.”

More on journalists in Gaza: Alongside Reuters and the Associated Press, Paris-headquartered AFP is one of a trio of major global news agencies that provide other media and clients with text, photo and video images from around the world.

Independent journalists are not able to operate in Gaza because of Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on entry to the strip. As a result, global news organizations are reliant on local Palestinian journalists who live in the same conditions as the rest of the population.

AFP said it successfully evacuated eight of its employees from Gaza and their families between January and April 2024, and the agency is now “taking the same steps for its freelance staff, despite the extreme difficulty of leaving a territory subject to a strict blockade.”

“Their lives are in danger, so we urgently call on the Israeli authorities to authorize their immediate evacuation with their families,” it added.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli foreign ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press following an informal video conference of EU foreign ministers on the situation in the Middle East, in Brussels on June 17, 2025.

The Israeli military “must stop killing people” seeking aid in Gaza, the European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday.

“The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said in a post on X.

More than 1,000 people have been killed attempting to access humanitarian relief in the enclave since late May, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Monday.

Palestinian officials and witnesses have said the Israeli military is responsible for most of those deaths. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged firing warning shots toward crowds in some instances, and denied responsibility for other incidents.

Kallas said she had spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar “to recall our understanding on aid flow and made clear that IDF must stop killing people at distribution points.”

“All options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges,” the diplomat added.

Staying in Deir al-Balah, and The World Health Organization’s (WHO) staff residence and main warehouse were attacked by the Israeli military on Monday, the organization said.

Israeli tanks rolled into the central Gazan city on Monday, for the first time since the start of the 21-month war, according to media reports.

WHO’s main warehouse was damaged after an attack caused explosions and fire inside it, the organization said, as “part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities.” The warehouse was later looted by “desperate crowds,” according to a WHO statement published Monday.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

The WHO staff residence was also attacked three times, it said, with staff members and their families, including children, “exposed to grave danger and traumatized after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage.”

Women and children were forced to evacuate the premises by Israeli troops, while the men were “handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint,” according to WHO.

Four people were detained by Israeli forces, with three later being released, it said.

“With the main warehouse nonfunctional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WHO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners, already critically short on medicines, fuel, and equipment,” the organization said.

The location of all WHO premises are known to all relevant parties to the conflict, it continued, adding that the WHO will remain in Deir al-Balah to “deliver and expand its operations.”

“WHO is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate. As the security situation and access continue to deteriorate, red lines are repeatedly crossed, and humanitarian operations pushed into an ever-shrinking space to respond,” it said, calling for the release of its staff member, the protection of its staff and premises, and for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip unimpeded.

Smoke billows after Israeli bombardment in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on Monday.

Israel’s incursion in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Monday has “worsened the situation more and more” as people in Gaza are displaced again, a humanitarian coordinator told CNN.

“There is no ability to help our people with the aid distribution,” said Eyad Awami, representative of the Global Gaza Relief Agency in Deir al-Balah, adding that the little aid that remains is difficult to distribute since no organization is supervising the deliveries.

“They (the Israeli military) order us to flee from our homes, and after that without our tents, without any safety, without any shelters… so there is no safe place that we can go and take care of our children and our elderly people,” Awami told CNN’s John Vause.

Israeli tanks on Monday rolled into Deir al-Balah, a part of central Gaza that has not previously seen ground operations in the 21-month war, according to Israeli media, aid agencies and witnesses. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on its operations. However, Israel Army Radio said the operation had begun.

The United Nations said the evacuation order had “dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip.”

People carry relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as Palestinians return from an aid distribution centre in central Gaza on June 8.

The foreign ministers of 25 Western nations slammed Israel for “drip feeding” aid into the Gaza Strip, as the health ministry in the territory said that more than 1,000 people have been killed seeking humanitarian relief there since late May.

The Palestinian health ministry did not specify the location of the deaths, but according to the United Nations, most casualties occurred while people were making their way to aid distribution sites operated by the controversial Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began operating on May 27.

Palestinian officials and witnesses have said the Israeli military is responsible for most of those deaths.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged firing warning shots toward crowds in some instances, and denied responsibility for other incidents. In late June, the military said it had “reorganized” the approach routes to aid sites to minimize “friction with the population,” but the killings have continued.

In their Monday statement, the Western foreign ministers said that “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food,” they said.