July 28, 2025 - Gaza news updates

Our live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza has ended. Read the latest here

Sen. Angus King said on Monday that he will not vote for further aid to Israel “as long as there are starving children in Gaza that have been caused by Israel’s action or inaction regarding humanitarian relief.”

King’s statement comes after President Donald Trump told reporters that Israel “has a lot of responsibility” when it comes to limiting aid in the region and pledged that the US would set up “food centers” in Gaza.

King, an independent senator from Maine, said that he’s happy to see Trump speak out on this issue, although he expressed uncertainty that the US can make much of a difference in the matter, saying “the real onus of this is on Israel.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno.

Germany and Spain are sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza, although top officials from both countries acknowledged the aid isn’t enough.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will coordinate with France and the UK, who he said are also prepared to provide airlifts for food and medical supplies. CNN has reached out to the French and UK governments for comment.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno also said his country would arrange aid airdrops in the next few days in coordination with Jordan.

“Some airdrops with food stuff, but that’s just a drop of water in the ocean,” he told CNN’s Isa Soares.

Spain plans to air-drop food aid for approximately 5,000 people into Gaza between the first and second week of August. However, the minister emphasized, “This is not what we want. We don’t want just a drop here and a drop there.”

Calling for land access and distribution through United Nations agencies, the minister said there needs to be a permanent flow of aid, “unimpeded, without any obstacles.”

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Monday said Hamas should disarm and hand over control of Gaza.

Speaking at a conference on the two-state solution at the United Nations in New York, Mustafa said, “Hamas must relinquish its control over the strip and handover its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.”

Mustafa asserted that “the State of Palestine is the only holder of the right to rule the entire Gaza Strip,” and called on Israel to withdraw completely from the enclave.

He reiterated that the Palestinian Authority rejects “violence and terrorism in all its forms, including targeting and attacking civilians.”

Some background: The PA demand for Hamas to cede control of Gaza isn’t new.

In April, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Hamas “sons of dogs” while demanding the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and the disarmament of the militant group.

The PA held administrative control over Gaza until 2007. Since then, Hamas ruled Gaza and the PA governs parts of the West Bank.

Israel will continue working with global aid agencies, as well as the United States and European countries, “to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip,” the office of Israel’s prime minister said today.

The statement comes after United States President Donald Trump told reporters in Scotland that the US will set up “food centers” in Gaza to address the ongoing starvation and malnutrition crisis amid Israel’s aid blockade.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said that Israel will “continue to act responsibly, as we always have, and we’ll continue to seek the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas. That is the only way to secure peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

The statement reiterated accusations against Hamas of stealing humanitarian aid for which it provided no evidence.

Some background: An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza. The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), looked into 156 incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse reported by partner organizations between October 2023 and May 2025.

Zeinab Abu Halib on March 15.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) confirmed today that Zeinab Abu Halib, a 5-month-old Palestinian baby, “has died as a result of malnutrition.”

CNN reported over the weekend that her mother said her daughter died in her arms on Friday.

MAP said in a statement that its local team in Gaza said the baby died of malnutrition, sharing a picture showing the infant lying in a hospital bed when she was still alive, wearing pink and white pajamas.

“Zeinab has been in and out of the hospital for the last three months,” her mother, Israa Abu Halib, told CNN on Saturday. “I had to walk for more than 30 minutes as there is no transportation… The dirt road was so long, the weather was so hot, but I kept walking even though I was hungry and didn’t have water.”

“Suddenly I felt that she stopped moving and breathing; her body became heavier,” Abu Halib said.

“I don’t know what to say anymore. How many innocent babies like Zeinab should be starved to death so the world wakes up?” she asked.

Palestinian Hamas militants stand guard on the day of the handover of Israeli hostages, in Rafah on February 22.

Hamas is looking to harden its position in any further ceasefire negotiations after Israel and the US withdrew their teams from the Doha talks last week, according to a source close to the Hamas delegation.

A previous US-sponsored framework, included Hamas releasing 10 Israeli hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and Palestinians from Gaza detained since the war began.

Under the proposed framework, eight of the hostages would be released on the first day of the 60-day ceasefire agreement; the other half would be released on the seventh day.

“Instead of releasing eight captives in the first day, the movement is now considering the option of spreading their release over the entire 60-day period,” the source added.

The source said the group is also “considering making amendments to the issues on the negotiating agendas related to ending the war which are scheduled to begin after the ceasefire takes effect.”

An Egyptian official told CNN today that the group is “now going to take a hardline position because the amount of food is decreasing and that puts pressure on them internally,” but did not provide further details.

Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya blamed Israel and the US for stalling the ceasefire talks in a televised speech Sunday, saying that the starvation crisis meant there is “no point in continuing negotiations” under current conditions.

This post was updated to clarify the new proposed framework.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, pictured ahead of an European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, on June 26.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said his country supports the European Union proposal to partially suspend Israel’s access to the Horizon Europe research and innovation fund.

He expressed his government’s position that Palestinians in Gaza should be given immediate, safe access to humanitarian aid.

Schoof added that the Netherlands is also considering taking measures to “increase the pressure” and that he informed Israeli President Isaac Herzog of this. He also called for Hamas to fully cooperate in making sure people in Gaza gave access to aid.

Herzog took to X saying Schoof’s statement does not “reflect the spirit and details of the call.”

This post was updated with Herzog’s statement on X.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa is seen on a screen during a United Nations high level conference, hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, to work towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

The Trump administration is boycotting a United Nations conference to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today, with the State Department calling it an ill-timed “publicity stunt.”

The pathway to a diplomatic solution to the Gaza war remains unclear after the US-backed efforts to drive a ceasefire fell apart last week when both Israel and the US withdrew their teams from talks in Doha.

France and Saudi Arabia, who co-chaired a UN conference on the two-state solution, stressed that it was essential for the peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud commended France’s “historic step” and said the two countries and their partners are “committed to turn this international consensus to a tangible reality.” He reiterated the Saudi position of only normalizing relations with Israel after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The meeting today comes after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize a Palestinian state in September, becoming the first G7 country to do so.

US President Donald Trump said the move by France was pointless.

CNN’s Nina Subkhanberdina and Hira Humayun contributed to this post.

This post was updated with the remark by the Saudi foreign minister.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 22.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid stressed that the government needed to ensure “there is no starvation in Gaza” amid a collapse in international public opinion or risk the country facing sanctions abroad.

Lapid called for an end to the war, saying that based on intelligence and operational information he had access to, the government has “failed in the war in Gaza” calling it a “total disaster.”

He said a comprehensive hostage deal and troop withdrawal from Gaza is necessary, and that Israeli troops should be stationed on the perimeter and act against Hamas from there. He said a coalition of moderate Arab states led by Egypt should govern Gaza.

Palestinians await meals distributed by a charity in Gaza City, Gaza on Monday

President Donald Trump said the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza was “one of the main reasons” for his meeting today with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The two leaders acknowledged the “appalling” scenes in Gaza with Trump saying that the US will open “food centers” to help starving Palestinians.

On the ground in Gaza, 14 more people died in the last 24 hours as the starvation and malnutrition crisis continues to plague the enclave, according to the region’s health ministry. The UN’s aid chief warned the coming days will be “make or break” for humanitarian efforts in Gaza as aid slowly trickles amid the Israel’s military daily pause in operations.

If you’re just reading in now, here are the latest headlines:

US President Donald Trump claimed Iran had interjected in the most recent ceasefire negotiations by giving Hamas signals.

“Iran’s been sending out bad signals, I’ll tell you. For a country that just got wiped out, they’ve been sending very bad signals, very nasty signals. And they shouldn’t be doing that,” he said.

Trump pointed to what he said was the Iranian foreign minister’s appearance on a recent show. “They were talking about things that they shouldn’t be talking about,” he said.

“And I think they got involved in this negotiation, telling Hamas and giving Hamas signals and orders, and that’s not good. That’s not good.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump hold a bilateral meeting in Turnberry, Scotland on Monday.

United States President Donald Trump and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the “appalling scenes in Gaza” during their meeting in Scotland according to a statement from Starmer’s office.

They spoke about the need for aid to be allowed into Gaza “at scale and pace” and agreed to work together to help put an end to the hunger crisis and push for the release of the remaining hostages.

“They reiterated their calls for an immediate ceasefire to pave the way for peace in the region and the prime minister welcomed the president’s efforts to secure this, and shared the plans he is working on with other European leaders to bring about a lasting peace,” the Downing Street statement read.

Humanitarian aid supplies are airdropped by military cargo planes over the western part of Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Monday.

In the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda, scores of Palestinians rushed to collect boxes of aid that were dropped from the sky on Monday.

For many, the food in these boxes will be the only meal they eat today. But many say that having no choice but to chase after airdropped aid is an insult to their dignity.

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates carried out their first airdrops into Gaza over the weekend, attempting to combat starvation in the enclave caused by Israel’s blockade.

Fayyad said he did not collect any aid and did not want to, while dozens of others scrambled to reach the UAE Red Crescent-marked boxes. As a crowd of people picked up the boxes from the ground, gunshots rang out, causing many to panic and flee, CNN video showed.

One man said he managed to collect some flour, but that it would not be enough to feed his family of eight. Another elderly woman said she hadn’t managed to reach the food because she was almost crushed in the crowd.

Others were grateful to receive food, but said the method of airdropping aid only risked more violence.

“I took this box, thank God. It will help ease the hunger we’re facing. Praise be to God and thank you to everyone who helped us,” Mohammad Al-Bara’a told CNN.

The United Nations has warned that airdropping aid into Gaza is “very, very expensive” and often dangerous.

“Why use airdrops when you can drive hundreds of trucks through the borders,” Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, told CNN last week. “It’s much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper and safer.”

Desperate Palestinians in Gaza sprint to receive airdropped aid

00:26 • Source: CNN

Desperate Palestinians in Gaza sprint to receive airdropped aid

00:26

Amid worsening health conditions in Gaza, more than one third of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers screened by one humanitarian agency in the territory are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to a leading aid organization.

UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said Monday that 44% of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers assessed by Ard El Insan (AEI) — one of the charity’s partner organizations in Gaza — are “suffering from severe malnutrition and urgently need to be referred for medical treatment.”

The reported figure is an almost 10% increase from May, when 35% of mothers screened by the same local partner were suffering from severe malnutrition.

AEI had to shut down one of its medical points in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, MAP reported on Monday, following displacement orders issued by the Israeli military on July 20.

Prior to the closure, the medical point provided care to around 200 women and children every day, MAP said.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Egypt wait to be allowed to cross into Gaza on Monday.

The current flow of aid into Gaza is not enough for the population in the enclave who have faced months of hunger and malnutrition, Caroline Willemen, Gaza Project coordinator with Doctors without Borders, told CNN.

“It’s extremely early to be able to say that things are changing,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, adding that the population “has not had access to food in months.”

Willemen said that today she saw flour in the markets and that additional flow of aid might result in slight drop in prices, “but given how long this blockade has already lasted, how hungry people are, how many malnourished people there are, it will take a long time for things to stabilize, and it will take a much higher flow of aid.”

Willemen noted that Palestinians in the strip have faced a severe hunger crisis since spring.

“You need to keep mind that in spring, there were a few months of a total, total blockade with nothing entering Gaza. Then, now, since May, we’ve had a few months with a small, small trickle of food. People have been hungry for months,” she said.

Willemen, added that even before the war the Gaza strip relied on hundreds of aid trucks that entered the enclave daily to support the population “because of the economic blockade so the Gaza strip is not able — with the way that things are at the moment — to provide food for the population here, even before the war.”

Yazan, a malnourished 2-year-old boy, stands in his family's damaged home in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 23.

Former British ambassador to the United States Peter Westmacott has said images of starving children in Gaza appear to have had a powerful impact – including on US President Donald Trump.

“What we have seen in the last few days has been these pictures of malnourished and starving children,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson today. “And that does seem to have struck a chord in President Trump’s mind.”

“We are beginning to see some reaction,” he added, referring to the Israeli government’s recent talk of humanitarian pauses and attempts to get the humanitarian relief in.

“For a long time they’ve said, ‘oh, there’s no obstacle, there isn’t any famine, nobody’s starving, we’re not doing anything to block it.’ That demonstrably wasn’t true,” he said. “And now they are changing their mind a bit.”

“Thank goodness it’s a bit late, but I think it’s been something to do with those terrible pictures of starving children, which strikes a chord in everybody’s heart,” he added.

US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Turnberry, Scotland, on Monday.

More now from US President Donald Trump, speaking from Scotland on the situation in Gaza alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

He acknowledged the challenges that have come with distributing food to the enclave, referencing images of Palestinians lining up for aid in the enclave facing.

Asked by reporters about the “food centers” the US is planning to set up in Gaza and who will be responsible, Trump added, “the United States will be helping with the food” and “we’re also going to make sure they don’t have barriers, stopping people.”

Trump went on to talk about the barriers that Palestinians have faced in attempting to reach aid.

Palestinians facing food shortages receive aid in Gaza City on Monday.

President Donald Trump has now told reporters in Turnberry that the US will set up “food centers” in Gaza to address the ongoing starvation and malnutrition crisis amid Israel’s aid blockade.

“We’re going to set up food centers, and we’re going to do it in conjunction with some very good people, and we’re going to supply funds, and we just took in trillions of dollars, we got a lot of money, and we’re going to spend a little money on some food, and other nations are joining us,” Trump said Monday. “So, we’re going to set up food centers, and where the people can walk in and no boundaries, we’re not going to have fences.”

Trump, who has largely blamed Hamas for the delay in distributing aid to civilians in Gaza, acknowledged Israel “has a lot of responsibility,” for limiting aid to the region, but again called for Hamas to release the hostages still held in Gaza to ease negotiations.

The president also broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s weekend assertion that there is “no starvation in Gaza.”

“That’s real starvation stuff,” Trump said. “I see it, and you can’t fake that. So, we’re going to be even more involved.”

You can follow more coverage from Trump’s meeting with Starmer, here.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, on Monday.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also just been speaking, alongside US President Donald Trump, at Trump’s golf course in Turnberry, Scotland.

He said the British public is “revolted” by images of people starving in Gaza, urging that more be done to get aid into the enclave.

“It’s a humanitarian crisis. It’s an absolute catastrophe. Nobody wants to see that. And I think people in Britain are revolted at what they’re seeing on their screens,” Starmer said.

Starmer thanked Trump for leading efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, but stressed the need to funnel more aid to its starving population.

The prime minister said Britain was working with Jordan on arranging aid drops into Gaza, while trucks carrying aid still face complex logistical impediments imposed by Israel. “This is a desperate situation,” Starmer said.

Starmer is facing mounting pressure from within his Labour party to take a tougher line on Israel, made more acute after French President Emmanuel Macron announced France will recognize a Palestinian state in September, becoming the first G7 country to do so.