July 29, 2025 - Gaza news updates

Our live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read about today’s developments.

Palestinians gather on a coastal path west of Beit Lahia to attempt to get food aid after aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on July 29, 2025.

If you’re just joining our coverage, here are the latest developments we’re reporting today:

Ambassador Danny Danon of Israel speaks to the press ahead of the Security Council meeting on situation in the Middle East at the UN in New York City on June 30th.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon expressed dismay at announcements by France and the UK about Palestinian statehood, telling Sky News that both countries should be on the same side as Israel.

Referring to a Monday conference on the two-state solution co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations, Danon said, “We don’t interfere on the decisions of other countries, but with all due respect, all those declarations and the empty speeches and conferences that we are seeing in the UN, they will not bring any progress to the region.”

The ambassador doubled down on Israeli claims that there is no starvation in Gaza, insisting that Israel has allowed aid into the enclave that is yet to be picked up by the UN. “I would advise the UN to stop distributing lies and start distributing aid,” he said.

Some context: The UN blames Israel for delivering nowhere near enough food and for making the collection process highly complex. UN officials have complained of huge security and bureaucratic impediments imposed by Israel.

Danon said that Israel was not the obstacle for a ceasefire and that he hopes there will be a deal before September.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad escort Arbel Yehud to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on January 30th.

Former Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud detailed her survivor’s guilt for having been freed earlier this year while her partner, Ariel Cunio, remains in captivity in Gaza.

In a video statement shared by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, Yehoud thanked US President Donald Trump for helping bring her home and urged him to help get the remaining hostages released.

Yehoud, who was held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said while she has been home for six months, “it feels like a single, endless day.”

Yehoud described what it was like in captivity, including “terrifying moments” when the captors knew the Israeli military is nearby, which involved “weapons cocked. Hours of threats, taunting, psychological terror.”

Some background: Yehoud and Cunio were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Yehoud’s brother Dolev Yehoud, a volunteer medic at the kibbutz, was killed in the attacks, but his remains weren’t found until June 2024. Cunio’s brother David; David’s wife. Sharon Aloni Cunio; and their 3-year-old twin daughters were also abducted. Sharon and the children were later released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during conference in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state a reward to Hamas.

“Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims,” Netanyahu said, according to a post on X by his office on Tuesday.

“A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen,” he said.

Some context: Starmer said earlier Tuesday that the UK will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.”

Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh attends the 32nd Palestinian Liberation Organization Central Council session in Ramallah on April 23.

Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that the United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” and to reach a ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia also welcomed the UK’s announcement and renewed its call on the international community to take steps toward implementing resolutions that “affirm the inherent right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Jordan echoed those sentiments, saying the UK’s announcement was a “step in the right direction” toward a two-state solution and ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

Palestinians crowd at a lentil soup distribution point in Gaza City Sunday.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that both he and first lady Melania Trump have been deeply affected by the images of famine and starvation coming out of Gaza.

“And those are kids, you know, whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled from Scotland to Washington, DC.

Trump’s comments come just a day after he announced plans for the United States to establish “food centers” in Gaza, and after publicly pushing back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there is no starvation in the enclave.

“Those children look very hungry,” Trump said Tuesday.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to return to Washington, DC from Lossiemouth, Scotland on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump told reporters the US does not plan to follow suit after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom would recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel meets certain conditions.

Speaking on Air Force One as he traveled from Scotland to Washington, DC, Trump said he has “no view” on Starmer’s decision, though he said he sees it as “rewarding Hamas.” The president also said “it was never really discussed” when he met with Starmer yesterday.

He echoed comments from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which said recognition of a Palestinian state would constitute a “reward” to Hamas.

Trump also acknowledged Starmer’s ultimatum mirrors comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last week that France will recognize a Palestinian state in September.

“Essentially,” Trump said, Starmer and Macron are “saying the same thing, and that’s OK, but you know, doesn’t mean I have to agree.”

Aid for Gaza: The president also said he spoke two days ago with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the distribution of aid in Gaza as the enclave faces a starvation crisis.

Trump said yesterday the US will set up “food centers” in Gaza, although he didn’t offer details. When a reporter asked Trump today who would run the food centers, he responded: “We’ll be dealing with Israel, and we think they could do a good job of it.”

Volunteers, seen on June 26, carry bags of flour to be distributed to Palestinians at a depot set up by the independent Save Youth Future Society in coordination with UN World Food Programme in Gaza City.

Convoys arranged by the World Food Programme carrying 700 tons of flour from Jordan departed on Tuesday for Gaza, the Italian foreign ministry said.

The ministry said the flour will be ready for delivery to the enclave by the end of this week. This is in addition to the 800 tons funded by Italy already distributed by the WFP over the past few days. Another 450 tons are expected to be sent to Gaza starting next week, the Italian statement added.

The WFP said last week that aid was offloaded from its trucks to holding areas via two border crossing points, after which trucks within Gaza needed to pick it up for further transport. The agency said from July 19 to 25, just over half of its requests for permission for trucks to collect aid were approved.

It added that once food aid is loaded, convoys are typically delayed, waiting up to 46 hours before being allowed to travel along approved routes within Gaza.

The WFP said last week that the quantity of food aid delivered was still a fraction of what Gaza’s population needs to survive.

Palestinians carry empty containers on their way to fetch water at a distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 10.

United Nations experts accused Israel of the deliberate “withholding of access to safe drinking water from Palestinians in Gaza,” saying Tuesday that “using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians” violated international law.

“Israel’s blockade and destruction of civilian infrastructure has left most of Gaza’s two million residents displaced and without access to the minimum vital amount of drinking water,” the UN experts said in the statement. It added that move “has led to deaths and widespread illness caused by water pollution, and a lack of sanitation and hygiene.”

The experts said that since October 2023, when the war began, “Israel’s military operations have repeatedly targeted water facilities, wells, pipelines, desalination units, and sewage systems,” which has resulted in 89% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure being damaged or destroyed. This has left “over 90% of households water insecure,” the statement said.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli government for comment.

The Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend it had connected the power line from Israel to the desalination plant in Gaza, which would supply about 20,000 cubic meters of water per day.

UN experts are not UN staff, nor do they receive a salary for their work. They are independent human rights specialists appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, according to the UN.

Naeema, a 30-year-old Palestinian mother, sits with her 2-year-old son, Yazan, in their home in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza on July 23.

Mothers of babies and toddlers who are starving in Gaza spoke to CNN on Tuesday about their desperate struggles to feed them.

Several women told CNN they were unable to find or afford milk to feed their children, who desperately need sustenance to stay alive.

Diana Abu Jassem, the mother of a 14-month-old, said that her son is in the final stages of severe malnutrition, weighing only 5.4 kilograms (roughly 11.9 pounds). She does not have any food or milk to give her son, Abdul Karim Abu Samer, so he drinks water through a special bottle.

Azhar Imad Abdul Rahman Maqdad, the mother of 4-month-old Jouri Abu Hajar, described trying to feed her daughter water mixed with tahini and sesame as a substitute for milk.

Her baby weighs only 3.3 kilograms (around 7.3 pounds), less than a kilogram heavier than when she was born, the mother said.

“This girl needs milk to get better. Her growth is severely stunted. I appeal to countries abroad: Hear us. Please help us and allow the food children need to enter,” she added.

Protesters wave Palestinians flags as they gather in central London on June 4.

Israel said Tuesday it rejects British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that the United Kingdom would recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel meets certain conditions.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the plan constitutes “a reward” for Hamas and harms efforts to implement a ceasefire in Gaza and release the remaining Israeli hostages.

Some context: Starmer said today the UK will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” and to reach a ceasefire.

Starmer has been facing mounting pressure from within his Labour Party to take a tougher line on Israel, made more acute after French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement that France would recognize a Palestinian state in September, becoming the first G7 country to do so.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street to discuss the situation in Gaza on Wednesday in London, England.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said aid from the UK was air-dropped into Gaza on Tuesday.

The UK aid airdrop comes a day after Germany and France said they would send humanitarian assistance to Gaza in coordination with France and the UK.

Israel said last week it would allow aid to be air-dropped into Gaza, despite the United Nations warning that would be expensive, inefficient and dangerous.

Moments after the roar of Israeli jet engines signaled a new missile strike was imminent, huge plumes of dark smoke rose from the impact.

Across several hours Tuesday, a CNN team around the Israeli city of Sderot, which is along Gaza border, heard and saw at least a dozen missile impacts in northern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces say it continues to target Hamas in the area.

Any aid convoys heading into northern Gaza on Tuesday afternoon would need to navigate the conflict. In the five hours this CNN team spent driving along semi-arid farmland close to Gaza’s northern border, no trucks carrying aid were sighted.

What was apparent: Northern Gaza was filled with the sounds of war.

Dust from troop carriers and tanks could be seen rising between the already pulverized village streets of Beit Hanoun, and heavy machine gunfire and small arms fire crackled nearby.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen during an event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Israel has in recent days repeatedly held consultations on the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday.

Israel “hasn’t stopped trying” to work out a ceasefire deal with Hamas since its delegation returned from talks in Qatar last week, Netanyahu said.

Israel is “not giving up,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to do everything we can, one way or another. We are committed to bringing them home.”

Some context: Last week, the United States and Israel recalled their negotiating teams from Qatar, where discussions had been taking place, with Witkoff saying the latest response from Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire.”

A source close to the Hamas delegation said Monday that the group is looking to harden its position in any further negotiations after Israel and the US withdrew their teams.

Pro-Palestinian supporters hold placards and wave flags during a protest on Downing Street in London on July 19.

France commended the UK for its plan to recognize Palestinian statehood in September if Israel doesn’t meet certain conditions, which comes days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said earlier Tuesday that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” and to reach a ceasefire.

UK’s foreign secretary: British Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the prime minister’s statements on Tuesday, saying the United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel doesn’t end its military campaign in Gaza.

Speaking at the United Nations, Lammy called on Israel to end the “appalling situation” in Gaza and to commit to a sustainable peace based on a two-state solution.

He warned that the two-state solution is in peril and vowed that the UK would commit to protecting its viability. “There is no contradiction between support for Israel’s security and support for Palestinian statehood,” he said.

France’s move: Macron announced last week that France will recognize a Palestinian state in September, making the country the first Western member of the United Nations Security Council and first G7 nation to do so.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision would “reward terror,” and his defense minister described it as a “disgrace, a surrender to terror.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement inside No. 10 Downing Street to discuss the situation in Gaza on Wednesday in London, England.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” and to reach a ceasefire.

“I can confirm the UK will recognize the State of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term sustainable peace reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.”

Starmer convened the meeting one day after the UK leader said the British public was “revolted” by images of people starving in Gaza, speaking alongside US President Donald Trump in Scotland.

Starmer has been facing mounting pressure from within his Labour Party to take a tougher line on Israel, made more acute after French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent announcement that France would recognize a Palestinian state in September, becoming the first G7 country to do so.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer listens during a news conference in Washington, DC on July 22.

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and dozens of other Senate Democrats sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff demanding the expansion of humanitarian aid in Gaza and continued diplomatic efforts to end the war.

The senators said it is “long past time to bring all of the hostages home,” and added that “the acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also unsustainable and worsens by the day.”

The 40 senators who signed the letter also made clear that they oppose any efforts to remove Palestinians from their homes.

“This would be antithetical to international humanitarian law, to a sustainable end to this war that prioritizes the long-term safety and security of Israelis and Palestinians alike, to achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East, and expanding the Abraham Accords,” they wrote.

Palestinians gather as they wait for aid supplies to enter Gaza on Tuesday.

If you’re just joining our coverage, here are the latest developments we’re reporting today in Gaza: