Daily Express Gaza front page marks a shift, but there's more to do
A sub-heading detailed how he was 'clinging on to life' and how his suffering 'shames us all'.
In this age of digital journalism and social media, somehow newspaper front pages still have a unique way of stopping you in you tracks and making you think.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf's family-in-law 'starving in Gaza'
Journalists and pro-Palestine campaigners highlighted the significance of a right-wing newspaper calling out the mass starvation being inflicted upon [[Gaza]]ns and it was not lost on The National's news team either. It signals a potential turning point in the mainstream media's coverage of this dire humanitarian situation.
But there is a reason we say potential turning point, because this front page has left us with a few questions.
Firstly, why has it taken until now for the torture of Palestinians to get on a mainstream newspaper's front page?
The Daily Express is the most right-wing mainstream newspaper in Britain.
It now has a better position on Gaza than the Labour government. pic.twitter.com/7hzZUO6tKD — Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) July 23, 2025
The National has been calling for stronger action from the UK Government and international community since day one of Israel's brutal assault on [[Gaza]] nearly two years ago. Back in October last year The National's front detailing a chronology of the bombardment went viral. Not a day has gone by where we haven't let the world know – to the best of our ability – about the genocide and war crimes being committed by Israel.
Secondly, what is it exactly that the newspaper – and others who are just now speaking up on the starvation of Gaza – is calling for here? Notably, this front page, and many similar concerned statements, contain no mention of Israel, nor the UK Government which continues to supply arms to the country.
You can't help but feel the starvation of Palestinians is being presented in a vacuum, almost like it is something this country can't do anything about. Like it's distant from us and all we can do is scream into the void hoping someone, somewhere will stop this horrendous situation.
READ MORE: Women and children to be hit hard by Labour's 'short-sighted' aid cuts
But surely there is something the UK can do. The UK Government suspended 30 out of around 350 arms export licences to Israel last year but continues licence exports of F-35 fighter jet parts, which have been documented as being used by Israel in Gaza.
A raw front page showing us the extent of the suffering of Gazans is all very well, but it is not news to those of us who have been following Israel's activities closely.
The mainstream media should surely be asking deeper questions at this point and challenging the UK Government to do its bit to ensure it does not fuel the fire. Surely, that begins with questioning why we are supplying arms to a nation whose government has said Gaza 'will be entirely destroyed'.
It is positive to see more corners of the media waking up to the intolerable hell Gaza is facing, but let's not pretend this is a problem the UK is not a part of.
If this is to be a proper turning point, we need to see the mainstream media go beyond highlighting how the suffering 'shames us all' and instead insist this translates into tangible action from the UK Government.
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The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The time for Australia to recognise the state of Palestine is right now
No one should underestimate the power of one image to move the minds of nations. Just like the image of nine-year-old South Vietnamese girl Pham Thi Kim Phúc, running naked on a road, screaming as her back burned from napalm dropped during an attack by the South Vietnamese air force. That moment was captured by photographer Nick Ut. The New York Times debated running the photo due to its nudity. They ran it on their front page the next day in edited form. It became powerfully attached to the Vietnam war and rippled through global opinion. The memory of this image bolted to my mind's forefront when I saw last week the images of children starving in Gaza plastered across almost every media outlet in the world, including conservative UK outlet the Daily Express, which featured a staggering front page with a gaunt Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq – a one-year-old so starved, he now weighs the same as a three-month-old baby. His spine sticks out like a knotted thread – an image that whipped a headline out of the Daily Express: 'For pity's sake, stop this', declaring that the suffering 'shames us all'. Muhammad is not the victim of a drought, or an event beyond the control of people and governments. It's no accident, this boy – like so many children in Gaza – has barely any energy to lift eyelids. This is a result of deliberate decisions by the Netanyahu government to restrict humanitarian aid into Gaza. The significance of the Daily Express featuring this image should not be overlooked. A publication with a conservative bent has taken a strong stand because the humanitarian cause should not be political. These images have torn through social media. The same week, one of the biggest western nations – and the first member of the G7 – France, announced it would officially recognise the state of Palestine at September's UN general assembly. About 147 nations already recognise the state of Palestine – but none as large as France. That's significant. So many nations have lost patience and are unable to stay silent or inert, as the Netanyahu government continually demonstrates its refusal to conduct its pursuit of Hamas in a way that respects the life of innocent civilians, something demanded by international humanitarian law. Our prime minister's strong statement this week and his recognition over the weekend that 'Quite clearly it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March', paves the way for further action. This is the moment for our nation to take a similar stand. I'm proud that our party has twice agreed at its highest decision-making forum – the National Conference of the Australian Labor party – to recognise the state of Palestine. The time to do so is absolutely right now. It would be so close to the declaration of the French, sending a powerful signal, build momentum and likely influence other nations, even though at this moment the UK and German governments appear unmoved. It's not that the move of its own will point-blank end the suffering experienced by Palestinians in Gaza. There is so much crucial work to be done. But it will cement and back in the stand taken by 28 nations last week – rightly including Australia – to object to any re-partitioning of Gaza into concentration zones, tantamount to ethnic cleaning. While our party position has been straightforward, our government has understandably believed recognition should be part of a peace process. That has been a clear-cut, logical stand for the times. But times change. Just when we think we can't be shocked further, every month of this 20-month campaign has seemingly proved us wrong and this demands a rethink in our response. It's also blazingly clear that the Netanyahu government has absolutely no intention of recognising a Palestinian state. Not now, not ever. That's clearly not a party you can negotiate a peace process with, especially if they're not even prepared to warm a seat at the negotiating table (frankly that seat will have to be dragged into the room collectively by the actions of the international community). French president Emmanuel Macron felt no need to observe conditionality prior to making his announcement. He did set out nearly half a dozen important markers as part of the recognition process, which Australia would not conceivably object to. These included: an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all Israeli hostages, a massive surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the demilitarisation of Hamas. The fact that only over the weekend the Netanyahu government is allowing 'minimal' aid into the territory demonstrates that the actions of the French government mattered, they made a difference. The time is right for Australia to recognise Palestine. Last week, I took part in a vigil outside Parliament House. Parliamentarians of different stripes took shifts in reading out the names of the 17,000 teenagers and children killed in Gaza since 7 October. 17,000 names listed in a book whose weight dragged on the heart. The pages formatted into a grid: name, age, gender. I can't describe to you how confronting it was, as the eye moved left to right, reading a name where the age 0 was listed beside it. I kept thinking to myself: that baby deserved to be raised and nurtured within the love of a family, to laugh and play with other kids, to grow to fulfil their own ambitions, write their own history. Yet their history is starkly recorded as a name subsumed within a thicket of lines and pages captured in a book of casualties. If a conservative outlet such as the Daily Express can summon heart to demand better for children like Muhammad, why can't Australian conservatives do the same, the ones who champion pro-family values but are silent in the face of families being wiped out. We can and should feel for both Israeli and Palestinian families. We're all human after all, right? Ed Husic is the federal Labor MP for Chifley in western Sydney
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Newshour Israel allows aid to enter Gaza by road and in airdrops
Desperately needed aid has been trickling into Gaza after international outrage over starving Palestinians led to Israel easing its blockade and military operations. We will hear from a former Israeli Prime Minister - and talking to an Israeli philosopher about the impact of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza on Israeli public opinion. Also in the programme: The US and EU have agreed a trade deal which will see a blanket US tariff of 15 percent on imports from the bloc; England have retained the Women's European Championship title after a nail biting penalty victory over Spain in the final; and concern in the fashion industry after an advert in Vogue uses AI models. (Photo: Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip, 27 July 2025. Credit: Mohammed Saber / EPA / Shutterstock)
South Wales Argus
3 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting
The Prime Minister will travel to Ayrshire, where the US president is staying at his Turnberry golf resort, for wide-ranging discussions on trade and the Middle East as international alarm grows over starvation in Gaza. The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Mr Trump praising Sir Keir for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday. But humanitarian conditions in Gaza and uncertainty over US import taxes on key British goods in America threaten to complicate their bilateral meeting. The US president has been playing golf at his Turnberry resort in Scotland (PA) Peace talks in the Middle East came to a standstill last week after Washington and Israel recalled negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement. Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians. But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened. In his talks with Mr Trump, Sir Keir will 'welcome the President's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza', Number 10 said. 'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.' The leaders will also talk 'one-on-one about advancing implementation of the landmark Economic Prosperity Deal so that Brits and Americans can benefit from boosted trade links between their two countries', it said. The agreement signed at the G7 summit last month slashed trade barriers on goods from both countries. But tariffs for the steel industry, which is of key economic importance to the UK, were left to stand at 25% rather than falling to zero as originally agreed. Concerns had previously been raised that the sector could face a levy of up to 50% – the US's global rate – unless a further agreement was made by July 9, when Mr Trump said he would start implementing import taxes on America's trading partners. But that deadline has been and gone without any concrete update on the status of UK steel. Downing Street said that both sides are working 'at pace' to 'go further to deliver benefits to working people on both sides of the Atlantic' and to give UK industry 'the security it needs'. The two leaders are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which Number 10 said would include 'applying pressure' on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion, before travelling on together for a private engagement in Aberdeen. It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday. After a day playing golf, the US leader met the President of the EU Commission to hammer out the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America. This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president. The agreement will include 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, as well as EU purchases of US energy worth 750 billion dollars (£558 billion) over three years. Speaking to journalists on Sunday about his meeting with Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and it's been a great deal. 'It's good for us. It's good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, they've been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and it's a great trade deal for both, works out very well. 'We'll be discussing that. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel. 'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen. 'He's doing a very good job, by the way.' Mr Trump's private trip to the UK comes ahead of a planned state visit in September.
