Major media say Gaza staff face starvation, while US envoy holds ceasefire talks
Last Updated: July 24, 2025, 21:45 IST
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Gaza City, Jul 24 (AP) Four leading news organisations said Thursday that their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, while top US envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet with key negotiators from the Middle East for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal and the release of hostages.
The media outlets' joint statement called on Israel to allow journalists in and out of Gaza and allow adequate food supplies into the territory.
'For many months, these independent journalists have been the world's eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering," said the joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC.
Also Thursday, Hamas confirmed it had sent its latest ceasefire proposal to Israel, with an Israeli official calling it 'workable," although no details were provided. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record.
Israel's war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack, has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Here's the latest: Israeli celebrity chef condemns famine in Gaza Yotam Ottolenghi, the Jerusalem-born British chef and bestselling author, said the level of hunger in Gaza is 'shocking beyond belief".
In a post on social media, he said he's adding his voice to global calls for Israel to halt its attacks on Gaza and let aid flow without restriction.
'The sequence of events leading to this moment – with victims on both sides – cannot justify withholding food from a whole population," he said. 'This goes against any value I was raised on." Ottolenghi wrote a book with Palestinian Sami Tamimi called 'Jerusalem," covering Arab and Jewish cooking in the holy city.
Growing optimism that Israel and Hamas are closing in on a deal, official says An official with knowledge of the Gaza ceasefire talks said Hamas had submitted a 'positive response" through Qatari mediators.
'The Hamas response has now been passed to the Israeli side, and there is growing optimism that the gaps are narrowing and a deal can be reached," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes talks.
The official said senior officials from the US and Qatar were set to meet in Italy later Thursday to discuss the progress. There were no further details.
More than 40 Palestinians died from malnutrition in July, Gaza's Health Ministry says Gaza's Health Ministry said 48 Palestinians have died of malnutrition this past month, adding that 59 Palestinians died of malnutrition so far in 2025, up from 50 in 2024, and four in 2023 when Israel started its war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza after its rampage in southern Israel on Oct 7.
In the most recent cases, a man and a woman died of malnutrition Wednesday, the Shifa Hospital told The Associated Press.
Of the 113 that died of malnutrition in Gaza since 2023, 81 were children, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
Since Israel's aid blockade in March, Gaza's humanitarian situation has become dire, alarming international organizations. The United Nations World Food Programme has said 100,000 women and children are facing famine levels of starvation.
The International Rescue Community said their teams in Gaza have reported a surge in cases of children being rushed to the hospital due to malnutrition.
'Their small bodies are shutting down — they can't breathe, their immune systems are collapsing, and they are highly vulnerable to infection," IRC's acting director in the occupied Palestinian Territories, Scott Lea, said in a statement Wednesday.
'Their lives are hanging by a thread." Rocket landed near Gaza aid site, Israel says Israel's military said militants had fired a rocket that landed close to an aid distribution site in southern Gaza.
In a statement Thursday, the military said militants in the city of Khan Younis had fired a rocket that landed 250 metres from an aid site in Rafah. The military did not say if the rocket strike injured anyone.
The aid site is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American organization distributing aid in Gaza which launched operations in May.
The US and Israel seek to replace the traditional UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, asserting that Hamas militants siphon off supplies. The UN denies the allegation.
Indonesia condemns Israeli motion to annex the occupied West Bank Indonesia has strongly condemned the Israeli Parliament's symbolic motion to annex the occupied West Bank.
In a statement Thursday by Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country reiterated that Israel has no legitimate sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory and that such actions do not alter the legal status of the territory.
'This move constitutes an act of annexation, violating the fundamental principle of non-acquisition of territory by force," the statement said.
'We reaffirm our support for the establishment and sovereign State of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Two-State Solution." The declarative motion, passed Wednesday by the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, has no direct legal implications, although it could place the issue of annexation on the agenda of future debates.
The Southeast Asian nation urged the United Nations Security Council and the international community to take concrete measures to halt what it termed Israel's illegal actions, saying it aims to make its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory permanent.
Israeli military says 8 soldiers wounded in ramming attack Eight Israeli soldiers were wounded Thursday when a car rammed into a bus stop near the central coastal city of Netanya, the military said. The driver fled the scene, prompting a police manhunt.
Two soldiers were moderately wounded and another six were lightly wounded in the attack. The military did not identify the attacker or provide further details.
Palestinian militants have carried out scores of shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has launched major military operations in the occupied West Bank, and there has been a spike in settler violence against Palestinians there.
5 Palestinians killed in central Gaza At least five Palestinians were killed in central Gaza late Wednesday, according to the Aqsa Hospital morgue that received the bodies Thursday in the city of Deir al-Balah.
Two people, a man and a woman, were killed east of the city in Israeli tank shelling.
Another person was killed by Israeli troops in a shooting in the Bureij refugee camp, and two others were among a group of people hit by an Israeli strike in Zawaida.
The Israeli military, which has expanded operations in the area in the last few days, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deal on the table Top US Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to head to Italy on Thursday to meet top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer and discuss the ceasefire deal on the table, according to Israeli and US officials.
For Israel, sending Dermer — a close Netanyahu confidant — to the meeting marks a show of seriousness in reaching a deal.
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The deal under discussion is expected to include a 60-day ceasefire in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 others in phases in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Aid supplies would be ramped up and the two sides would hold negotiations on a lasting truce.
Hamas earlier Thursday submitted a response to the latest ceasefire proposal which an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, billed as 'workable". (AP) SCY SCY (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments News agency-feeds Major media say Gaza staff face starvation, while US envoy holds ceasefire talks Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
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