Live: Gaza at 'breaking point' due to famine, says World Food Programme chief

Benjamin Netanyahu "firmly rejects" what he calls "vile accusations" against Major General Avi Bluth, commander of the Central Military Region to which the West Bank belongs, in an op-ed published Thursday morning in the Haaretz newspaper , titled "The 'general of carnage' in the West Bank is the moral face of Israel."

Journalist and columnist Gideon Levy wrote that "Bluth ordered his soldiers to carry out collective punishment , which constitutes a war crime. If this is the case, Bluth is a war criminal who should be extradited to the International Criminal Court in The Hague." He also accused General Bluth , "a graduate of the pre-military yeshiva in the settlement of Eli and a former resident of the settlement of Neveh Tzuf ," of being an "assistant" to the settlers who are increasing their attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.

In a recent video, General Bluth referred to the arrest of a Palestinian from the village of Al-Moughayyir, in the central West Bank, whom the army accused of carrying out a "terrorist attack." "Every village, every enemy (...) will pay a heavy price," he said, adding that these localities could be surrounded, subjected to curfews, or undergo "landscape remodeling" operations, that is, the uprooting of trees.

Benjamin Netanyahu " firmly rejects the vile accusations against [Bluth] and against the settlers of Judea and Samaria [the biblical name for the West Bank] . These are anti-Semitic slanders characteristic of our enemies throughout the world," the Prime Minister's office wrote in a statement, relayed by the Times of Israel .

"The Prime Minister expresses his full support and encouragement to Major General Bluth and the soldiers of the Israeli army who work day after day to eradicate terrorism in Judea and Samaria. They do so with determination and uncompromising morality, and we all pay tribute to them," the text added.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also "strongly condemned the horrific and inflammatory publications against the commander of the Central Command, Gen. Avi Bluth," in a statement Thursday.

The Gaza Strip, where the UN has declared famine, has reached a "breaking point," World Food Programme (WFP) chief Cindy McCain said Thursday following a visit to the region.

"I have met children dying of hunger receiving treatment for severe malnutrition, and I have seen photos of them when they were healthy. They are unrecognizable," the head of the UN agency said in a statement.

"Following air raid sirens that recently sounded in communities near the Gaza Strip, a drone launched from Yemen was successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force," the latter wrote in a statement .

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats (LibDem), the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom, has announced that he will boycott the state banquet held during Donald Trump's visit to the country in September due to the situation in Gaza.

The Lib Dem leader said in an op-ed in the Guardian published Wednesday evening that he wanted to "send a message" to the American president during his state visit, which will take place from September 17 to 19.

"Boycotting the banquet is the only way I can make it clear to Donald Trump and [British Prime Minister] Keir Starmer that they can't turn a blind eye," Davey said.

"Donald Trump must act to end this humanitarian crisis," he added, believing that "he has the power to end the famine and the terrible deaths in Gaza and to obtain the release of the hostages."

Donald Trump and his wife Melania will travel to the United Kingdom at the invitation of King Charles III for their second state visit after 2019, an unprecedented visit for an American president.

According to the Gaza Civil Defense, interviewed by the Turkish news agency Anadolu , more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed by the Israeli army in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, which has been the target of numerous aerial bombardments since August 10. The new Israeli military plan for Gaza, which notably aims to capture the largest city in the enclave, was approved by the Israeli army on August 13.

According to Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the rescue services, quoted by the Turkish agency, there are no buildings left standing in the southern part of the Zeitoun neighborhood. The Israeli army has used construction equipment and robots loaded with explosives, destroying seven buildings a day, and drones to strike homes, amplifying the destruction in the neighborhood, Bassal told Anadolu Agency.

This systematic demolition forced 80% of Zeitoun's residents to migrate to the west or north of Gaza City, Bassal added.

In the past 24 hours, four people – including two children – have died from starvation and malnutrition, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday. To date, the deprivation has claimed the lives of 317 people, including 121 children, the ministry added.

The ministry said that since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared famine in the Gaza Strip on August 22, it has recorded the deaths of 39 people, including six children, due to hunger.

New video obtained by CNN reveals that the second strike in Monday's bombing of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was actually two near-simultaneous strikes, the network reported Thursday.

The first bombing, at 10:08 a.m. Monday, targeted a balcony on the ^fourth floor of the hospital, killing Hussam Al-Masri, a Reuters cameraman, and two other people. In images obtained by CNN, the balcony was hit by a second strike, followed a second later by a third. These last two strikes were the deadliest. The attack left at least 22 people dead, including five journalists and medical workers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deplored the "tragic accident." According to preliminary findings of an Israeli military investigation, Israeli soldiers targeted a "Hamas camera" installed in the Nasser Hospital area and intended to "film its troops." Hamas has denied these findings.

"Our forces operate in all theaters of war, day and night, for the security of Israel," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday in a message posted on X, following reports of a ground raid by the Israeli army near Damascus.

According to Syrian media reports, Israeli ground troops carried out an operation Wednesday evening against a site near Damascus , which had previously been bombed. The Israeli army then "carried out an airborne operation, the details of which are not yet known," the official Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing a government source.

Asked by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli army made no comment.

Few details have yet been released about the content of the meeting at the White House, which was announced by envoy Steve Witkoff as a "major meeting" on "the day after" in Gaza.

However, American sources told the Israel Hayom newspaper, on condition of anonymity, that "detailed plans [for the reconstruction of Gaza] were presented at the meeting, including the spheres of responsibility of several countries and organizations." At this meeting, Donald Trump "approved the idea of ​​starting to implement some of these plans in the near future, including those relating to education, food supplies and the provision of temporary housing," the Israeli newspaper also reported.

According to their sources, reports presented to the White House estimate that "the chances of reaching a ceasefire before an Israeli incursion into Gaza City are slim," but Donald Trump "said he hopes to be able to avoid the conquest of Gaza City, and to reach the signing of an agreement before that."

Pope Leo XIV demanded Wednesday that Israel end "collective punishment" and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the besieged territory as Israel prepares for a new military offensive.

During his weekly audience at the Vatican, the Pope also called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and asked both sides and international powers to end the war "which has caused so much terror, destruction and death."

"I urge that a permanent ceasefire be achieved, that the safe delivery of humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that humanitarian law be fully respected," he added. Pope Leo XIV also emphasized that international law imposes an obligation to protect civilians and "the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of the population."

A woman and her child were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on the Al-Boureij refugee camp in the center of the enclave, the Palestinian news agency WAFa reported. Separately, a Palestinian was killed and others wounded in a bombing of a residential apartment in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City.

Another was targeted and killed by an Israeli aircraft in the center of Khan Younis, in the south of the territory, while a child was injured in an attack on a refugee tent in a camp in the north of the enclave.

An Israeli army ground operation was carried out on Wednesday evening against a military site near Kissoué, south of Damascus, which had been bombed earlier during the day, Syrian state media reported.

This operation constitutes the first Israeli ground raid of this type since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

On Tuesday, Israeli aircraft had already struck the site, killing six Syrian soldiers, according to the Syrian Foreign Ministry. A Syrian Defense Ministry official told Agence France-Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the site targeted by Israel housed military buildings belonging to the Syrian army's ^44th Division.

In Wednesday's attack, Israeli troops were airlifted into the area for an operation "whose details are not yet known, while intensive reconnaissance flights continue," the official SANA news agency reported.

According to the OSDH, this site also housed weapons used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, supported by Iran and allied with the former Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Washington on Wednesday. Asked about plans to create a Palestinian state, Saar said there would be none, Reuters reported.

A "major meeting" on the post-war situation in the Gaza Strip is to take place this evening at the White House, attended by Donald Trump.

The death toll from Israeli army bombings and gunfire in the Gaza Strip has now risen to 38 since the beginning of the day, according to the enclave's civil defense, quoted by Agence France-Presse.

Israeli aircraft bombed sites near Kissoué, south of Damascus, for the second time in twenty-four hours this evening, reports the Syrian public channel Al-Ikhbariya , without giving further details.

According to a member of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense quoted anonymously by Agence France-Presse (AFP), a former military base located in Tal Maneh, near Kissoué, has been targeted at least three times.

A Defense Ministry official told AFP the day before that an Israeli drone had targeted one of the military buildings of the Syrian army's ^44th Division in Kissawa. State television reported six Syrian army personnel killed.

With the exception of the United States, all member states of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday declared that the famine in the Gaza Strip was "man-made." They also reiterated that the use of hunger as a weapon of war constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

In a joint statement, 14 Council members further called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, a substantial increase in humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip and the immediate and unconditional lifting of all Israeli aid restrictions.

They also expressed confidence in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which last week recognized the state of famine in Gaza City and its surrounding areas. The Israeli government had previously demanded the withdrawal of its report .

An investigative report on the events of October 7, 2023, was submitted earlier this week to General Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, the latter announced on Telegram .

"Given the operational circumstances (...) and the need to focus on the ongoing campaign in which [the army] is engaged, the Chief of Staff has decided to postpone the full review of the report to a later date," she continued. "As soon as conditions permit, the report will be presented to the General Staff Forum and the process of developing and implementing the required lessons will continue."

Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for firing a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv's David Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday, after the Israeli army announced its interception earlier this morning. "The operation achieved its objective, thank God, and caused millions of usurping Zionists to flee to shelters, as well as the suspension of air traffic at the airport," their military spokesman wrote on Telegram .

"The recognition by the entire world of the extent of the suffering caused by the famine, the siege and the aggression that our people are undergoing in Gaza places the entire Arab and Islamic nation before a great religious and historical responsibility, and it is religiously, humanitarianly and morally obligatory to act to end the famine, lift the siege and stop the aggression against Gaza," added the spokesman, Yahya Saree.

Israeli army bombings and gunfire have left 24 dead in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the day, according to the enclave's civil defense, quoted by Agence France-Presse.