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A general of heavily damaged buildings and a large number of makeshift tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, Gaza, on July 9, 2025. [Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini – Anadolu Agency]
Gaza’s population has dropped by 10% as Israel continued its destructive war on the Palestinian enclave, official figures showed on Thursday, Anadolu reports.
“Palestine, specifically the Gaza Strip, is suffering an unprecedented humanitarian and demographic catastrophe due to the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 2023,” the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
The bureau said that more than 57,000 Palestinians, including 18,000 children and 12,000 women, were killed in Israeli attacks, which constitutes 2.4% of Gaza’s total population.
Figures released by the bureau also showed that nearly 100,000 Palestinians have left the enclave since the start of the Israeli war.
Before the outbreak of the Israeli war, Gaza’s population stood at 2,226,544 in 2023, as official figures showed.
“Population estimates indicate that the population has declined to approximately 2,129,724, representing a 6% decrease compared to the projection of mid-2024 estimates,” it said.
“Furthermore, the population dropped to 2,114,301, a decrease of 10% from what was estimated for mid-2025.”
The bureau warned of “a fundamental shift” and distortion in the age and population pyramid “due to the deliberate targeting of younger age groups by the Israeli army, particularly children and youth.”
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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Aid trucks sent by the United Nations under Israeli attacks enter the Zakim border crossing under the protection of Palestinians and reached the warehouses in the north of in Gaza City, Gaza, on June 25, 2025. [Saeed M. M. T. Jaras – Anadolu Agency]
The UN said Monday that Israel must facilitate access and entry of essential supplies into Gaza through available crossing points to address people’s “urgent needs,” Anadolu reports.
“Civilians must be respected, and they must be protected,” said spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a daily press briefing, emphasizing the need for “full, safe, and sustained humanitarian access in accordance with humanitarian principles.”
He said the World Food Program (WFP) reports that one in five people in Gaza faces “catastrophic levels of hunger” due to heavy constraints on humanitarian operations.
“Given the heavy constraints on bringing in supplies and carrying out humanitarian operations across Gaza, people are going hungry,” Dujarric said, adding that tons of food have been prepared in the region and are ready to serve people in Gaza “if increased access is granted.”
He said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “alarmed” over new evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities in northern Gaza, “which have once again displaced tens of thousands of people.”
“People are being pushed into overcrowded areas where thousands of others are already staying. These spaces lack shelter. They lack water, they lack sewage systems, not to mention medical facilities,” Dujarric said.
– Fuel ban threatens critical services
Dujarric called on Israeli authorities to allow fuel entry into Gaza for life-saving operations, including hospitals, desalination plants, sanitation equipment, and telecommunications.
“If the ban on fuel continues, more of these critical services will shut down soon, and in some areas very soon,” he warned.
The spokesperson said fuel powers community kitchens, which are essential for feeding Gaza’s population, and allows cargo to move between locations.
Dujarric said Guterres also “condemns” continued civilian casualties from Israeli attacks and “welcomes” continued mediation efforts for a permanent ceasefire.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians in a deadly onslaught in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
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Protesters gather in Tel Aviv on June 28, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]
Tens of thousands of people rallied across Israel on Saturday, calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to local media reports, Anadolu reported.
Demonstrations were held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
Protests followed a 12‑day conflict between Israel and Iran, which erupted June 13 when Tel Aviv launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear and civilian sites, killing at least 606 victims and injuring 5,332, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than 3,400 in Israel, according to figures released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The conflict came to a halt under a US-sponsored ceasefire that took effect June 24.
On the heels of getting Tel Aviv and Tehran to sing a deal, US President Donald Trump said Friday that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will be reached soon.
“I think it’s close,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked how close his administration is to a deal on a Gaza ceasefire.
Israeli officials expressed surprise Saturday at those remarks, affirming there are no indications of any change in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s positions, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Hamas has repeatedly affirmed its readiness to release Israeli hostages “all at once” in exchange for an end to Israel’s genocidal war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice officials, insists on partial deals and evades signing a deal by imposing new conditions, including the disarmament of Palestinian factions.
According to the Israeli opposition, Netanyahu currently insists on reoccupying Gaza to serve his political interests, particularly maintaining his hold on power.
Israeli officials estimate that Trump seeks to leverage the momentum following the end of the Israel-Iran confrontation to achieve an additional political accomplishment.
In May, the US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff presented a proposal to Hamas that included the release of half of the living Israeli hostages and half of those killed within seven days of the start of a potential agreement, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 50 Israeli hostages in Gaza, including 20 alive. There are more than 10,400 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, suffering from torture, starvation and medical neglect, which has resulted in many deaths, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 56,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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An exterior view of the District Court in east Jerusalem, on November 22, 2021. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]
Israel’s attorney general on Friday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone his corruption trial for two weeks, local media said, Anadolu reports.
Netanyahu had asked the Jerusalem District Court to delay his trial, claiming that he needed to focus on other matters following Israeli attacks on Iran, including the issue of returning Israeli captives from Gaza.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the court also rejected Netanyahu’s request and decided to keep the scheduled hearing set for next Monday.
The court judges determined that “the schedule presented by Netanyahu to try to delay his trial sessions does not justify canceling the hearings,” it said.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara earlier said that the reasons detailed by Netanyahu in his request “cannot justify canceling two weeks of hearings.”
As a result, Netanyahu is expected to appear before the court on Monday as planned.
Reacting to the decision, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized both the attorney general and the judges.
“The Attorney General’s Office and the judges of Netanyahu’s government insist on being small dwarfs, lacking any strategic vision or understanding of reality,” he wrote on X.
“They seem determined to help us highlight for the public the destructive and dangerous corruption that has taken hold of the judicial system, and the urgent need to reform it,” he added.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also criticized the court’s decision, calling it a “detached and miserable decision.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi echoed the criticism, saying: “They live in their own world, isolated… Shame on them!”
Likud lawmaker Avichai Buaron said Netanyahu should simply notify the court and the attorney general that “his duty to the state and the national interest outweigh the need for four more evidentiary hearings, and that he won’t attend in the next two weeks.”
For several months, Netanyahu has appeared before the court to respond to the charges against him but the sessions were halted during the recent Israel-Iran war that began on June 13 and lasted for 12 days.
On Thursday, Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for calling to cancel his corruption trial, a move that sparked wide controversy and division in Israel.
Supporters of Netanyahu welcomed it, while the opposition urged Trump not to interfere in Israel’s judicial process.
Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust that could lead to imprisonment if proven.
In January, Netanyahu began interrogation sessions related to Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000, which he denies. The attorney general filed an indictment related to these cases at the end of November 2019.
Case 1000 involves Netanyahu and his family receiving expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for favors.
Case 2000 concerns alleged negotiations with Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, to gain positive media coverage.
Case 4000, considered the most serious, involves providing facilitation to Shaul Elovitch, the former owner of the news site Walla and a telecommunications company Bezeq, in return for favorable media coverage.
Netanyahu, whose trial began on May 24, 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history.
He also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where over 56,300 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.
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France’s President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of humanitarian aid destined to Gaza, at the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in Egypt’s northeastern city of Arish in the north of the Sinai peninsula, about 55 kilometres west of the border with the Gaza Strip, on 8 April 2025. [LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]
Plans by the UK and France to recognise a Palestinian state at an upcoming international peace conference in New York this month have been shelved, marking yet another U-turn just weeks after both governments signalled support for Palestinian self-determination in response to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and ongoing ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank.
The three-day conference, scheduled between 17-20 June and co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, was initially framed as a diplomatic breakthrough that could see major Western powers recognise Palestinian statehood as a matter of principle. However, diplomats have now confirmed to the Guardian that the event will instead focus on vague “steps towards recognition.”
The reversal comes despite recent pledges by both London and Paris to re-evaluate their approach in light of Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and the aggressive settlement expansion in the illegally occupied West Bank. Israeli officials have recently approved 22 new settlements, in what Defence Minister Yoav Gallant described as “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
French President Emmanuel Macron had previously declared Palestinian statehood a “moral duty and political requirement,” but according to officials who briefed Israeli counterparts this week, recognition will no longer be announced at the conference. Instead, it is being repositioned as a distant outcome contingent on a series of conditions, including a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli captives, and the restructuring of the Palestinian Authority to exclude Hamas.
The UK government, which has faced increasing pressure from MPs to take stronger measures against Israel, has taken a similar position.
According to the Guardian, British and French officials now view recognition not as a moral position or legal obligation, but as a reward contingent on the compliance of Palestinians with a framework shaped largely by Israel’s priorities. The Israeli public, however, has largely abandoned the idea of a two-state solution. According to figures cited by the Guardian, just 20 per cent of Israelis support the creation of a Palestinian state, while a staggering 56 per cent of Jewish Israelis back the “transfer” of Palestinian citizens of Israel to other countries, an explicit endorsement of ethnic cleansing.
Meanwhile, public support for Palestinian statehood continues to grow across Europe. Ireland, Spain and Norway formally recognised Palestine last year, and several Conservative MPs in Britain, including former Attorney General Sir Jeremy Wright, have broken ranks to endorse recognition.
Saudi Arabia, the conference’s co-host, has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, and there appears little prospect of Riyadh normalising relations with Tel Aviv. Analysts note that France’s vision of mutual recognition, Western states recognising Palestine in exchange for Arab normalisation with Israel, is rapidly collapsing in the face of Israeli escalation and public outrage across the Arab world.
Palestinians and their supporters are likely to view this latest shift as yet another instance of Western duplicity, offering rhetorical support while continuing to shield Israel from accountability. The Elders, a group of former global statesmen, urged Macron in an open letter to treat recognition as a “transformative step toward peace,” and not to view the self-determination of Palestinians as a chip to be negotiated with Israel.
