GHF puts on a show for Trump admin, children continue to starve

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israeli forces killed at least 82 Palestinians in Gaza on Friday, including at least 53 aid seekers. In total, Israel has killed at least 1,422 aid seekers since May 27, 2025 (learn about aid seekers here). Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military.

3 Palestinians in Gaza died of starvation Friday. The total number of Palestinians who have died from malnutrition is 162, including 92 children.

For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Friday, go here.

GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:

(For some basic info on the Palestine-Israel conflict, go here. For a bit more critical context, skim this, this, and this.To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)

Gaza journalists and observers – the only witnesses to Witkoff’s visit – describe what they saw

Yousef Fares, Gaza journalist, revealed that before Witkoff and Huckabee’s arrival,

GHF staged the site, buried the blood of the aid seekers who had been injured or killed in recent days, pulled back the tanks and snipers, and reduced the tens of thousands of aid seekers to a small number of aid seekers to a small number of families belonging to Yasser Abu Shebab’s* men, who entered yesterday through the Morag Corridor to take part in this farcical spectacle, exposed before the world.

An orderly distribution of aid – no repression or pepper spray, no live fire or casualties, no stampedes – all aimed at denying the thousands of recorded videos and erasing the blood of nearly 1,000 starved martyrs and hundreds of wounded in these traps of humiliation.

Many other journalists reported that the event was a choreographed spectacle.

The chairman of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Ramy Abdu, said on social media,

This morning, [special envoy Steve Witkoff] visited a detention camp resembling Nazi camps, in a staged scene where civilians from the Bedouin area—controlled by Abu Shabab’s gangs—were brought in to produce a propaganda display. The depth to which war criminal Witkoff has sunk is repulsive.

Medical sources say that while Steve Witkoff visited one GHF site, elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli forces killed at least 36 Palestinians seeking aid – including a 12-year-old boy, who was reportedly shot dead while he tried to find food for his family.

*NOTE: Yasser Abu Shabab is an Israeli-backed militia leader operating in Rafah under Tel Aviv’s protection. Abu Shabab – whose role is to undermine Hamas – is responsible for the looting of aid convoys. His gang is also responsible for scouting and securing territory ahead of Israeli military operations. He has been accused of collaborating with Israel, drug trafficking, and links to ISIS.

US Middle East envoy did not meet UN* in Gaza due to US ‘propaganda agenda’

Witkoff’s failure to meet with any UN officials during the US Middle East envoy’s trip to Gaza on Friday belies his stated purpose for the trip, which he said was to get a clearer idea of the humanitarian situation there, Mohamad Elmasry, a professor in the Media Studies program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera.

“This is a classic case of selective exposure. Witkoff and [US ambassador to Israel Mike] Huckabee want to see what they want to see, because they have a [pro-Israeli] propaganda agenda to fulfill. They’re obviously not going to meet the UN or look at any of the UN sites because that would undermine their propaganda program,” he said.

*FACT: UNRWA, the United Nations body with a mandate to help Palestinian refugees, has been serving the refugees in exile in Gaza for decades as they wait for their internationally recognized right of return to be activated. Israel has forbidden UNRWA from continuing its work based on an unsubstantiated accusation that 12 employees (out of a staff of 13,000) participated in the October 2023 attack. The 6-page dossier Israel issued, allegedly proving the guilt of twelve UNRWA employees out of a staff of 13,000, offers no compelling evidence.

As of July 2025, Israel has still failed to provide evidence to back up its accusations against UNRWA.

Steve Witkoff, centre, visits the Rafah aid distribution point run by GHF, August 1, 2025 (social media)

Israel’s starvation of Gaza ‘will be felt for generations’, UN right to food rapporteur says

Michael Fakhri, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has told Al Jazeera, “The UN is ready – the UN and other international organizations can flood into Gaza with the necessary aid to help people, but the effects and impact of starvation will be felt for generations.”

He continued, “Not only will children be stunted in their mental and physical development, and not only will adults carry the impact of starvation their whole lives, there will be social trauma felt by the Palestinian people in Gaza and beyond that will last for generations.

A Palestinian woman sifts a handful of discarded lentils in order to separate the edible bits from the sand and gravel. — A Palestinian woman sifts a handful of discarded lentils in order to separate the edible bits from the sand and gravel in Nuseirat, Deir al Balah, Gaza (Hassan Jedi/Anadolu)

Gaza youths abducted, imprisoned and tortured for information

A group of youths who were kidnapped in late June by Israeli forces at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in Rafah, in southern Gaza, were released this past week and described their brutal torture and detention in Israel’s Sde Teiman concentration camp.

BREAKING | Kidnapped at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation @GHFUpdates death trap, 17-year-old Omar Nizar Asfour was released today from Israeli prisons, along with nine other Palestinian children who had been abducted at the same site in the Al-Shakhoush area, north of Rafah. All… pic.twitter.com/SNsX8tnLGn

— Translating Falasteen (Palestine) (@translatingpal) July 24, 2025

SIX COUNTRIES AIRDROP A PITTANCE OF AID: The Israeli military confirmed that six countries – France, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirate – were allowed to drop 126 humanitarian aid packages over the Gaza Strip on Friday. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has criticized the shift to humanitarian airdrops, which he says are 100 times more costly than trucks while carrying just half the assistance. “Let’s go back to what works & let us do our job,” he said.

HOW ARE THOSE “HUMANITARIAN PAUSES” WORKING OUT?: International pressure forced Israel last week to announce that it would impose “humanitarian pauses” for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza, to allow in more aid along secure routes, and allow airdrops of food. Since the so-called “humanitarian pauses” were put in place on Sunday, at least 593 Palestinians were confirmed killed across Gaza, according to health ministry figures and news reports, including 300 seeking aid, and over 1,967 injured.

WATCH: “Anyone who lifts their head is shot on the spot”: Zikim “humanitarian” aid point

“Anyone who lifts their head is shot on the spot.”
Breaking | The Israeli army has opened fire on unarmed civilians gathered near the aid entry point in the “Zikim” area, northern Gaza.pic.twitter.com/D7JsGix5jE

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) July 28, 2025

WATCH: “This is not a detainment camp in World War II, nor a prison in the Holocaust, this is Gaza in 2025”

This is not a detainment camp in World War II, nor a prison in the Holocaust, this is Gaza in 2025. A chilling reminder that history repeats.

A holocaust is happening right before our eyes and the world is silent. pic.twitter.com/6CVIz1tr0I

— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) July 30, 2025

(Get familiar with the charges against Israel: genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced transfer, starvation as a weapon of war, use of human shields, indiscriminate shooting at civilians, and more.)

WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM, AND ISRAEL NEWS AND HEADLINES:

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this. For information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.)

POLL SAYS ALMOST HALF OF ISRAELIS IN FAMINE DENIAL: Nearly half of Israelis – 47% – surveyed in a new poll said they do not believe Gaza is suffering famine. In the poll, carried out by the Lazar Research Institute, 41% of respondents agreed that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza. Of those who agreed, 44% said they do not care about the issue of famine.

MORE HEADLINES ON ISRAEL, WEST BANK (a quick skim just of headlines can be very informative!):

Stop the War Now: Statement from Middle East Studies Faculty, Ben-Gurion University

Soldiers Shoot A Palestinian Near Jerusalem

4 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

PALESTINIAN STATE NEWS AND HEADLINES:

Momentum for recognition of a Palestinian state has never been greater. Although 147 out of 193 Un member states already recognize Palestine, some of the most powerful have not – including the United States.

U.S. and Europe play games with a Palestinian state while Israel starves Gaza

147 out of 193 United Nations member states recognize the State of Palestine. Yet the declaration of several Western countries to do so has sparked hysteria as if it were a new idea.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated his intention to recognize Palestine last week. Then UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer threatened to do the same. These moves drew a hysterical reaction from Israeli leaders, including PM Netanyahu, who accused both Starmer and Macron of “rewarding terrorism.”

Canada followed suit on Wednesday, stating that it would recognize Palestine because, according to their Prime Minister Mark Carney, “the prospect of a Palestinian state is literally receding before our eyes.”

What do we make of these declarations of promised recognition? Will they have any impact on Israel’s behavior? (continue reading here).

US secretary of state claims there can be no Palestinian state without Israel’s consent

Trump walks back comment that Canadian recognition of Palestinian state would jeopardize trade deal

Germany walks back Palestine recognition remarks after backlash from Tel Aviv

‘No ifs’: Scotland’s first minister demands immediate UK recognition of Palestine state

Britain, which created the Israeli-Palestinian Mess, will Finally Recognize Palestinian State (to read about Britain’s part in the dispossession of Palestinians, go here)

Map of countries that recognize Palestinian statehood (United Nations)

OTHER NEWS AND HEADLINES:

GHF chairman, ambassador avoid using the word “Palestinian” at event promoting annexation

At a Thursday event in the US capital hosted by the Heritage Foundation, speakers included the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and the chairman of the scandal-plagued Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Johnnie Moore. Organizers pledged to help Israel annex* “Judea and Samaria,” Israel’s name for the occupied West Bank.

Attendees reportedly never once mentioned the word Palestine or Palestinians during the 90-minute discussion. Moore in particular referred to the the Palestinians in Gaza as the “Arabs of Gaza.”

The Heritage Foundation is a highly influential right-wing, Evangelical Christian think tank in Washington that was key to formulating Trump’s playbook for both his terms in office.

*NOTE: Annexation of land – that is, the proclamation of sovereignty over the territory of another State – is a violation of international law.

TRUMP REPORTEDLY SUSPENDING RESEARCH FUNDING TO UCLA OVER “ANTISEMITISM”: UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk wrote in a message to the campus community.“UCLA received a notice that the federal government, through its control of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is suspending certain research funding to UCLA. In its notice to us, the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons,” he said. “This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.”

Tension rises between Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protestors on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on April 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Grace Hie Yoon – Anadolu Agency)

Senate Appropriations Committee pushes for $80M increase in U.S.-Israel defense funds

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s draft 2026 defense funding bill, approved by a broad bipartisan committee vote on Thursday, includes increases to several U.S.-Israel cooperative defense programs.

The bill includes a total of $80 million in additional funding, as compared to 2025, for several cooperative programs with Israel. It offers a total of $75 million for counter drone and missile programs, $47.5 million for cooperative programs in emerging defense technologies like artificial intelligence and $80 million for counter-tunneling programs, according to a summary released by the committee.

“STOP STARVING GAZA”: 50 ARRESTED IN PROTEST AT SCHUMER AND GILLIBRAND’S OFFICES: “The deliberate and shameless killing of Palestinians in Gaza is enraging the world,” said scholar Judith Butler, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Academic Advisory Council, in a statement. “If it is not bombing or shooting, it is a strategic plan of starvation, all of which are crimes against humanity. It is time, past time, to cease looking away. Actions such as ours are a message to all those who look away: Wake up, take a stand, and demand the end to this genocide” (more here).

MORE HEADLINES:

‘Worst Ratings’: Israel, Netanyahu Face Record Low US Support amid Gaza Genocide

Prominent historian Rashid Khalidi cancels course at Columbia University over Trump deal

Australian activists allege they were ‘brutalized psychologically’ after Israeli military detained Gaza aid boat

Pressure mounts on South Africa to sever ties with Israel, expel diplomats

Palestinians, struggling with hunger, form lines to receive hot meals in Gaza’s al-Zeitoun neighborhood on July 31, 2025, with no guarantee that there will be enough to feed everyone. (Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency)

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:

In West Bank, “1,444 settler attacks this year, 38 communities displaced”

“Christian” GHF chief attacks UN and media, ignores 1K deaths, avoids saying ‘Palestinians’

U.S. Security Contractors in Gaza Risk War Crimes Charges, Democrats Say

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – AUGUST 1, 2025:

At least 61,456 Palestinians killed, 156,954 injured – including:
at least 60,430 killed in Gaza (~18,500 children)
at least 1,026 killed in the West Bank (~210 children)
at least 148,722 injured in Gaza
at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, 2025 it has killed at least 9,246 people. 50 Israeli soldiers (most recent July 26) have been killed during the same time period.

At least 1,422 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – August 1, 2025: ~1,629 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 454 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 229 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 186 and 298 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org