On Friday, Day 693 of the ongoing genocide, Israeli warplanes and artillery launched a series of attacks across the starved, besieged, and devastated Gaza Strip, killing at least 79 Palestinians across the Strip, most of them in Gaza City. 22 of those killed were shot to death by Israeli soldiers and US mercenaries at the 4 ‘aid’ sites run by the US corporation ‘GHF’.
Among those killed in today’s extensive bombardment was the couple pictured above. Just days after the engagement of Fadi Zain Al-Din and Tasnim Nassar, their dreams were shattered. Today, Tasnim and her family were killed when an Israeli strike destroyed their tent in Gaza City.
Medical sources announced the starvation deaths of 5, including two children, on Friday.
The total number of victims of starvation rose to 322, including 121 children, the vast majority of whom died of starvation in the past 3 months.
Since the famine classification in the Gaza Strip was announced by the IPC on August 22, 44 additional starvation deaths have been recorded, including 6 children.
An international classification of food insecurity, in which the United Nations participates, confirmed the occurrence of famine in Gaza Governorate and expected it to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September.
The Integrated Classification of Stages of Food Security said that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip face catastrophic conditions, i.e. the fifth stage of the classification, and its characteristics include extreme hunger, death, destitution, and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition.
The classification stated that another 1.07 million people (54% of the population) face the fourth stage, which is the stage of acute “emergency” food insecurity. 396,000 (20% of the population) face the third stage, which is the stage of acute food insecurity, the “crisis”.
The Integrated Classification of Stages of Food Security is a global initiative that includes United Nations agencies, regional partners and relief organizations, and food insecurity is classified into five stages, the most severe of which is famine, which ranks fifth.
Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, said that food aid reaching the Gaza Strip is still insufficient to prevent the spread of hunger.
McCain added: “Additional amounts of food are coming in. We are moving in the right direction, but they are not enough to do what we need to do to ensure that the population does not suffer from malnutrition and starvation.”
She pointed out that the program is now capable of delivering about 100 aid trucks daily to Gaza, but this number is still much less than the 600 trucks that entered the Strip daily during the ceasefire before mid-March.
The Integrated Food Security Phased Classification, a global hunger monitoring observatory, said in a report issued on Friday that about 514,000 people, nearly a quarter of the Strip’s population, are currently facing famine conditions in Gaza City and its surrounding areas.
McCain, who visited Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis this week, said what she witnessed was complete devastation. “In simple terms, areas flattened to the ground. We saw a population suffering from extreme hunger and malnutrition.”
Eight-month-old Susan Haniya, weighing less than five kilograms, is fighting severe malnutrition and a serious chest condition, while living in a tent.
Videos from different parts of Gaza filmed over the past few days show the ongoing famine and the extreme difficulty of obtaining the most basic of foodstuffs:
Throughout Gaza, Palestinian farmland has been thoroughly devastated, and water wells poisoned, by Israeli invading forces over the past 23 months of genocide. This has left the population without any local sources of food, and completely dependent on external food aid. But virtually no food aid has been allowed to enter since March.
GAZA CITY INVASION CONTINUES FOR THIRD WEEK; 4 ISRAELI SOLDIERS MISSING:
The New York Times released satellite images showing the scale of destruction in Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, over a very short period.
The first image was taken on August 8, while the second, captured on August 25, reveals the extensive damage to homes and infrastructure that occurred in just three weeks, highlighting the severe suffering of the civilian population.
Israeli media reported growing fears inside the army after at least four soldiers went missing during three battles with Hamas resistance fighters in Gaza. Search operations are still underway as fighting intensifies.
Quds News reported that one of the incidents took place in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and was still ongoing late into the night.
Israeli reports confirmed that at least two soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in Palestinian resistance operations.
According to Quds News, al-Qassam fighters launched a fierce operation against an Israeli force in al-Zeitoun. They prepared ambushes and deployed a large number of fighters to strike fortified positions.
Helicopters rushed to evacuate troops under heavy fire. Israeli reports said six helicopters sent for evacuation came under intense shooting in al-Zeitoun. Minutes after the first “serious incident” was reported, two more took place, injuring additional soldiers.
According to Hebrew sources, the Israeli occupation army activated the Hannibal Protocol to prevent the capture of prisoners during attacks in the Zeitoun neighborhood.
The Hannibal Protocol is a procedure used by the Israeli army to prevent the capture of its soldiers, even if they are killed. Therefore, this protocol allows the bombing of the positions of captured soldiers.
The following attacks by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians were documented by local sources on Friday:
11:59 pm
10 citizens were killed tonight in Israeli occupation aircraft bombing on Nuseirat camp, Al-Karama area, and Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City.
Palestinian Kamel Isam Madi was announced dead after succumbing to the wounds he sustained in the Israeli bombing of his family tent in Mawasi, Rafah, southern Gaza.
A Wafa correspondent said that 5 Palestinians were killed after the Israeli occupation aircraft bombed a house belonging to the Al-Hafi family on Al-Ishreen Street in the Nuseirat camp, south of Gaza City.
Three citizens were also killed, two in the bombing of a residential apartment in the Karama area, northwest of Gaza City, and the third in the occupation’s bombing of the (Shawa and Hasri) tower on Al-Wahda Street in the city.
The Israeli occupation forces continue their violent bombardment on several sites in Gaza City, where they previously killed 7 citizens in the Sudanese and Al-Fawakhir areas of the city.
10 pm
At least one Palestinian was killed after Israeli occupation aircraft struck Al-Shawa Tower in Gaza City.
Israeli occupation naval boats shelled the western areas of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Two Palestinians were killed as Israeli occupation forces strike an apartment near Al-Andalus Tower in the Karama area, northwest Gaza City.
7 pm
8 citizens were killed, Friday evening, in the Israeli occupation forces’ bombing of areas in Gaza City.
Wafa correspondents said that Israeli occupation aircraft bombed a tent housing displaced people in the Sudanese area, northwest of Gaza, killing 4 citizens.
The occupation aircraft also bombed a group of citizens in the vicinity of the Al-Fawakhir area on Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City, killing 3 citizens.
A fisherman was also killed by Israeli naval gunfire near the town of Al-Qarara, northwest of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
3 pm
A horrifying belt of fire sweeping through Gaza city, with a series of bombings by the Israeli airforce.
12 PM
An Israeli occupation airstrike targeted the Al-Seksek sanitary tools warehouse in the Asqoula area of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, igniting a massive fire. Despite the extreme danger, civil defense crews managed to reach the site and worked with limited means to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby homes. The bombing came as Israeli occupation forces expanded their strikes across al-Zaytoun and al-Sabra, continuing their relentless assault on Gaza City. (Source: m.saed.gaza (IG))
UPDATED FROM:
11:05 AM REPORT
In Gaza City, five civilians were killed and others wounded when Israeli aircraft bombed a residential home in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, west of the city.
Medical sources at the Baptist Hospital confirmed that at least two Palestinians were killed and others injured in a separate bombing of the Zeitoun neighborhood.
Medical teams recovered the bodies of four Palestinians and evacuated three wounded individuals from a displacement tent targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the al-Sudaniyya area, near Hamad Hospital in northwest Gaza City.
Simultaneous artillery shelling in the Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City, caused additional injuries amid widespread bombardment across the Strip.
In the central governorate, two Palestinians were killed and others injured when an Israeli drone struck an apartment in Deir al-Balah.
🚨HORRIBLE: Israeli forces are proudly sharing videos on social media showing the destruction of populated areas in northern Gaza using explosive-laden robots and heavy bombardment, as tanks advance slowly.
An Israeli official even admitted they won’t enter any area unless it’s… pic.twitter.com/vIe6sbMNLS
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) August 28, 2025
Separately, three fatalities and one critically wounded individual were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital following a drone strike targeting farmers in the Abu Sultan area east of the city.
In al-Bureij refugee camp, also in central Gaza, two Palestinians were killed and several others injured when Israeli forces shelled a residential home at dawn.
In Deir al-Balah city, a Palestinian man and his wife were killed and several others injured when the army bombarded a home on Salam Street.
Three more Palestinians were killed and others wounded in a separate strike on Abu Hosni Street.
In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, at least five Palestinians were killed and others wounded when Israeli drones bombed displacement tents.
Also in Khan Younis, a Palestinian child was killed by Israeli army fire in Mawasi Khan Younis.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich escalated calls for the forced displacement of Gaza’s population, describing it as a necessary step to “eradicate the absolute evil committed against us on October 7.”
He openly advocated for cutting off water, electricity, and food supplies to the Strip, stating, “Those who do not die by bullets will die of hunger.”
🚨HORRIBLE: Israeli forces are proudly sharing videos on social media showing the destruction of populated areas in northern Gaza using explosive-laden robots and heavy bombardment, as tanks advance slowly.
An Israeli official even admitted they won’t enter any area unless it’s… pic.twitter.com/vIe6sbMNLS
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) August 28, 2025
On the humanitarian front, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, reported the spread of an unidentified virus among Gaza’s displaced population. He warned that the medical system lacks the diagnostic tools needed to identify or contain the outbreak.
The director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)in Gaza described the situation in the southern part of the Strip as extremely dangerous, warning of a deepening humanitarian collapse.
He stated that Israeli forces are actively preventing civil defense teams from reaching the wounded, obstructing emergency response efforts amid ongoing bombardments. Civilians waiting for aid and those sheltering in their homes are being directly targeted, he added, noting that even areas designated as “safe” by the occupying forces are being struck.
The official emphasized that the south cannot absorb the displaced population of Gaza City, and that the forced transfer of civilians under fire constitutes a grave violation. He called for urgent international action to prevent Israel from further encroaching on Gaza’s population and forcibly removing them from their land.
Israel has destroyed the healthcare system in Gaza.
They have murdered, abducted and tortured our colleagues.
Please join Irish healthcare workers in solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza who continue to work despite their own suffering and their patients who are starving to… pic.twitter.com/8N9NVnxzx8
— irish_hcworkers_for_palestine (@IrishhcwforPal) August 29, 2025
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the ongoing escalation, stating that subjecting civilians in Gaza to another wave of deadly violence is “unthinkable.” He warned that any expansion of military operations would have “devastating consequences.”
Guterres warned of devastating consequences following Israel’s decision to expand its military offensive in Gaza City and described the move as a “new and dangerous phase” that would force hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee once again.
#Gaza is at a breaking point. I’ve just seen it myself.
@WFP operates in conflict zones all over the world. Families in Gaza are starving—and we know how to deliver at scale.We must revive our network of 200+ food distribution points, community kitchens & bakeries ASAP.
— Cindy McCain (@WFPChief) August 28, 2025
Guterres emphasized that civilians, including journalists and healthcare workers, are being killed in full view of the world and stressed that the humanitarian situation has reached catastrophic levels.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported Thursday that the cumulative toll of the ongoing genocide since October 7, 2023, has reached 62,966 killed and 159,266 wounded.
Of these, more than 11,121 fatalities and 47,225 injuries occurred since Israel violated the mediated ceasefire agreement on March 18, 2025.
The number of Palestinians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid has risen to 2,180, with over 16,000 injured. Famine-related deaths have climbed to 317, including 121 children, following four additional deaths recorded on Thursday.
