Gaza’s Health System Near Collapse as Israeli Strikes Intensify
With fuel nearly gone and hospitals overwhelmed, health officials warn of mass casualties amid relentless Israeli missile barrages and a worsening humanitarian blockade.
Israel intensified air attacks across the Gaza Strip with a missile barrage pounding a densely populated residential area, as health officials warned that hundreds of patients will die from power outages in hospitals in Gaza as fuel supplies expire because of Israel’s blockade. At least 105 Palestinians, including seven aid seekers, have been killed and 530 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24-hour reporting period, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. In the Strip, the besieged health sector is “on its knees” with severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies, and the constant influx of mass casualties. Just 18 of Gaza’s 36 general hospitals are partially functioning, according to the UN agency - Al Jazeera
French President Emmanuel Macron urged the UK parliament to recognize Palestinian statehood, saying it was the "only path to peace." Macron is being hosted by King Charles III for the duration of his three-day visit. He is the first French president to receive this honor since 2008. He is also the first European leader in Britain for a state visit since Brexit. "Calling today for a ceasefire in Gaza without any condition, is just telling to the rest of the world that for us as Europeans, there is no double standard, and as we are attached to human lives, as we are attached to territorial integrity, we want the ceasefire, no discussion," he said while addressing Britain's parliamentarians during an official visit - DW
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his second meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday was focused on efforts to reach a hostage deal, the Jerusalem Post reported. "I had another meeting today with President Trump at the White House, and afterwards, a short meeting with Vice President [J.D.] Vance." Netanyahu said, "We focused on efforts to release our hostages." However, many observers say Netanyahu will return home (reportedly after a stop in Florida) with very little to show for his expensive, taxpayer-funded visit. Wrote Jerusalem-based Dr. Leora Lider: “After all the receptions and the sucking up, PM Netanyahu wrapped up his second White House meeting with US President Donald Trump without any public announcement of a breakthrough in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks. Israel is suffering from a distinct lack of leadership, Netanyahu will return to Israel with nada-zilch-zero-goose egg for the hostages and their families. But at least he got to meet Keanu Reeves as one of the parties, that makes the whole trip worthwhile.”
A US State Department official bypassed nine mandatory counterterrorism and anti-fraud safeguards to approve a $30m aid package for the Gaza aid group backed by Israel and the Trump administration, a news report says. According to an internal memo obtained by the Reuters news agency, Jeremy Lewin, head of the State Department’s foreign aid programme, signed off on the funding just five days after the GHF submitted its proposal on June 19. The June 24 memorandum, bearing Lewin’s signature, noted the group’s plan failed to meet “minimum technical or budgetary standards”. Despite that, Lewin approved the funds after consulting aides to Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s negotiator on Gaza, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office. “I’m taking the bullet on this one,” he wrote, suggesting the move would be controversial. The documents underscore the Trump administration’s prioritisation of GHF, despite its lack of experience and mounting criticism over its deadly aid operations. Hundreds of Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israeli forces and US contractors while seeking aid from GHF distribution sites in Gaza in recent weeks.
Ukraine has been hit by the biggest ever aerial attack from Russia, after 728 drones and 13 cruise or ballistic missiles struck cities around the country in multiple waves, President Volodomyr Zelensky said. The overnight strike came after President Donald Trump said the US would send more weapons to Kyiv - a reversal of last week's suspension which US media said Trump had not known about. On Tuesday, the US leader expressed growing frustration at Russian President Vladimir Putin. The criticism came even as the Trump administration announced a suspension of military aid to Ukraine, reportedly authorised by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elbridge Colby, the under-secretary of defence for policy. Asked by reporters on Tuesday who had taken the decision, Trump - sitting right next to Hegseth - replied: "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" The reversal of the decision may now mean that 10 Patriot missiles may be sent to Ukraine, according to US outlet Axios. On Tuesday Trump also said he was "looking at" a sanctions bill by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham that would see 500% tariffs imposed on countries that trade with Russia. Trump has been threatening sanctions on Russia since taking office in January but has so far failed to impose any. In June, he stated that he pointed out sanctions "cost a lot of money" and signalled he was waiting to see whether a deal between Russia and Ukraine would be signed instead. However, last week the US president said he and Putin had discussed sanctions "a lot" and added: "He understands it may be coming." - BBC
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair talks with other European leaders tomorrow (Thursday at 14:30 CET / 08:30 ET) on boosting Ukraine's defences. During the Ukraine meeting, Macron, who is on a state visit to the UK, and Starmer will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the French presidency said. The summit will touch upon the deployment of "a reassurance force" to Ukraine after a ceasefire, the Elysée said. The discussions will also focus on "how to increase pressure on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire that it has consistently refused," the French presidency added.
Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands accusing Moscow of atrocities in Ukraine dating back more than a decade. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for widespread violations of international law — from shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, to the murder, torture, rape, destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of 2022. Reading the decisions in a packed courtroom in Strasbourg, Court President Mattias Guyomar said Russian forces breached international humanitarian law in Ukraine by carrying out attacks that “killed and wounded thousands of civilians and created fear and terror.” The Kremlin said it would ignore the largely symbolic judgment, but Ukraine hailed it as “historic and unprecedented,” saying it was an “undeniable victory” for the embattled country. The judges found the human rights abuses went beyond any military objective and that Russia used sexual violence as part of a strategy to break Ukrainian morale, the French judge said - AP
Watch my live BBC interview from Odesa, recorded in the early hours today as drones and missiles began striking other parts of Ukraine. I told presenter Sumi Somaskanda that it’s time to do more to starve the Russian war machine — including backing the U.S. Senate bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries continuing to trade with Russia.
President Donald Trump and his advisers promised a lightning round of global trade negotiations with dozens of countries back in April but don’t have much to celebrate at the moment. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro predicted “90 deals in 90 days.’’ Administration officials declared that other countries were desperate to make concessions to avoid the massive import taxes – tariffs -- that Trump was threatening to plaster on their products starting July 9. But the 90 days have come and gone. And the tally of trade deals stands at two – one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam, the AP reported. Trump has also announced the framework for a deal with China, the details of which remain fuzzy. Trump has now extended the deadline for negotiations to Aug. 1 and tinkered with his threatened tariffs, leaving the global trading system pretty much where it stood three months ago — in a state of limbo as businesses delay decisions on investments, contracts and hiring because they don’t know what the rules will be. “It’s a rerun, basically,’’ said William Reinsch, a former U.S. trade official who’s now an adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Trump and his team “don’t have the deals they want. So they’re piling on the threats.”
The U.S. has reported 1,288 measles cases this year — the highest number in 33 years, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last time the U.S. saw more measles cases was in 1992, eight years before the disease was declared eliminated in the country. "We're seeing a lot more measles transmission than we are used to," says Caitlin Rivers. She's the director of the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, which has its own measles dashboard. "Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known to humans. And more importantly, it's preventable. And so we really hate to see this resurgence of a preventable virus," Rivers says. Since the start of the year, measles cases have been confirmed by more than three dozen states plus the District of Columbia. The largest outbreak by far is in Texas. The state has reported 753 measles cases this year. Across the U.S., 155 people have been hospitalized, and three people have died. And while the Texas outbreak has slowed significantly, across the country, Rivers says the U.S. is now seeing more cases on a weekly basis than in previous years. The measles milestone comes the same week that some of the nation's leading medical associations sued Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., charging him with what they characterize as an effort to undermine trust in vaccines among the American public - NPR
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