Middle East crisis live: Gaza running out of specialised food to save malnourished children, UN agencies say | Israel

Germany said on Friday it had “no plans to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term” after President Emmanuel Macron said France was intending to make such a move in September, AFP reports.

“The government continues to regard the recognition of a Palestinian state as one of the final steps on the path to achieving a two-state solution,” spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement, adding that “Israel’s security is of paramount importance to the German government”.

The recognition of a Palestinian state must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity, the Italian foreign minister said on Friday, the day after France said it would recognise Palestinian statehood in September.

“A Palestinian state that does not recognise Israel means that the problem will not be resolved,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani told a meeting of his conservative Forza Italia party in Rome, Reuters reports.

Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say.

“We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies,” Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for Unicef in Amman, Jordan, told Reuters on Thursday, saying supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed.

“That’s really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment,” he added.

Oweis said Unicef had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, Unicef treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza.

Nutrient-dense, high-calorie RUTF supplies, such as high-energy biscuits and peanut paste enriched with milk powder, are critical for treating severe malnutrition.

“Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,” a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Thursday.

Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to resume next week following Israel’s review of the response by Palestinian Hamas militants, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Friday, citing an Egyptian source.

Al Qahera said the Israeli delegation left one day after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the negotiating team for consultations, Reuters reports.

Close Israeli ally the United States also recalled its delegation from the talks for consultations on Thursday, with US envoy Steve Witkoff accusing Hamas of failing to act in good faith in the talks.

Hamas said it was surprised by Witkoff’s remarks, adding that the group’s position had been welcomed by mediators and had opened the door to reaching a comprehensive agreement.

Iranian and European diplomats have met in Istanbul to embark on the latest drive to unpick the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme, AP reports.

Representatives from Britain, France and Germany gathered at the Iranian consulate building on Friday for the first talks since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in June, when US bombers struck nuclear-related facilities.

The talks are centred on the possibility of reimposing sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2015 in exchange for Iran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear programme.

European leaders have said the reinstating of sanctions will start by the end of August if there is no progress on containing Iran’s nuclear programme.

CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists

In May, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote about the desperate situation facing journalists in Gaza, who were having to report while dangerously hungry. My colleagues documented the gnawing hunger, dizziness, brain fog and sickness all experienced by an exhausted Palestinian press corps already living and working in terrifying conditions. Eight weeks later, that desperate situation is now catastrophic.

Several news organizations are now warning that their journalists – those documenting what is happening inside Gaza – will die unless urgent action is taken to stop Israel’s deliberate refusal to allow sufficient food into the territory. “​​Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can recall seeing a colleague die of hunger,” an association of journalists from the Agence France-Presse wrote in a statement on Monday. “We refuse to watch them die.” Two days later, the Qatari broadcast network Al Jazeera said its journalists – like all Palestinians in Gaza– were “fighting for their own survival” and warned: “If we fail to act now, we risk a future where there may be no one left to tell our stories.”

You can read the full article here:

An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, Reuters reports.

The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development and completed in late June.

It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organisations between October 2023 and this May.

It found “no reports alleging Hamas” benefited from US-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters.

The findings challenge the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation.

A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, saying there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos.

The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up “aid corruption.”

UK foreign secretary David Lammy said on Friday the deteriorating situation in Gaza was “indefensible”, repeating calls for a ceasefire, Reuters reports.

“The sight of children reaching for aid and losing their lives has caused consternation over much of the world. And that is why I repeat my call today for a ceasefire,” Lammy said in a joint news conference with the Australian defence minister in Sydney.

“The deteriorating situation we’ve seen in Gaza over the last few weeks is indefensible.”

Keir Starmer said he would hold an “emergency call” on Friday with France and Germany on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, urging a ceasefire and steps towards Palestinian statehood.

“The suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible,” the UK prime minister said. “We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe.”

France’s plan to formally recognise a Palestinian state runs counter to the stance held by Palestinian militant group Hamas, Paris said on Friday, AFP reports.

“Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognising Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organisation,” foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, a day after President Emmanuel Macron said France would recognise Palestinian statehood in September.

We have more from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The medical charity said that “rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have tripled in the last two weeks alone”.

It blamed Israel’s “policy of starvation”, AFP reports.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East.

The humanitarian crisis inside Gaza deepens as Médecins Sans Frontières has said a quarter of Gaza’s young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished, AFP reports.

The head of the main UN agency serving Palestinians has said his frontline staff are fainting from hunger, as the number of people dying of starvation in Gaza continued to rise.

It comes as Emmanuel Macron has announced France will recognise Palestinian statehood, saying he hoped it would bring “lasting peace” to the Middle East.

Macron announced the decision on X on Thursday evening and published a letter sent to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, confirming France’s intention to become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state.

The move prompted angry responses from Israel, while Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said it was’ “reckless”. It was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Stay with us as we follow the developments.