On Friday, the UN’s food-security system confirmed famine in Gaza City—the first official famine ever declared in the Middle East—and warned it will spread without an immediate ceasefire and full access for food and medical aid. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are already in catastrophic hunger. This is not a mystery or an inevitability; agencies say it’s the product of Israeli policy, and they explicitly caution that further military escalation in Gaza City will make the death toll worse.
But this warning is too late. Israel has already begun the next phase of the war. As Tareq Hajjaj reports, the “October” timeline to occupy Gaza City is misinformation. The invasion started on August 10 in the al-Zaytoun district. In just nine days, locals counted roughly 450 buildings destroyed; tanks probed the neighborhood; and about 80% of residents fled as the bombardment intensified. This includes parts of the Old City of Gaza, a historic neighborhood now being erased. Read Tareq’s report ➡️
Put plainly, famine was confirmed on the same week Israel expanded its assault into the very area where people were already starving. UN officials call this catastrophe “entirely human-made,” and health agencies are “gravely concerned” about an intensified offensive in Gaza City. The choice before world leaders is not complicated: open the crossings and stop the genocide, or watch the famine spread.
U.S. politics is cracking under the weight of this reality. As Mitchell Plitnick writes, Democrats, including several with 2028 ambitions, are flailing between a donor class invested in maintaining Israel’s impunity and voters who want the genocide to stop. Supporting Israel’s war has become a political loser with the Democratic base, and party leaders are scrambling to square that circle with empty gestures. Read Mitchell’s analysis ➡️
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Must read: Israel has started the invasion of Gaza City, and is now annihilating one of its most historic neighborhoods
Taraq Hajjaj: Despite the Israeli army’s announcements that it plans to occupy Gaza City in October, the first stage of the invasion has already begun. It is starting with the flattening of the Zaytoun neighborhood, including the Old City of Gaza.
Genocide in Gaza
🇮🇱 Jonathan Ofir: In leaked comments, the former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence said it is necessary for Israel to carry out a genocide in Gaza: “The fact that there are already 50,000 killed in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations.”
🇵🇸 Tareq Hajjaj: Hamas accepted the ceasefire proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar that would pave the way for negotiations on permanently ending the war on Gaza. The ball is now in Israel’s court.
🇺🇸 Bilal Irfan and Alyssa Seliga: The Trump administration’s decision to halt all visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, which came after pressure from right-wing activists, will be a death sentence for children who require life-saving medical treatment.
Catch-up
🇮🇱 Abdaljawad Omar: Itamar Ben-Gvir’s staged attempt at humiliating Marwan Barghouti exposed the impotence of the Palestinian political order — but it also laid bare the insecurities and anxieties that fuel Israel’s need to publicly subjugate Palestinians.
🇺🇸 Michael Arria: On August 5, the Iowa City Council unanimously voted to boycott and divest from Israel bonds and all companies complicit in the Gaza genocide and occupation of Palestine.
🇵🇪 Emma Lucia Llano: Peru’s state-owned munitions company’s new strategic partnership with Israel’s Elbit Systems indicates an increasing complicity in the Gaza genocide and suggests Israeli surveillance technology will soon be used against Peru’s own dissidents.
🏗️ Majd Jawad: Israel is reviving a settlement plan that would annex a strategic tract of land east of Jerusalem and effectively split the West Bank in two, “burying” the possibility of any future Palestinian state in the territory.
🫏 Mitchell Plitnick: Democrats, including those eyeing a 2028 presidential run, are flailing as it becomes clear that supporting Israel is now a political loser. While politicians navigate this new terrain, pro-Israel groups are scrambling to rebuild liberal support.
⛪ Michael Arria: The United Methodist Church (UMC) will divest from Israel bonds and from other governments maintaining illegal military occupations, making it the first church in the world to make such a pledge.
IDF Warns Netanyahu Government’s Demands to Demolish Gaza City Could Take Over a Year –Haaretz
The IDF says a large-scale operation in Gaza City would cause a crisis with reserve units, which are struggling with declining turnout rates and low morale. Additionally, tensions are high between the military leadership and the government regarding the risk to hostages
This follows Defense Minister Israel Katz’s threat on Friday that if Hamas does not accept Israel’s conditions for ending the war, Gaza City, Hamas’ capital, will become like Rafah and Beit Hanoun. In such a scenario, the army says it would face an even more severe crisis with reserve units, which are already struggling with declining turnout rates and low morale.