Eyewitness says American subcontractors at Gaza aid sites fired at Palestinians
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Food crisis body declares first-ever famine in Gaza
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification says famine is occurring in Gaza City. It says this is likely to spread to the southern cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel immediately rejected the IPC’s assessment, with the foreign ministry repeating bluntly a claim it has made for months, that “there is no famine in Gaza” Israel has repeatedly denied that there is widespread hunger in Gaza, calling reports of starvation “lies” promoted by Hamas. The IPC has confirmed famine in Somalia in 2017, South Sudan in 2020 and last year in western Darfur in the Middle East’s Darfur region. It is the first official declaration that the situation has reached this level in the Gaza Strip. The report was compiled by more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies and was first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somaliland. It said it had concluded based on “reasonable evidence” that famine “is confirmed in Gaza Governorate”
Aid groups and food security experts have warned for months that Gaza was on the brink of famine, but the IPC report is the first official declaration that the situation has reached this level. Israel immediately rejected the IPC’s assessment, with the foreign ministry repeating bluntly a claim it has made for months, that “there is no famine in Gaza.”
But the IPC — which is comprised of more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups, governments and other bodies and was first set up in 2004 during the famine in Somalia — said it had concluded based on “reasonable evidence” that famine “is confirmed in Gaza Governorate.”
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 16, 2025. Jehad Alshrafi/AP
“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death,” the group said, warning that 1.07 million more people in Gaza were currently in a slightly lower starvation risk category, and that the circumstances were likely to expand within the densely populated Palestinian territory.
“Between mid-August and the end of September 2025, conditions are expected to further worsen with Famine projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), while those in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely rise to 1.14 million (58 percent). Acute malnutrition is projected to continue worsening rapidly.”
The IPC said for the next year at least, “at least 132,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition — double the IPC estimates from May 2025. This includes over 41,000 severe cases of children at heightened risk of death.”
In a separate statement, Tom Fletcher, who heads the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid had caused the famine in Gaza.
“It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel,” Fletcher told reporters in Geneva, calling it “a famine that will and must haunt us all.”
Israel insists “there is no famine in Gaza”
In a statement, the Israeli foreign ministry categorically rejected the findings of the UN-backed report.
“There is no famine in Gaza,” the ministry said, accusing the IPC of presenting a report “based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests.”
“Over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war, and in recent weeks a massive influx of aid has flooded the Strip with staple foods and caused a sharp decline in food prices, which have plummeted in the markets,” the ministry said.
While more humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza in recent weeks, as Israel has come under intense international pressure, aid organizations say it is nowhere near the amount required. A controversial new U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid distribution group has also come under sharp criticism over the killing of numerous civilians near its four distribution hubs in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also repeatedly denied that there is widespread hunger in Gaza, calling reports of starvation “lies” promoted by Hamas.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to Gaza, said the report was “false and biased.” It said that in recent weeks significant steps had been taken to expand the amount of aid entering the strip.
What does a famine classification mean?
Famine can appear in pockets, sometimes small ones, and so a formal classification requires caution, food security experts say. The IPC has only confirmed famine a few times — in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year in parts of Sudan’s western Darfur region. This is the first confirmed famine in the Middle East.
The IPC rates an area as in famine when all three of these conditions are confirmed:
20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving.
At least 30% of children 6 months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition, based on a weight-to-height measurement; or 15% of that age group suffer from acute malnutrition based on the circumference of their upper arm.
At least two people, or four children under 5, per 10,000 are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.
Gaza has posed a major challenge for experts because Israel severely limits access to the territory, making it difficult to gather and confirm data.
In a separate report Friday, the Famine Review Committee, or FRC, said it, too, had concluded there was famine in part of Gaza. The FRC is a group of independent international food security experts regularly consulted by the IPC.
The group acts as an added layer of verification when the data shows there could be famine.
The data analyzed between July 1 and August 15 showed clear evidence that thresholds for starvation and acute malnutrition have been reached, according to the IPC. Gathering data for mortality has been harder, but the IPC said it is reasonable to conclude from the evidence that the necessary threshold has likely been reached.
Most cases of severe malnutrition in children arise through a combination of lack of nutrients along with an infection, leading to diarrhea and other symptoms that cause dehydration, said Alex de Waal, author of “Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine” and executive director of the World Peace Foundation.
“There are no standard guidelines for physicians to classify cause of death as ‘malnutrition’ as opposed to infection,” he said.
Trump Department of Education rolls out latest step to expand school choice nationwide
The U.S. Department of Education aims to hand back powers to the states – before ultimately dismantling itself. The department on Thursday issued what is referred to as a “Dear Colleague Letter to State and Local Education Agencies” The letters aim to explain “more efficient and effective ways to best meet students’ needs” The department notes that private school families are federal taxpayers and their students, therefore, are eligible recipients of services similar to their public school peers using federal funding. “The Trump Administration is committed to expanding education choice and ensuring parents can choose an education option that is best for their child,” an official said. “Federal taxpayer dollars should support the best education outcomes for students regardless of where they attend school,” the official added. The letters are considered the fourth piece of guidance the department has issued on expanding school choice options under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) The guidance was billed as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to ensure parents can choice safe learning environments for their children.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
FIRST ON FOX – The Trump administration is rolling out what will be the fourth legal pathway for bolstering school choice nationwide as the U.S. Department of Education aims to hand back powers to the states – before ultimately dismantling itself.
The department on Thursday issued what is referred to as a “Dear Colleague Letter to State and Local Education Agencies,” providing additional guidance to help state and local school districts better serve students who attend private schools but who are still eligible for federally funded academic support. The letters aim to explain “more efficient and effective ways to best meet students’ needs.”
Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), eligible private school students are entitled to Title I-A funded equitable services, which can include one-on-one tutoring, summer school programs or counseling programs.
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Since its passage in 1965, private school students and teachers have been eligible to participate in federal education programs sponsored under the law. The department said lawmakers determined that ESEA programs benefit children – as opposed to schools – and if a child is eligible, he or she may receive program services. Though Title I-A funds don’t go to private schools, their students and teachers may still receive services provided or facilitated through the local educational agency (LEA).
Supreme Court Rules On Trump’s Mass Layoffs At Education Department
Education Secretary Linda McMahon outside the White House on July 15, 2025.
The department notes that private school families are federal taxpayers and their students, therefore, are eligible recipients of services similar to their public school peers using federal funding. The letters also point out that private school students generate a proportion of the Title I-A federal funding that local education agencies receive. The Department of Education said those agencies are encouraged to work with private school officials to identify ways to best support eligible students.
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“It has been a banner year for school choice – from President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill federal school choice tax credit to the Department’s guidance to states on how to expand choice under existing law, the Trump Administration is using all available tools to expand school options for students and parents,” Department of Education deputy press secretary Ellen Keast said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “President Trump and Secretary McMahon are working to ensure every child has access to an excellent education that best fits their unique learning needs.”
“Federal taxpayer dollars should support the best education outcomes for students regardless of where they attend school,” Hayley Sanon, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in a statement. “The Trump Administration is committed to expanding education choice and ensuring parents can choose an education option that is best for their child.”
“Improving how equitable services are provided means students in private school can have access to services and supports that best meet their unique learning needs,” Sanon added.
Thursday’s letters are considered the fourth piece of guidance the Department of Education has issued on expanding education choice options under ESEA.
President Donald Trump campaigned on dismantling the Education Department.
Sparks Fly Between Education Secretary Linda Mcmahon And Dem Rep. Watson Coleman: ‘You Should Feel Shameful’
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In late March, the Department of Education issued guidance encouraging states to use federal Title I funds to expand school choice options for families. That letter highlighted ways states and local districts can reserve funds for direct student services such as advanced coursework, tutoring, dual enrollment and career training, giving parents more say in their children’s education.
Department officials said the move was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to increase flexibility and support for families seeking personalized learning opportunities.
Sanon sent another letter in May urging states to strengthen how they identify and respond to unsafe schools, highlighting provisions in federal law that require students in persistently dangerous schools – or those who are victims of violent crimes at school – to be offered safer alternatives. The department noted that very few schools are formally designated as unsafe despite widespread reports of violent incidents, and Sanon urged states to adopt stronger definitions, improve data collection, and expand school choice options, including transfers and charter schools. The guidance was billed as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to ensure parents can choose safe learning environments for their children.
The Department of Education is handing powers back to state and local school districts.
In June, the Department of Education also encouraged states and districts to expand school choice options for families in schools identified as low-performing under federal law. The guidance outlines how local education agencies can use federal Title I funds to support improvement plans that include parent-selected options such as tutoring, dual enrollment or career training – and even allow transfers from chronically struggling schools. Again, the Trump administration billed the initiative as part of a broader effort to give parents more meaningful input in their children’s education and ensure access to higher-quality learning opportunities.
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The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Education Secretary Linda McMahon to fire hundreds of employees last month, a move that advances President Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle the department. As Trump campaigned on shutting the department down and outsourcing some of its responsibilities to other agencies, McMahon has said its “final mission” is to hand back educational powers to the states.
Trump celebrated last month’s ruling on social media, writing: “The Federal Government has been running our Education System into the ground, but we are going to turn it all around by giving the Power back to the PEOPLE.”
Original article source: Trump Department of Education rolls out latest step to expand school choice nationwide
Israeli data shows 83 percent of Gaza war dead are civilians: Report
A classified Israeli military database shows the vast majority of Palestinians killed in Gaza are civilians, according to a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call. As of May 2025, Israeli military intelligence had listed 8,900 fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as confirmed or “probably” dead. Gaza’s health authorities recorded at least 53,000 deaths from Israeli attacks, meaning that named fighters accounted for just 17 percent of those killed, with civilians at about about 83 percent of the total death toll. Only the Rwandan genocide, the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, and Russia’s 2022 siege of Mariupol recorded a higher civilian death rate.
Figures reviewed by the outlets revealed on Thursday indicate that, as of May 2025 – 19 months into Israel’s war on Gaza – Israeli military intelligence had listed 8,900 fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as confirmed or “probably” dead.
Over the same period, Gaza’s health authorities recorded at least 53,000 deaths from Israeli attacks, meaning that named fighters accounted for just 17 percent of those killed, with civilians at about about 83 percent of the total death toll.
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Conflict researchers say that ratio is almost unparalleled in modern warfare. Only the Rwandan genocide, the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, and Russia’s 2022 siege of Mariupol recorded a higher civilian death rate, the authors noted.
Rights groups and genocide scholars argue the findings further support claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, pointing to mass civilian deaths alongside deliberate starvation.
When asked to comment by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, the Israeli military did not deny the existence of the intelligence database or the listed figures for Hamas and PIJ casualties.
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Instead, a spokesperson said “figures presented in the article are incorrect”, but did not clarify which numbers were disputed. The statement also claimed the data does “not reflect the data available in the [Israeli military’s] systems”, without explaining what those systems contained.
Israeli politicians and military leaders have long inflated fighter death tolls, at times claiming as many as 20,000 fighters killed or insisting on a civilian-to-combatant ratio of 1:1 – figures that the report notes they do not believe in private.
Meanwhile, Israeli rhetoric has increasingly mirrored genocidal language.
In leaked audio recordings aired on Israel’s Channel 12, Aharon Haliva, the former head of military intelligence, claimed, “The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations.”
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He went further, saying: “For each [victim] on 7 October, 50 Palestinians have to die … There’s no choice, they need a Nakba every now and then to feel the consequences.” The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, refers to the killing and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 to make way for the creation of Israel.
By March, Gaza’s death toll had reached 50,000; it has since risen to beyond 62,000, according to the enclave’s health ministry. The total number of wounded has now exceeded 157,000.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between October 2023 and May 2024.
Netanyahu says he will push ahead with Gaza City takeover and renewed ceasefire talks
Israeli strikes kill at least 36 Palestinians Thursday across Gaza, hospitals say. Netanyahu says he will give final approval for the takeover of Gaza City. He will also restart negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all the remaining hostages. Israeli military has begun calling medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation. The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand.” “We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don’t want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it’s enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,” said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City, who is now in Israel. “How much blood will be spilled?” protesters marched Thursday night in Tel Aviv.
The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days. Netanyahu’s approval was expected during a meeting with senior security officials late Thursday, but no decision was announced before midnight in Jerusalem. Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which — if accepted by Israel — could forestall the offensive.
The Israeli military has begun calling medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip to encourage them to evacuate to the south ahead of the expanded operation. The military plans to call up 60,000 reservists and extend the service of 20,000 more.
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Israeli strikes, meanwhile, killed at least 36 Palestinians Thursday across Gaza, according to local hospitals. A renewed offensive could bring even more casualties and displacement to the territory, where the war has already killed tens of thousands and where experts have warned of imminent famine.
Many Israelis fear the operation could also doom the remaining 20 or so living hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
Gaza City operation could begin in days
During a visit to the military’s Gaza command in southern Israel, Netanyahu said he would approve the army’s plans to retake Gaza City and had instructed officials “to begin immediate negotiations” for the release of all hostages “and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel.”
“These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” he said.
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It appeared to mark Israel’s first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar. Egyptian and Hamas officials say it is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month.
The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire.
Israeli troops have already begun more limited operations in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, areas where they have carried out several previous large-scale raids over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup.
The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities.
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So far, there has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza, and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe.
Protests in Israel and Gaza
Hundreds gathered Thursday for a rare protest in Gaza City against the war and Israel’s plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries.
Women and children held placards reading “Save Gaza” and “Stop the war, stop the savage attack, save us,” against a backdrop of destroyed buildings as Palestinian music played. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas.
“We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don’t want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it’s enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,” said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City.
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In Israel, protesters marched Thursday night in Tel Aviv holding banners that read “The people will bring back the hostages” and “How much blood will be spilled?”
Among the demonstrators was Dudu Dotan, who said Netanyahu is endangering the remaining hostages by moving forward with the planned Gaza City offensive. Of the 50 still being held in Gaza, Israel believes about 20 hostages are still alive.
“This way will not bring the hostages back,” Dotan said. “Every hostage he brought back, he brought back through deals. And every time he tried to bring them back with military force, he caused the hostages to be killed.”
Plans for widening the offensive have also sparked international outrage, with many of Israel’s closest Western allies — but not the United States — calling on it to end the war.
Dozens killed across Gaza
At least 36 Palestinians were killed Thursday by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip, including 14 who were seeking humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals. The military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
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The Israeli military said it killed several armed militants in the Morag Corridor, a military zone where people seeking aid have repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, according to witnesses and health officials. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza had earlier reported that six people were killed in that area while seeking aid on Thursday. It was not possible to reconcile the two accounts.
The Media Freedom Coalition, which promotes press freedoms worldwide, called Thursday for Israel to allow independent foreign news organizations access to Gaza. Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media during the war, in which at least 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed.
“Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war,” said a statement signed by 27 of the coalition’s member countries.
Israeli strikes destroy evacuated tent camp
Israeli airstrikes also destroyed a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, the only city in Gaza that has been relatively unscathed in the war and where many have sought refuge. Residents said the Israeli military warned them to flee shortly before the strikes set the camp ablaze, and there were no reports of casualties.
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Families, many with children, could later be seen sifting through the ashes for the belongings they had managed to take with them during earlier evacuations.
Mohammad Kahlout, who had been displaced from northern Gaza, said they were given just five minutes to gather what they could and evacuate. “We are civilians, not terrorists. What did we do, and what did our children do, to be displaced again?”
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 62,192 Palestinians have been killed in the war. Another two people have died from malnutrition-related causes, bringing the total number of such deaths to 271, including 112 children, the Health Ministry said.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. It does not say whether those killed by Israeli fire are civilians or combatants, but it says around half were women and children. The U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.
Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Palestinian factions begin handing over weapons at Beirut refugee camp
Palestinian factions start handing over some of the weapons held in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut to the Lebanese army. One pickup left the camp loaded with weapons packed in bags. The removal of weapons from the camps was announced in May during a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Lebanon. But not all Palestinian factions have agreed to abide by the decision, and Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not respond to requests for comment. The step was seen as a precursor to the much more difficult step of disarming the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which last year fought a bruising war with Israel. The group has been under domestic and international pressure since then to give up its remaining arsenal, which it has so far refused to do. the extent to which the decision would actually be implemented remained unclear. Some officials with the Palestinian factions said only “illegal” weapons would be handed over, not those belonging to organized factions.
It was a modest first step. One pickup left the camp loaded with weapons packed in bags. The butts of machine guns could be seen protruding from some of the sacks, while others contained rocket-propelled grenades.
The removal of weapons from the camps was announced in May during a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Lebanon, during which he and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun announced that arms would be consolidated under the authority of the Lebanese government.
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But not all Palestinian factions have agreed to abide by the decision.
Representatives of Hamas and the allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Hamas sent a statement signed by “the Palestinian Factions in Lebanon” that called Thursday’s handover of weapons “an internal organizational matter within the Fatah movement” that “has no connection, near or far, to the issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps.”
It added, “Our weapons have always been and will always be linked to the right of return and the just Palestinian cause and will remain so as long as the occupation remains on Palestinian soil.”
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The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren’t under the control of Lebanese authorities, and rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas. Palestinian groups have also periodically launched rockets across the border into Israel.
The step of removing weapons from the camps was seen as a precursor to the much more difficult step of disarming the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which last year fought a bruising war with Israel . The group has been under domestic and international pressure since then to give up its remaining arsenal, which it has so far refused to do.
Implementation of the plan for the Palestinian camps was delayed amid disagreements among and within the various Palestinian factions operating in Lebanon, which include Abbas’ Fatah movement, the rival Hamas group and a range of other Islamist and leftist groups, over the mechanism for handing over the weapons.
Ramez Dimashkieh, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a government body that serves as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, said in a statement that the handover of weapons Thursday at the Burj al-Barajneh camp south of Beirut “will be the first step, with further batches to be delivered in the coming weeks from Burj al-Barajneh camp and the rest of the camps,” the statement said.
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Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesperson for Abbas, said in a statement that weapons were also handed over Thursday at al-Bass camp in southern Lebanon and would continue in other camps in implementation of the agreement between Abbas and the Lebanese government.
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack congratulated the Lebanese government and Fatah “for their agreement on voluntary disarmament in Beirut camps.” In a post on X, he called it “a historic step toward unity and stability, showing true commitment to peace and cooperation.”
However, the extent to which the decision would actually be implemented remained unclear. Some officials with the Palestinian factions said only “illegal” weapons would be handed over, not those belonging to organized factions. They also said personal light weapons would not be included.
Badih al-Habet, a spokesperson for Fatah in Beirut, told reporters that Aoun had acknowledged that “personal weapons are part of Arab and national culture.”
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There are nearly 500,000 Palestinians registered with UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, in Lebanon. However, the actual number in the country is believed to be around 200,000, as many have emigrated but remain on the organiztion’s roster.
They are prohibited from working in many professions, have few legal protections and can’t own property.