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Gaza’s stolen childhood: UNICEF says 28 Palestinian children die every day

Gaza’s stolen childhood: UNICEF says 28 Palestinian children die every day
By Lyndal Rowlands, Caolán Magee, Nils Adler, Stephen Quillen and Edna Mohamed
Published On 5 Aug 2025

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18 Aug 2025 - 19:01
 (19:01 GMT)
Developing

Trump says he believes peace ‘very attainable’

Trump reiterated his position that a ceasefire wasn’t necessarily needed, but that he believed a peace agreement was nevertheless “very attainable”.

“It can be done in the near future,” he said.

5 Aug 2025 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

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Stay up to date with our latest coverage on Israel’s war on Palestine here.

Watch our video on how Gaza will treat the more than 150,000 people wounded people, here.

Read our piece on how much aid has actually gone into Gaza here.

5 Aug 2025 - 23:47
 (23:47 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing this live page soon, but before we do, here are the day’s major developments:

  • At least 83 people have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza, including 58 aid seekers.
  • Approximately 28 children are being killed daily in Gaza due to Israeli attacks and its siege on humanitarian assistance, the UN reported.
  • The Palestinian Civil Defence appealed to the UN and aid agencies for “urgent assistance and intervention” to supply the enclave with fuel for equipment to rescue the wounded.
  • The Israeli army said that six countries have airdropped 110 more aid packages into the enclave, bringing the total amount of airdropped packages since July 27 to 785.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met top security officials to discuss war options, including the full occupation of Gaza.
  • European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera has slammed reports of Netanyahu’s push to fully occupy Gaza, referring to it as an “unacceptable provocation”.
  • Israeli Knesset member Ofer Cassif was forcibly removed from the podium after he cited an Israeli writer who said they could no longer ignore the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
  • At least one person was killed in an Israeli drone attack that hit a vehicle near the town of Brital in Lebanon.
  • Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned Israel against waging another large-scale war against Lebanon, saying that would lead to a barrage of retaliatory missiles across Israel.
5 Aug 2025 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

The window for saving lives in Gaza is closing: Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement that would enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance and facilitate contact with captives held in Gaza.

In a statement, it said it is ready to provide medicine, food and messages from families to the captives, but emphasised that such efforts require a prior agreement between the concerned parties.

“Only a lasting agreement between the parties can end the suffering endured by hostages and their families as well as the millions in Gaza who are struggling to secure the essentials for survival,” it said.

“With acute food shortages worsening by the day, civilians in Gaza must have immediate and sustained access to food along with safe water, medical and hygiene supplies, and other essentials needed to survive and live in dignity.

“The window for saving lives in Gaza is closing. The time to act is now,” it warned.

5 Aug 2025 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

US ‘may’ take over aid distribution management in Gaza

US media is reporting that Washington is expected to significantly increase its role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

According to the reports, during a meeting between US Special Envoy Witkoff and President Donald Trump on Monday, an official said it was decided that the Trump administration would “take over” management of humanitarian efforts in the enclave because Israel wasn’t “handling it adequately”.

While the official said Trump was “not thrilled” about the US taking charge, “it kind of has to happen”, an unnamed official said in the report.

Some in the Trump administration are getting worried over reports that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu wants to expand the war, the report added.

5 Aug 2025 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Photos: Israeli demonstrators demand release of captives held in Gaza

Israeli police detain a protester as demonstrators and relatives of captives block a road demanding the immediate release of captives who were kidnapped during the October 7 attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel [Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters]
[Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters]
[Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters]
[Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters]

5 Aug 2025 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

WATCH: Israeli MP says genocide denial and fascism rising in the Knesset

5 Aug 2025 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Gaza man struggles under Israel’s starvation tactics, losing half his body weight

Salim Asfour, a 75-year-old man in Gaza, is almost as old as the state of Israel.

He has lost half his body weight because of Israeli-induced starvation, which has now killed at least 188 Palestinians in addition to the more than 1,500 Palestinians who have been killed trying to get aid from US-backed distribution sites.

Watch the video below:

5 Aug 2025 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Massive Gaza aid flotilla to depart for enclave in late August

A civilian flotilla made up of four initiatives, including the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Global Movement to Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, and Sumud Nusantara, is set to depart for Gaza at the end of the month.

Speaking at a press conference, organiser Haifa Mansouri said: “Dozens of boats will set sail from ports across the world, converging on Gaza in the largest civilian flotilla of its kind in history”.

The first convoy will leave Spanish ports on August 31, followed by a second from Tunisian ports on September 4.

Another organiser, Seif Abu Keshk, said more than 6,000 activists have already registered online to join the massive flotilla.

“This is a renewed attempt to pressure governments by sending dozens of ships and thousands of activists to break Gaza’s blockade,” Abu Keshk noted.

The announcement comes days after the Handala aid vessel was intercepted by Israeli forces last week as it neared Gaza.

5 Aug 2025 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)

Israeli forces shoot 3 people, including child, during West Bank raid

Israeli forces have stormed the Am’ari camp in the occupied West Bank and opened fire, injuring at least three people.

The Wafa news agency reported that among the wounded is a nine-year-old child shot in the back.

The report added that Palestinian Red Cross medics were initially blocked from entering the camp, but were later able to reach the injured.

5 Aug 2025 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Potential Israeli expansion in Gaza ‘deeply alarming’: UN

UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca has said reports that Israel could deepen its military presence in Gaza are “deeply alarming”.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Jenca said such a move “would risk catastrophic consequences … and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza”.

“International law is clear in the regard. Gaza is and must remain an integral part of the future Palestinian state,” he said.

Israeli soldiers and Israeli military vehicles are seen during a ground invasion of Gaza [File: Handout via Israeli military]
5 Aug 2025 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Lebanon cabinet meeting on Hezbollah disarmament ‘unprecedented’

As we reported earlier, Lebanon’s cabinet has met to discuss Hezbollah’s arsenal after the US ramped up pressure on ministers to publicly commit to disarm the group amid fears Israel could intensify strikes if they fail to do so.

The government commissioned the army to present a disarmament plan before the end of the month.

But Qassem said Hezbollah would not accept any timetable on handing over its weapons to the Lebanese state while Israeli strikes continue. Instead he called on the government to make plans to face threats and pressure

“A divided government discussed one of the most divisive issues in Lebanon: the fate of Hezbollah’s weapons,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said, reporting from Beirut.

“It’s unprecedented for a Lebanese government to do so, and it shows a big shift in the balance of power after Israel’s war on the group last year. And it’s doing so under pressure from the United States and Israel, who want a formal commitment and a timeline to disarm Hezbollah.”

5 Aug 2025 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)
Houthi

Trump says possible occupation of Gaza ‘up to Israel’

Speaking to reporters, the US president declined to weigh in on reports that Israel may launch a full-scale occupation of Gaza.

Trump said his administration would focus on getting more food into Gaza and leave the rest of it “pretty much up to Israel”.

Israeli media reports suggest Netanyahu is leaning towards a full occupation, putting him at odds with his army chief.

5 Aug 2025 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)
Developing

Israeli forces arrest two people during raid near Jenin

At least two people have been arrested by Israeli forces during a raid on the town of Burqin, west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

5 Aug 2025 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

‘This is a crisis, on the brink of famine,’ UN warns of situation in Gaza

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder says even though the world’s media are giving the sense that the situation in Gaza is improving, unless there is “sustained humanitarian aid, … there will be horrific results.”

“When food comes in which supports 30,000 children, there are still 970,000 children not getting enough. It is a drop in the ocean,” Elder said at a news conference.

A spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, said some aid trucks are indeed entering the enclave, but there should be “hundreds and hundreds of trucks entering Gaza every day for months or years to come”.

“People are dying every day. This is a crisis, on the brink of famine,” he said, adding that tonnes of aid remained at the border, held up by bureaucracy and a lack of safe access.

[Al Jazeera]
5 Aug 2025 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Israel kills an average 28 Palestinian children daily in Gaza

Approximately 28 children are being killed daily in Gaza due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment and its restrictions on the delivery of direly needed humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.

“Death by bombardments. Death by malnutrition and starvation. Death by lack of aid and vital services,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a post on X on Tuesday.

“In Gaza, an average of 28 children a day – the size of a classroom – have been killed.”

The agency stressed that children in Gaza are in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and protection, adding: “More than anything, they need a ceasefire, NOW.”

Read more here.

5 Aug 2025 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

European Commission VP slams plans to occupy Gaza as ‘unacceptable’

European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera has slammed reports of Netanyahu’s push to fully occupy Gaza, referring to it as an “unacceptable provocation”.

“No excuses. The demands are simple and obvious: liberation of hostages, ceasefire, full access to humanitarian aid, full respect to human rights, transparencia and condemn of the horrifying use of violence and starvation,” Ribera wrote in a social media post.

According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu is pushing for a plan to occupy the Strip, even if it puts the captives at risk, in a bid to “defeat” Hamas.

Ribera, a member of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party, called out European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the College of Commissioners for failing to address the humanitarian situation engulfing the enclave.

“Europe must react and consolidate itself as a political actor … and mobilise the principles that inspired the construction of the European project,” Ribera urged.

5 Aug 2025 - 20:40
 (20:40 GMT)
Developing

Israeli attack destroys UNRWA clinic near Gaza City

An Israeli raid has destroyed a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) clinic west of Gaza City, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

We will bring you more on this as soon as we can.

5 Aug 2025 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

WATCH: How will Gaza care for the 150,000 wounded in Israel’s war?

On top of the more than 61,000 people killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, more than 150,000 have been wounded.

Many of those have life-altering injuries that will require years of specialised treatment. But with Gaza’s health system in collapse, what will this mean for survivors in the years to come?

Watch the latest episode of Inside Story:

5 Aug 2025 - 20:25
 (20:25 GMT)
Developing

Israeli drone hits car in Lebanon, killing at least one person

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that a “hostile drone” targeted a vehicle near the town of Brital in the Baalbek district, killing one person.

A Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera the attack consisted of two Israeli strikes that incinerated the targeted vehicle.