Location at a glance: Israel’s finance minister is driving ahead with settlement construction

In the case of attacks by the Israeli army, dozens of people were killed again in the Gaza Strip according to Palestinian information. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that there are said to have been around half of the fatalities in the city of Gaza in the north of the sealed coastal strip. The information could not be checked independently. Israel’s right -wing extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile wants to continue the settlement building in the West Bank.

As the newspaper “Times of Israel” reported, the minister plans to approved tenders for the construction of around 3,400 additional settlers. Smotrich was cited with the words, this step “buried the idea of a Palestinian state”.

In 1967 Israel had conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where today more than 700,000 settlers live in the middle of around three million Palestinians. The Israeli settlements there are illegal under international law.

The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state with East Jerusalem as the capital. The United Nations see the Israeli settlements as a great obstacle to peace regulation because they would hardly allow a coherent territory for the Palestinians in a possible two -state solution. The two -state solution means that Israel and an independent Palestinian state exist peacefully by side.

Reports about hunger death in Gaza

According to the health authority in the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas, eight people, including three children, died as a result of malnutrition. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York that from the beginning of the year until August 5, “49 confirmed deaths of children were reported by malnutrition, including 39 in the age of five”. In contrast, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently claimed that there was no hunger in Gaza.

Again and again there are reports of fatal incidents near the distribution points operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The foundation is supported by Israel and the United States and began in the sealed coastal area in May after Israel ended its almost three -month blockade for auxiliary deliveries.

Israel’s army chief approves further war plans

The UN Nothilfebüro Ocha cited information from the Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip, according to which 1,859 people have been killed in the attempt to get relief supplies. More than 13,590 were also injured. Many of the approximately two million residents of the Gaza Strip have to cross dangerous war zone to get aid deliveries.

Meanwhile, Israel’s army chief approved the deployment plans for the expansion of the war decided by Netanyahu’s security cabinet. General chief of staff Ejal Zamir “approved the main framework for the operating plan of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip,” said the army. According to Netanyahu, in addition to taking the city of Gaza, the plan also provides for the destruction of Hamas in the central refugee camps. So far there is no specific schedule for the expansion of the war.

Warning of great risks

According to media reports, army chief Zamir had warned of major risks of the plan. He endangers soldiers and the hostages that are suspected in the city of Gaza. In addition, he is said to have pointed out the exhaustion of the troops and a lack of staff. Israeli media reported great tensions between Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Netanyahu repeatedly said that military pressure was necessary to free the remaining hostages. His critics argue that he extends the war to appease his right -wing extremists in the coalition like Finance Minister Smotrich – a reproach that Netanyahu rejects. In order to be able to survive politically, the head of government is dependent on the support of his right -wing extremists.

Other reservists are to be moved in

In the end, army chief Zamir approved the guidelines of the political leadership, but, according to the army, emphasized the importance of “increasing the commitment of the troops” at the same time at a meeting and “to give them time to reorganize and recover”. Preparations for the convening of further reservists would also have to be made. The general staff, representative of the domestic secret service Schin Bet and other commanders took part in the meeting.

Reports about other deaths in Gaza

Meanwhile, dying continues in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian information, there were several air raids in the Israeli army the day before, including in the northern city of Gaza. Several buildings were shot at. Residents there are concerned that it could be preparations for a ground offensive of Israel.

Seven people were killed at a distribution center for relief supplies in an attack northwest, it said from medical circles. Seven other people, including five children, died in an air raid on their tent in the city. According to the Wafa agency, five people were killed in another incident, while south of Wadi Gaza were waiting for relief supplies in the central section of the coastal strip.

On request, a spokesman for the Israeli army announced that the military was not aware of any victims caused by fire in the army in the area of the Netzarim corridor in the center of the Gaza Strip. The corridor controlled by the army separates the area into a northern and southern half. There was initially no further information on the other attacks in Gaza.

The trigger of the war was the attack by Hamas and other Islamist terrorists on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 dragged to Gaza as hostages. Since then, according to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 61,700 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. The number that is barely verifiable does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.