Thousands of Palestinians cut off from water – War on Gaza Day 639

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Thousands of Palestinians cut off from water – War on Gaza Day 639
Rescue workers extinguish a fire at the scene of Israeli army strikes on Gaza City (Khames Alrefi/Anadolu)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israeli forces killed at least 100 people in Gaza Sunday, including 11 aid seekers.

Two Palestinians were also killed in the West Bank.

For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Sunday, go here.

GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:

(To understand what’s going on right now between Gaza and Israel, go here. For a bit more critical background, skim this, this, and this. To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)

THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES CUT OFF FROM WATER: A municipality spokesman has told Al Jazeera that thousands of families in eastern Gaza City have been without water for about a week. Asem al-Nabi said the water blockade means Palestinians there are now suffering from a state of dehydration that cannot be addressed without external intervention.

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM FREEDOM FLOTILLA COALITION: “We are setting sail again. On July 13, 2025 our boat Handala will depart from Siracusa, Italy to break Israel’s illegal blockade. This mission is for the children of Gaza. Just weeks ago, Israeli forces illegally seized our boat Madleen and abducted 12 unarmed civilians aboard her in international waters. Since March, more than 6,572 Palestinians have been killed, over 23,000 injured, and hundreds shot while waiting for food. The children of Gaza now face famine, disease, and trauma few of us can imagine. We are not governments. We are people taking action where institutions have failed. We are not backing down” (read about the Madleen here).

THE ISRAELI ARMY BLOWS UP A SCHOOL IN RAFAH:

ISRAELI CABINET GRUDGINGLY AGREES TO FEED GAZA: The Israeli government voted in a Saturday meeting to expand the distribution of humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, much to the exasperation of hardline ministers. According to reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged during the meeting that Palestinians are starving under Israel’s ongoing blockade. An Israeli official noted Sunday that the distribution would be handled by international aid organizations – not by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which leading human rights organizations say is a key element in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world

CEASEFIRE NEWS:

(To get an idea about past ceasefires between Gaza and Israel and how they ended, check out this and this.)

Netanyahu Has Found a New and Absurd Reason to Blow Up the Gaza Cease-fire Deal

This weekend saw Israel and Hamas moving closer to a cease-fire agreement in Gaza. Hamas announced on Friday night that it would not be rejecting the latest truce outright, instead proposing some adjustments. But despite the cautious optimism expressed by the mediating countries of United States, Qatar and Egypt, serious obstacles remain, and a deal is far from a foregone conclusion.

The foundations of the agreement, which was presented by Hamas to Qatar but in essence was jointly written by the Netanyahu government and the Trump administration, stipulate a temporary 60-day cease-fire in return for the release of only half of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza. This is completely in line with the demands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which are based on his political needs.

Netanyahu is trying to stop the far-right elements in his coalition from toppling the government, which they have vowed to do if Israel stops fighting and enters a deal to release the hostages, by convincing them that he will renew the war at the end of the two-month hiatus (continue reading here).

Several of the amendments requested by Hamas in the latest iteration were “not acceptable to Israel” – amendments that reportedly include a demand that talks for a permanent ceasefire continue until a deal is reached, that humanitarian aid flow resume through UN mechanisms, and that Israeli troops withdraw to positions they held before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March. 

RELATED: The Hamas Response to Trump’s Gaza “Ceasefire” Proposal

WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS AND HEADLINES:

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this.)

Residents of West Bank Village Forced Out After Settlers Set Up Nearby Outpost

Hundreds of residents of the Bedouin village of Mu’arrajat, near Jericho in the West Bank, were forcibly displaced from their homes on Friday in one of the largest expulsions in the territory since the start of the war in Gaza. The displacement followed the establishment of an Israeli settler outpost inside the village on Wednesday.

According to local residents, the community had been subjected to settler harassment, violence and theft for years. The final decision to leave came Thursday night, after settlers vandalized a family’s home and stole around 60 sheep.

Village residents said about 50 families once lived there, but many had gradually left over the past two years as settler violence intensified (continue reading here).

Israeli Forces Execute Two Palestinians Near Nablus

Land grabs, settler violence in occupied West Bank ‘on the rise’

Israeli Colonizers Bulldoze Land Near Ramallah

Army Shoots Three Children in the New Askar Refugee Camp

OTHER NEWS AND HEADLINES:

Stateless Palestinian Woman Details ‘Very Traumatizing’ Abuse Suffered in ICE Detention

A newlywed Palestinian woman from Texas released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention earlier this week says she was shackled for long periods, denied food and water, and subjected to other human rights abuses during nearly five months in ICE custody—all because she is a stateless person.

Sakeik’s parents subsequently applied for—and were denied—asylum in the U.S. but were allowed to remain legally in the country pending routine check-ins with ICE.

After graduating high school and the University of Texas, Arlington, starting a wedding photography business, marrying a U.S. citizen, and beginning the process of obtaining a green card, Sakeik and her husband went on their honeymoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was detained shortly after arriving back in the United States after Customs and Border Protection agents flagged her for flying over international waters—a move that Department of Homeland Security officials said violated immigration policy (continue reading here).

RECORD NUMBER OF DETAINEES: The Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office has said that the number of Palestinians held without charge in Israeli prisons has reached “the highest number ever recorded”. It said the number had risen above 3,600, a figure it described as “dangerous”. The majority of Palestinian prisoners are arrested under a quasi-judicial process known as administrative detention, under which they are initially jailed for six months. Their detentions can then be repeatedly extended for an indefinite period without charge or trial (more on administrative detention here).

TIME’S UP ON ULTRA-ORTHODOX MILITARY EXEMPTION: The Israeli military has announced it will begin sending draft notices to members of the ultra-Orthodox community this week as the law giving them exemptions from military service has expired. In all, 54,000 summonses will be issued, the army said in a statement. It added that the army intends to ramp up its “enforcement actions against draft evaders and deserters from the entire population”.

 

Crew abandons cargo ship in Red Sea after grenade attack

Israeli airstrikes hit towns in northern, eastern Lebanon despite ceasefire

Israel continues violations of Syria’s sovereignty, destroys several sites in occupied Golan Heights

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JULY 6, 2025:

  • At least 58,529 Palestinians killed, 145,847 injured – including:
  • at least 57,523 killed in Gaza (~16,500 children) 
  • at least 1,006 killed in the West Bank (~202 children)
  • at least 136,617 injured in Gaza
  • at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, it has killed at least 6,964 people. 35 Israeli soldiers (most recent July 4) have been killed during the same time period.

At least 758 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – July 6, 2025: ~1,622 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 439 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 223 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 185 and 291 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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