Israel Intensifies Genocide in Gaza as US Deploys Diplomats to Salvage Occupation Deal

Israel’s campaign in Gaza continues to kill Palestinians at a staggering scale while U.S. officials shuttle in and out of Israel to manage a fragile ceasefire and regional fallout.

“The UN reported a 13% increase in settler assaults in the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year, amid ongoing Israeli control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza since 1967”

NationalTurk

Gaza’s Health Ministry figures cited by Israeli outlet Haaretz report over 68,000 Palestinians killed and 170,000 injured.

NationalTurk

Al Jazeera Net reports roughly 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed since Israel began its assault, which Al Jazeera Net says was initiated by Israel with U.S. backing on October 8, 2023.

Newsbook reports that the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants accusing Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, of using starvation as a method of warfare by restricting aid and targeting civilians.

The International Court of Justice pressed Israel to allow humanitarian relief.

Diario AS frames U.S. engagement as “cautious optimism” after a high-level meeting in Israel about a ceasefire but underscores that significant challenges remain.

Even as U.S. envoys move to sustain a ceasefire, Israel’s parliament advanced annexation moves in the occupied West Bank that entrench control over Palestinians.

NBC News reports a 25-24 preliminary Knesset vote to extend Israeli law to the Maale Adumim settlement—an effective annexation step still needing three more votes.

Jewish Insider

South China Morning Post notes a similar 25-24 preliminary approval to extend Israeli law across parts of the West Bank amid a U.S. vice-presidential visit and following a UN court ruling that Israel’s occupation and settlements are illegal.

Middle East Eye describes Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s broader plan to annex most of the West Bank, reduce the Palestinian population under direct Israeli rule, and dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

Daily Sabah adds that Netanyahu openly rejects a Palestinian state and that two annexation bills advanced despite Likud warnings about harming U.S. ties.

Shafaq News reports that Netanyahu asked to delay a vote, the U.S. opposed it, but the preliminary bill still passed 25-24, with a separate Ma’ale Adumim measure approved 32-9.

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian farmers and foreign activists during the olive harvest.

“Israel’s parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill that would extend Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, effectively annexing territory claimed by Palestinians for a future state”

South China Morning Post

Israeli authorities deported 32 international volunteers and imposed a 99-year entry ban on them.

Al Jazeera reports that the 99-year ban comes amid a surge in settler assaults that have killed Palestinians and displaced thousands since October 7, 2023.

Roya News details that Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin announced the deportations following a complaint from settler leader Yossi Dagan, with detainees held without judicial review.

Asharq Al-Awsat reports that the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Israel’s arrests and quotes British activist Rudy Schulkind describing 72 hours of detention without judicial review after his arrest near Nablus.

Yeni Safak English adds that authorities accused the deported activists of having links to a Palestinian agricultural NGO and connected the move to recent raids and arrests.

United News of Bangladesh and Daijiworld document masked settlers beating harvesters in Turmus Ayya, torching vehicles, and hospitalizing a woman.

Despite police promises of accountability, the assaults have continued.

Israeli forces have intensified raids and detentions across the West Bank alongside settler attacks.

Since October 2023, Israeli operations have killed over 1,056 Palestinians, injured 10,300, and detained more than 20,000, according to Anadolu Agency.

Siasat

Newsbook reports that more than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are imprisoned under harsh conditions.

Israeli forces recently arrested 45 Palestinians in raids that damaged homes and assaulted families.

İlke Haber Ajansı lists simultaneous raids and checkpoints in cities like Hebron, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Nablus, Tubas, and Jenin, with some detainees beaten.

The outlet notes a sharp post-October 2023 surge in arrests.

The outlet usmuslims adds allegations of torture, starvation, and medical neglect in Israeli prisons.

It claims numerous deaths and over 1,056 killed in the West Bank since October 2023.

Competing accounts of a ceasefire and stabilization plans highlight the gap between diplomatic statements and the situation on the ground.

“The Zionist entity designated six NGOs, including the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), as terrorist organizations in 2021, a move condemned by the UN”

Kuwait Times

Ommcom News claims a recent peace deal between Israel and Hamas resulted in an almost complete hostage-prisoner exchange and envisions an International Stabilisation Force for Gaza.

Kuwait Times

According to Ommcom News, about 200 U.S. troops are preparing in Israel to supervise the force, while Indonesia has offered 20,000 troops.

These arrangements have not been confirmed by other news sources.

Haaretz reports a ceasefire track involving Islamic Jihad brokered in Sharm el-Sheikh and a U.S.-backed cooperation center in Kiryat Gat to maintain the truce and aid delivery.

Haaretz also mentions an International Court of Justice order for Israel to support UN relief efforts while rejecting alleged links between UNRWA and Hamas.

Diario AS states that U.S. officials expressed cautious optimism after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Newsbook focuses on a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire and the International Court of Justice's examination of Israel's aid restrictions and UNRWA ban.

Newsbook also highlights International Criminal Court warrants accusing Israeli leaders of using starvation as a method of warfare.

Together, these reports illustrate ongoing U.S. diplomatic efforts alongside Israeli military and legislative actions that continue to negatively impact Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.