U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to the Middle East to finalize the implementation of a humanitarian aid "corridor" for the Gaza Strip, a plan that has been "accepted" in principle by both parties to the conflict, the State Department said Tuesday.
Witkoff is heading to the region "with the firm hope that we will achieve a new cease-fire and establish a humanitarian corridor for aid delivery, which both parties have, in fact, agreed to," said spokesperson Tammy Bruce, speaking to reporters.
Bruce did not provide further details about the trip but vaguely referred to "the Gaza area." She noted the information came from a recent conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly before her daily briefing.
An Israeli drone crashed and exploded near a vehicle in Tebnine, in the Bint Jbeil district, according to our correspondent in South Lebanon.
UN chief condemns "unprecedented horror" in Gaza
UN Secretary-General António Guterres denounced the “horror” unfolding in war-ravaged Gaza, where, he said, death and destruction have reached a level “unprecedented in recent history.”
“Just look at the horror in Gaza — a level of death and destruction with no equivalent in recent history. Malnutrition is soaring. Famine is knocking at every door,” Guterres said during a U.N. Security Council meeting.
He warned that “we are now witnessing the collapse of a humanitarian system built on fundamental principles,” referring to growing obstacles facing UN aid efforts — though he did not mention the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) by name. The UN has refused to cooperate with GHF, whose aid distributions have sparked deadly chaos across the enclave.
“The humanitarian system is being denied the conditions it needs to operate. It’s being denied space. It’s being denied the security required to save lives,” Guterres said, once again urging for large-scale humanitarian access into Gaza.
“As Israeli military operations intensify and new evacuation orders are issued in Deir al-Balah [central Gaza], devastation is being piled on top of devastation,” he added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday that Turkey considers any attempt to divide Syria a threat to its national security and would intervene directly if such an attempt is made, according to Reuters. The ministry suggested the country could be divided into four.
The director of one of the largest hospitals in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday that 21 children had died of malnutrition and hunger in the past 72 hours.
"These deaths were recorded in hospitals in the Gaza Strip: al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, over the past 72 hours," Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which was the largest hospital in the Palestinian territory before the war, told a press briefing.
Gaza's Health Ministry reported that over the past 24 hours, 77 people were killed — including five while receiving humanitarian aid — and 376 others injured, while several victims remain trapped under rubble or stranded in the streets, as rescue and civil defense teams have so far been unable to reach them.
Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry has counted a total of 59,106 deaths and 142,511 injuries, and since the end of the cease-fire on March 18, 2025, 8,268 deaths and 30,470 injuries.
The U.N. accused the Israeli army on Tuesday of killing more than 1,000 people in Gaza since the end of May who were trying to get aid, the vast majority of them near sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF Foundation.
"As of July 21, we have recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to obtain food; 766 of them were killed near GHF sites and 288 near aid convoys from the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights told AFP, claiming that these people were killed "by the Israeli army."
According to MTV, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack noted that the official Lebanese position was unified, but described the country's response to the U.S. proposal as "incomplete," noting in particular that Hezbollah still refused to lay down its arms or set a timetable.
The National Commission of Inquiry into the March massacres in Syria announced Tuesday that it had identified 298 suspects involved in the atrocities against Alawites, confirming the deaths of 1,426 members of this minority.
"The commission has identified 298 people specifically implicated in the violence," its spokesman, Yasser al-Farhan, said at a press conference in Damascus.
The commission also noted "grave violations against civilians on March 7, 8, and 9, including murder, premeditated murder, looting, destruction and burning of homes, torture, and sectarian insults." The commission "verified the names of 1,426 people killed, including 90 women, most of them civilians" from the Alawite community.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs and Expatriates met with the U.N. Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, in the presence of MP Fady Alameh and members of the committee.
"The Lebanese state has requested the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate," Alameh said after the meeting.
"We discussed the events taking place on our eastern and northern borders and the fact that what is happening in Syria could affect Lebanon. Not to mention the displaced Syrians in Lebanon and the possibility for the U.N. to help them. We also discussed humanitarian aid and reconstruction. Lebanon may not receive reconstruction aid until it implements 1701 and the required reforms," he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said it was "unacceptable" that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were dying because they are unable to find "a piece of bread or a sip of water."
"No one with a modicum of human dignity can accept this cruelty, in which dozens of innocent people die every day because they cannot find a piece of bread or a sip of water," the Turkish president said during a speech in Istanbul.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned Tuesday of the "extremely high" risk of serious violations of international law following the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
"These Israeli airstrikes and ground operations will inevitably lead to further civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure," Türk said in a statement.
MP Walid Baarini said that "the proposal to deploy American, British and French forces in the occupied areas could be a solution" to ensure security on Lebanon's borders with its Syrian and Israeli neighbors.
"This initiative could even be extended to the entire southern region under international coverage, thus ensuring lasting stability and preventing future aggression and conflicts. These troops could also replace UNIFIL if its renewal fails," the MP said on Platform X.
In April, Walid Baarini declared himself "in favor of normalization with Israel."
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack after his meeting with Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The Israeli army "must stop" killing Palestinian civilians gathering at humanitarian aid distribution points in Gaza, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.
"I made it clear that the Israeli army must stop killing people at distribution points " for humanitarian aid, she said on X after speaking with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
A second missile fired from Yemen has crashed outside Israeli borders, according to a senior Israeli military official, whose comments were reported by The Times of Israel and Haaretz.
No alert was triggered, as the projectile did not pose a direct threat, they said.
Israeli fighter jets are flying over several locations in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, according to L'Orient Today's correspondents.
In an interview with the Voice of All Lebanon (Sawt kil Lebnen) radio station, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said that Lebanon's final response to the American proposal for a lasting cease-fire will be presented to the government at an upcoming meeting.
He clarified that no specific timetable was set for the restoration of the state's monopoly on arms. He also stated that cooperation with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack was positive, with a clear plan for the next stage, as well as support from the United States and countries friendly to Lebanon.
According to several media outlets, the meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh has ended.
President Joseph Aoun stated that "the current phase is delicate and sensitive and requires unified positions that preserve the unity of Lebanon, its territory and its people, and protect its sovereignty and independence," during a meeting in Baabda with the spiritual leader of the evangelical community in Lebanon and Syria, Pastor Joseph Kassab.
The president also said that Lebanon was continuing its contacts to avoid the country suffering the repercussions of the events that shook the region.
According to Haaretz, Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said during an assessment meeting with members of the General Staff that "the war in the Gaza Strip is one of the most complex the IDF has ever faced."
The Civil Defense announced that Israeli strikes killed 15 people on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is expanding its operations around the city of Deir al-Balah.
According to Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal, at least 13 people were killed and more than 50 injured in strikes on the al-Shati Palestinian refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said Tuesday upon his return from Gaza that the humanitarian situation was "morally unacceptable" in the Palestinian territory ravaged by more than 21 months of war.
"We saw men waiting for hours in the sun, hoping for a simple meal," said Bishop Pizzaballa, the highest Catholic authority in the Holy Land.
"This is morally unacceptable and unjustifiable," he said, adding that the Church and "the entire Christian community would never abandon them."
(Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack meets Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh.
Asked upon his arrival by a journalist whether he was optimistic, the emissary replied soberly: "Yes."
(Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
American envoy Tom Barrack upon his arrival at Ain al-Tineh.
Israel abducted and arrested Marwan al-Hams, a senior official in Gaza's Health Ministry, outside the International Committee of the Red Cross field hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the ministry was quoted as saying by Reuters.
He said the head of field hospitals in the enclave was on his way to the ICRC hospital in the town of Rafah when an Israeli force "kidnapped" him after opening fire, killing one person and wounding another civilian nearby.
Medics said the person killed was a local journalist who was filming an interview with Hams when the incident occurred.
An ICRC spokesperson said the ICRC hospital had admitted and treated the injured in the incident but would not comment further on their condition to protect their privacy. He expressed "great concern about the security and safety" around the field hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City announced Tuesday morning that it had received the remains of one person killed and 118 wounded, including women and children, while they were waiting to receive humanitarian aid in the southwest of the city, according to Haaretz.
Also according to Haaretz, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City reported that two babies, one 40 days old, died of starvation Tuesday morning in the Gaza Strip.
Good morning. Thank you for joining us for our live coverage. Be sure to read the Morning Brief so that you are caught up with what has been happening.
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where it had carried out destructive strikes the day before against a port held by Houthi rebels.
"Following the sirens that recently sounded in several areas of Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted," the Israeli army said on its Telegram account.
According to Haaretz, warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and several parts of Israel before the announcement.
In Gaza, the situation remains dire for the enclave's residents and for the staff of organizations trying to help them.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said this morning that the Israeli army attacked its staff residence and its main warehouse in the Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah on Monday, compromising its field operations.
The U.N. agency said the WHO staff residence was targeted three times, with airstrikes causing a fire, extensive damage, and endangering staff and their families, including children.
"Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint," the WHO said.
Two WHO employees and two family members were arrested, according to a message posted by the organization on X. Three of them were later released, while one staff member remains in detention. "WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO also said its main warehouse, located in an evacuation zone, was damaged on Sunday in an attack that caused explosions and a fire inside. Despite these attacks, the organization assured that it would remain in Deir al-Balah and would even strengthen its operations there.
.@WHO’s staff residence in Deir al Balah, #Gaza, was attacked three times today as well as its main warehouse.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 21, 2025
Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were… pic.twitter.com/PGjaYrhkfH
Israeli tank fire killed at least 12 Palestinians and wounded dozens more in a tent encampment in western Gaza City, north of the enclave, local health officials said early Tuesday, quoted by Haaretz.
According to rescuers, tanks stationed north of the Shati camp fired two shells at tents housing displaced families, killing at least 12 people. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to the reports, the newspaper reported.
On the Iranian nuclear issue, the U.S. administration threatened Tehran with new strikes on Tuesday, in response to comments by the Iranian foreign minister, who stated on Fox News that his country intended to resume uranium enrichment.
In a statement to Fox News, Abbas Araghchi said that the United States' primary objective – to prevent Tehran from further developing its nuclear program by blocking all its enrichment capabilities – was unlikely to succeed, despite threats of severe international sanctions.
"We cannot abandon enrichment because it is an achievement of our scientists. And beyond that, it is now a matter of national pride," Araghchi said. "Our enrichment program is very dear to us."
"Our facilities have been damaged – severely damaged," he said. "The extent of the damage is currently being assessed by our atomic energy organization. But to my knowledge, they are severely affected," specifying that enrichment capacity was currently shut down.
Speaking on the Truth Social network, U.S. President Donald Trump commented on these statements. “The damage is very significant, they are destroyed. Of course they are, exactly as I said, and we will do it again if necessary! ” Donald Trump wrote.
The U.S. president also demanded an apology from CNN, while the Iranian minister's comments on the subject were relayed by Fox News.
In southern Lebanon, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent:
- An Israeli artillery bombardment targeted al-Saddana, on the outskirts of the village of Shebaa (Hasbaya).
- Israeli forces detonated an explosion on the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab. The exact nature of this operation is not yet known.
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who arrived in Lebanon to discuss the issue of disarming Hezbollah, is due to meet with Nabih Berri today.
Here is what you need to know about his visit.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack Tuesday targeting Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, where the army said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.
Houthi forces, who control large swathes of the country, carried out an operation against Ben Gurion Airport, "using a hypersonic ballistic missile," their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a statement.
The meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Ain al-Tineh.
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