Middle East

Hamas: no resumption of negotiations until the situation in Gaza improves. UN denunciation: only 260 trucks of aid reached their destination

Canada's recognition of the State of Palestine, announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney for September during the UN General Assembly, has triggered strong international reactions

31 July 2025

Attivisti della destra israeliana partecipano a una manifestazione organizzata da gruppi di coloni per promuovere il reinsediamento di Israele a Gaza, sul lato israeliano del confine tra Israele e Gaza, vicino al confine, 30 luglio 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

4' min read

Key points

Over 1oo victims in 24 hours
Israeli ministers for West Bank annexation
UN report on intercepted aid

4' min read

Hamas said it was committed to continuing negotiations for a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but conditions in the enclave must first improve 'significantly'.

"It is essential to significantly improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation and get a written response from the enemy about our response," Basem Naim, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, told CNN. "This is a condition for resuming negotiations," he added. The chief negotiator also accused Cairo of complicity in the humanitarian crisis. And he is angry with Doha for signing a statement at the UN calling on Hamas to disarm and leave power, the two sources said.

Meanwhile, the number of countries that intend to recognise the State of Palestine continues to grow. The announcement made late Wednesday evening by Canada was joined in recent hours by Portugal and the President of Finland, although in the latter case the Helsinki government is divided on the choice. But it is from Germany that the clearest warning against Tel Aviv has come. The German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, stated that it is "premature" to recognise a Palestinian state but that, at the same time, the process to arrive at 'two peoples two states' must "start now". Otherwise,' he added, Berlin could take 'unilateral measures', i.e. it too could decide to join those who have announced their willingness to recognise the State of Palestine. 'Eighty years after the Holocaust, Germany is going back to supporting Nazism,' was the piquant response of Israel's security minister and far-right politician, Itamar Ben Gvir.

Over 1oo victims in 24 hours

Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu certainly talked about the subject in their conversation in Jerusalem. The White House made it known that the meeting was "very productive" and that tomorrow the US special envoy together with the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, will visit Gaza to verify the distribution of food aid to the population and then report back to Donald Trump.

And while Israeli raids continue in the Strip, the American president pointed the finger at Hamas. "The quickest way to end the humanitarian crisis" in the Strip "is for it to surrender and release the hostages," he said.

According to the Gaza authorities, there have been more than 100 victims in the last 24 hours in the Strip, at least 80 of whom were seeking humanitarian aid. The commitment to alleviating the suffering of Gaza's civilian population was reaffirmed by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in a "long conversation" in which the Farnesina titular explained "the new humanitarian aid that we will also distribute through airstrikes".

Israeli ministers for West Bank annexation

The US meanwhile decided to sanction officials of the Palestinian National Authority and members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation as being 'responsible for not fulfilling their commitments and weakening the prospects for peace'. A decision that Israel warmly welcomed with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly thanking Washington for its 'moral clarity'. According to the head of Israeli diplomacy, the NPC 'must pay a price' for its policy of 'paying terrorists and their families' and for 'incitement' against Israel 'in schools, textbooks, mosques and the Palestinian media'.

Two other members of the Israeli government went further. In fact, Defence Minister Israel Katz and Justice Minister Yariv Levin stated in a joint note that the current moment represents "an opportunity not to be missed" for Israel to "annex" to "implement Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria", using the biblical term for the West Bank.

UN report on intercepted aid

Meanwhile, a denunciation comes from the UN. There are 2,010 trucks (1,718 from Wfp) with about 30,000 parcels of humanitarian aid, over 93% containing food, that have entered the Gaza Strip since 19 May. But only 260 trucks have arrived at their intended destination in the Palestinian enclave in this period. And this is because as many as 1,753 trucks, of which 1,583 from the Wfp, have been intercepted, ''peacefully by hungry people or forcibly armed actors'', during transit through the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the 'UN 2720 Mechanism', a system set up by the United Nations to facilitate the delivery and improve the monitoring of humanitarian aid destined for the civilian population of Gaza, thus contributing to ''building confidence and efficiency in humanitarian operations''.

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