Grand Mufti of Jerusalem arrested, Israel approves airdrop of food to Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it will allow foreign countries to airdrop food into Gaza, but insists there is no famine in the Strip.

Citing the Israeli coordinator of government activities in the territory, the Times of Israel reports that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip "continues to be difficult and challenging," but there is no widespread famine, contrary to Hamas claims.

According to the Times of Israel newspaper, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates will carry out this latest round of deliveries by air, reports A2 CNN.

Last year, countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and Jordan airdropped supplies to Gaza by military aircraft, but this caused problems such as aid falling into the sea and people drowning while trying to retrieve it.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces today arrested the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, inside the mosque's courtyard in occupied Jerusalem. The Islamic Foundations Department announced that Sheikh Mohammad Hussein was arrested after Friday prayers and taken to the Mughrabi Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, writes A2 CNN.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel, together with its American allies, is "currently evaluating alternative options" to secure the return of hostages held in Gaza and eliminate Hamas in the Strip. The prime minister stressed that Hamas represents "an obstacle to reaching an agreement on the release of the hostages", stating that US envoy Steve Witkoff "is right".

Nine Palestinians have died of starvation in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said, reports A2 CNN.

Hamas denies that ceasefire talks in Doha in the Gaza Strip have failed and expressed "surprise" at "negative" statements yesterday by US negotiator Steve Witkoff. The BBC reports this, citing a statement from a senior leader of the radical Palestinian Islamist faction, who confirmed expectations for a resumption of talks in the Qatari capital sometime next week. He also reiterated the faction's "commitment" to "overcoming obstacles" and achieving "a permanent ceasefire".

Four Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza have been killed by Israeli fire since dawn today, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. A total of 15 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military (IDF) strikes today, Al Jazeera reported, including four killed in an airstrike on a school in Gaza City housing displaced people in the western neighborhood of Remal. Several others were wounded.

Twenty-five percent of children between six months and five years old, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, are malnourished, according to Doctors Without Borders. At the MSF clinic in Gaza City, the number of people suffering from malnutrition has quadrupled since May. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed his dismay: "I have lost hope that Europe will respond" to the hunger that is killing the population of Gaza. (A2 Televizion)