Israel kills dozens in Gaza after Hamas disarmament deal
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- Trump announced a "historic agreement" on July 30 for Hamas disarmament through the Board of Peace, but Israeli strikes within days killed at least 26 Palestinians over the weekend, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child recovered from the rubble of Gaza City's al-Sousi Tower
- Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad said the group would not implement the deal unless Israel halted attacks and withdrew troops, while Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas was fully disarmed, leaving the deadlock unresolved
- Israeli strikes destroyed the medicine warehouse attached to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, wiping out two of four storage facilities; the Israeli military said it hit a Hamas weapons depot located next to the hospital
- Gaza's Health Ministry reported July was the deadliest month of the year, with 152 people killed, bringing the cumulative toll since the October 2025 "ceasefire" to 1,250 killed and more than 4,100 wounded by August 3
- Israeli forces expanded the "Yellow Line" with concrete barriers on Salah al-Din Street near Shujayea, cutting off displaced families from one of Gaza's few remaining unobstructed north-south roads
- West Bank settler attacks surged, with OCHA recording more than 1,380 settler-related incidents since the start of 2026—an average of 6.6 per day—and Palestinian National Bureau data showing more than 93 percent of investigation files into settler attacks closed without indictment
- Global Affairs Canada called Israeli settlements "illegal under international law," prompting Israeli officials to accuse Ottawa of seeking to "embolden terror," as the UN's rights office said it was "alarmed" by Israeli plans to expand settlements further
Why it matters: The failure of Trump's "breakthrough" deal to halt violence means the post-ceasefire death toll has climbed to 1,250 killed and counting, while the structural expansion of Israeli control—new concrete barriers on the Yellow Line, land seizures in Area A, and surging settler attacks—proceeds independently of any diplomatic announcement, deepening the conditions that make a negotiated end to the conflict harder to achieve.
