• United Nations
• Human Rights

July 29, 2025, 5:25 PM View Comments ()

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the future of Palestinian statehood, deadly flooding across China, and Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets.

‘This Is the Moment to Act’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that the United Kingdom will recognize an independent Palestinian state beginning in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza and commits to a long-term sustainable peace.” This would include Israel agreeing to a cease-fire deal with Hamas, allowing the United Nations to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza unimpeded, and vowing not to annex the West Bank.

“I’ve always said that we will recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution,” Starmer said outside Downing Street. “With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act.”

The United Kingdom is the second major European country to announce such an intention this month. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would recognize the state of Palestine beginning in September.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry criticized the U.K. announcement, calling it a “reward for Hamas.” “The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,” the ministry said in a statement.

The U.K. announcement comes as dozens of foreign ministers convene in New York City for a multiday U.N. conference sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia that is aimed at advancing the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It also comes amid growing international alarm over the mass starvation crisis in Gaza caused by Israel’s ongoing war and the country’s strict restrictions on aid entering the besieged territory. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative considered to be the world’s leading authority on hunger, issued a grave alert on Tuesday warning that the “worst-case scenario of Famine” is now occurring in Gaza. “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the report said.

According to Jean-Martin Bauer, the director of food security and nutrition analysis at the U.N. World Food Program, the proportion of households experiencing acute malnutrition between May (when Israel officially lifted its total blockade on aid entering Gaza) and July has quadrupled, and the proportion of households experiencing extreme hunger has doubled, with more than 20,000 children being admitted to medical facilities for acute malnutrition from April to mid-July.

“The sound of children crying from hunger never stops,” International Rescue Committee staffer Rania al-Shrehi said on Monday. “Every day, people knock on our doors asking for food. Not money—just bread.”

Only a trickle of humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter Gaza. The Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims that it has distributed more than 89 million meals, though most of these food items are not ready-to-eat and require water and fuel to cook, which remain largely unavailable. These deliveries occur at just four distribution sites, where less than a quarter of Gaza’s population is located, and supplies often run out. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to access food aid in recent months.

Israel has placed the blame for Gaza’s current aid crisis on Hamas despite the United Nations, U.S. government analysis, and some Israeli officials denying that there is evidence of systemic looting. These sources also insist that levels of theft have decreased dramatically when more aid has been provided.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would “continue to work with international agencies as well as the U.S. and European nations to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip,” specifically pointing to limited aerial food drops over the weekend. Still, though, Netanyahu maintains that “there is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.” U.S. President Donald Trump refuted that claim on Monday.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, more than 59,500 Palestinians have been killed and another 143,000 injured. Israeli forces have damaged or destroyed roughly 70 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure, as 88 percent of the territory falls under Israeli militarized zones or evacuation orders. Almost all of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been displaced at least once.

“Israel is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” Israeli rights group B’Tselem wrote. “In other words: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Today’s Most Read

• Trump Is Pushing India to Submit to China by Sushant Singh
• How the ‘Paranoid Style’ Took Over U.S. Politics by Julian E. Zelizer
• Xi Jinping’s War on Dinner Is Hurting China’s Economy by Lizzi C. Lee

What We’re Following

More than 20 inches of rain. Days of torrential rain in China left Beijing on Tuesday inundated with almost a year’s worth of water. Parts of Beijing, Hebei province, and the neighboring city of Tianjin remained under flood risk into late Tuesday local time, as locals reported landslides sweeping away cars and knocking out power. At least 38 people have been killed and more than 80,000 others evacuated, and Chinese officials on Tuesday allocated around $48 million in disaster relief funds to affected areas, such as Beijing and Hebei.

According to the China Meteorological Administration, northern China’s rainy season began “abnormally early” this year, with average rainfall hitting almost 30 percent higher than during the same period in previous years. Climate scientists argue that this is likely due to global warming. More rain is expected to hit eastern China on Wednesday when Typhoon Co-may makes landfall.

Targeting civilian infrastructure. Overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine reportedly struck several civilian targets, including a medical facility and a prison, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday. “It was a deliberate strike, intentional, not accidental,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that 73 Ukrainian towns were hit. At least 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the assault; more than half of Tuesday’s death toll were inmates in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

“The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians in that facility,” Zelensky added on X, referring to the prison. “And this was done after a completely clear position was voiced by the United States.”

Trump on Monday expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to return to the negotiating table with Ukraine. And he reduced an initial 50-day window for Moscow to make progress toward securing a peace deal or else face additional sanctions, saying, “I want to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.” That deadline is now 10 days starting Tuesday (which would set a date of Aug. 8) instead of in early September.

“We remain committed to a peace process to resolve the conflict around Ukraine and to ensure our interests in the course of this settlement,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, adding that Moscow had “taken note” of the new deadline.

Found guilty. A lower Colombian court convicted former President Álvaro Uribe on Monday of bribery and witness tampering in a historic ruling that ends a nearly six-month trial for the influential conservative figure. The decision marks the first major criminal conviction of a former Colombian president in the country’s history. Uribe faces up to 12 years in prison; he is expected to appeal the ruling.

The court found Uribe guilty of conspiring with a lawyer to try to bribe three former paramilitary members to retract testimony that damaged the former leader’s reputation. The testimony was related to an ongoing investigation into whether Uribe helped finance a paramilitary organization in the 1990s before becoming president in 2002. During his eight years serving the country’s highest office, Uribe pursued an aggressive military campaign against leftist rebel groups, and he has since been a fierce opponent of current leftist President Gustavo Petro.

Odds and Ends

India’s soccer federation is looking for a new coach after Spanish manager Manolo Márquez left the position earlier this month. But before you get too excited, rumors of another Spanish shake-up are unfounded. According to the All India Football Federation on Saturday, job applications from senders claiming to be Spanish manager Xavi Hernández and Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola were (unfortunately) bogus. Xavi is still without a team, and Guardiola is under contract with Manchester City through June 2027.