Ashjan Abdel Aal and her husband Rafaat have spent more than a year searching for their sons, Othman and Sami, who disappeared after leaving their displaced family’s home in Gaza City on June 29, 2025. Othman, now 17, and Sami, 13, said they were heading to an aid distribution point near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza and may have intended to visit their former home in Shujayea. They never returned.

Rafaat searched hospitals, displacement shelters and relatives without finding them. Reports of unidentified bodies near the family home and at al-Ahli Arab Hospital could not be confirmed as the boys. In May, the family was told by an alleged lawyer that the brothers were alive in Israeli detention at Ofer and Naqab prisons, but the claim was never officially verified and the lawyer could not be reached.

Gaza’s Government Media Office estimates about 11,200 people remain missing across the territory. The ICRC says it has thousands of open tracing requests but has had no access to Israeli detention sites since October 2023, limiting its ability to confirm detentions. The family says it wants one certain answer about the boys’ fate.

The family of former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh says more than 75 of its close members have been killed in the ongoing Gaza war with Israel. In an interview with Turkey’s Anadolu Agency marking the second anniversary of Haniyeh’s killing, his son Abdul Salam Haniyeh said nearly 250 members of their wider Al-Hajj clan had also died in the war.

Abdul Salam said a large portion of relatives shown in a family photograph hanging on the wall had been killed in Israeli attacks. On April 10, 2024, the day of Eid al-Fitr, an Israeli airstrike killed Haniyeh’s three sons, Hazem, Amir and Mohammad, along with their children. He described his father as a teacher, adviser, political leader and affectionate friend who urged his family to remain close to and serve ordinary people.

The report says Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on July 31, 2024, while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Abdul Salam praised Turkish political and humanitarian support for Palestinians and voiced hope in mediation by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. Gaza’s Health Ministry put the war toll since October 2023 at 73,349 killed and 174,162 wounded.

A special race was organized in the besieged Gaza Strip to draw global attention to children who have lost parents during the ongoing war. Published on August 2, 2026, the report said hundreds of Palestinian children took part in the symbolic marathon. The event was initiated by the human rights and relief organization International Networking for Humanitarian.

The organization said many children are becoming orphaned every day after losing parents or guardians in the war. It said the main purpose of the event was to bring the suffering and wider hardship of children facing extreme uncertainty and a humanitarian crisis to the world stage. Organizers presented the race as a symbolic effort to highlight the situation of Gaza’s children.

During the marathon, children and organizers called on local and international communities to play a stronger role in protecting orphaned children in besieged Gaza. They also appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance for them. The report did not provide further details about the race’s exact location, duration, or the type of aid sought.

The Israeli military said it killed two Hamas commanders in airstrikes at separate locations in the Gaza Strip. According to an Al Jazeera report published on August 2, 2026, Salam Jamal Abd al-Rahman Abu Labad was killed in an airstrike carried out in southern Gaza on Saturday.

Israeli forces said Abu Labad was responsible for a cell in Hamas’s Nukhba special forces. The military alleged that he directly took part in an attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel in October 2023.

In an earlier, separate airstrike in central Gaza on Friday, Israeli forces said they killed Muhammad Abd al-Nasser Muhammad Khatib, described as the commander of Hamas’s Maghazi Battalion. The report did not include a Hamas response to the Israeli military’s claims or additional information about the strikes.

At least eight Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in separate Israeli military airstrikes on residential buildings across the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to information published by Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents. The deaths brought the total number of Palestinians reported killed in Israeli attacks since Sunday morning to eight.

An Israeli airstrike on a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed two people at the scene and wounded several others. A separate strike on a residential apartment in northern Gaza City killed three people and injured several more. In al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians from the same family.

The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis confirmed the deaths of the three people killed in al-Qarara. International media had reported that at least eight Palestinians were also killed in various Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday. Separately, former senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan said Jared Kushner had assured him he was working closely with the Israeli government to stop attacks in Gaza.

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, siblings Sama, Abdullah and Nada Musa celebrated strong Tawjihi results announced on July 24 after studying through war, displacement and uncertainty. Sama scored 97.5 percent, Abdullah 94.6 percent and Nada 94.4 percent in the examinations that shape Palestinian high school students’ academic futures. Because of physical disabilities, Abdullah and Nada could not attend private lessons, so their family arranged for teachers to visit their home.

Education Minister Amjad Barham said about 89,000 students from the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip took Tawjihi examinations this year, while 2,000 more sat them in 46 other countries. He said more than 106,000 Gaza students had taken the exams over the past three years, including 36,900 in 2026. More than 1,100 students due to sit this year’s examinations were killed by Israel, he said.

The UN said in November that more than 97 percent of Gaza schools had been damaged or destroyed over two years of war, with nearly 92 percent of education facilities needing full reconstruction or major rehabilitation. Teacher Hanaa al-Sayed held classes in Deir el-Balah at a school also sheltering displaced people. Tala Abu Sukkar, who lost several relatives during the war, scored 86 percent while living with her uncle.

Hamas and allied Palestinian resistance groups have agreed in principle to a disarmament roadmap, according to a report published on August 1, 2026. The plan requires Israel’s full military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the start of reconstruction, and effective progress toward an independent Palestinian state. Hamas has not agreed to hand weapons directly to Israel, instead proposing that arms be transferred to the security forces of a future independent Palestinian state.

Under the proposed arrangement, resistance groups would begin gradually storing and deactivating heavy weapons if Israel fully withdraws from Gaza and does not obstruct reconstruction. Personal weapons would be registered, while responsibility for security management would gradually pass to Gaza’s administrative structure. The report said Israel has not yet offered an effective positive signal on a full withdrawal or on reconstruction.

Violence has reportedly not fully stopped despite a ceasefire announced in October 2025. Hamas said it had not launched new attacks against Israeli forces and had moved to transfer administrative duties to a national administrative committee. It accused Israel of violating ceasefire terms, blocking humanitarian aid and continuing military operations. Analysts said implementation depends on Israeli political decisions and future progress on Palestinian statehood.

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 76 injured in continued Israeli attacks across several areas of the besieged Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The report was published on August 1, 2026. The ministry also said one person previously wounded in an earlier attack died while receiving treatment.

The ministry said that since the ceasefire took effect, 1,222 Palestinians have been killed and 4,053 injured. It also reported that 8,004 bodies had been recovered from beneath rubble during the same period.

According to the Health Ministry’s figures, the overall conflict in Gaza since October 7, 2023 has killed 73,349 people and injured 174,162. The ministry further said that, following one additional death in a building collapse, the total number of deaths caused by collapsed buildings had risen to 33.

US President Donald Trump announced an agreement on disarming Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups based in Gaza. The understanding was reached by the Gaza Board of Peace as part of Trump’s 20-point peace plan. The United Arab Emirates welcomed the announcement in a report published on August 1, 2026, describing it as a major step toward ending the Gaza conflict.

Citing a UAE Foreign Ministry statement, state news agency WAM said the ministry viewed the agreement as important for resolving the conflict, strengthening regional security and stability, and creating conditions needed to begin a political process leading to lasting peace. The ministry said it hoped the deal would reinforce security and stability.

The proposed agreement outlines a phased curbing of weapons alongside the withdrawal of Israeli forces. It also details the establishment of a new Palestinian police force and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force, known as the ISF. The UAE said it expects the arrangement to help end the suffering of Palestinian civilians and create a favorable environment for rebuilding the devastated Gaza Strip.

The Board of Peace has released a detailed 15-point roadmap for implementing the final stage of a ceasefire plan in the besieged Gaza Strip. The proposal, put forward by US President Donald Trump, includes conditions for a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Palestinian territory and the disarmament of Hamas. Published on August 1, 2026, the report said Hamas announced on Friday that it accepted the agreement’s terms, while Israel had not issued an official response.

The plan requires Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups to completely halt military operations. A timetable and implementation procedures are to be finalized within 14 days of approval, with an extension possible if needed. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, would then begin taking over administrative responsibilities in the territory. A newly formed International Verification Committee would monitor compliance before progress to subsequent stages.

The roadmap calls for vetting police personnel, placing police weapons under NCAG control, and disabling and storing Hamas heavy weapons, weapons-production facilities, warehouses and tunnels. A social peace agreement would commit parties to halt internal violence and retaliatory actions. It also proposes deploying a temporary International Stabilization Force to monitor the ceasefire, train Palestinian police and secure humanitarian aid deliveries without carrying out direct policing duties.

Sina Azodi, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Washington University, said deep mutual distrust between Israel and Hamas is the biggest obstacle to implementing a proposed peace agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war. In an Al Jazeera interview published on August 1, 2026, he noted that the proposed deal includes provisions for Hamas to gradually restrain its weapons.

Azodi said Israeli society remains deeply skeptical of any peace agreement with Hamas, particularly because of the October 7, 2023 attack. He described the plan as positive on paper and said it could help halt violence and restore some normality to people’s lives in the region, but stressed that its real-world implementation remains uncertain.

He said Israelis do not trust Hamas members and Hamas does not trust Israel, with both sides seeking action from the other first. Azodi also identified Hamas’s disarmament as a second major obstacle. Having built itself over years as an armed resistance group, Hamas would have little prospect of surviving as an organization if it accepted full disarmament or surrendered all its weapons.

Palestinian groups have rejected US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a purported Gaza peace and disarmament agreement, calling it incorrect and inconsistent with realities on the ground. In the report published July 31, representatives said any discussion of weapons handover or security arrangements in Gaza could be considered only after a full Israeli military withdrawal and an end to aggression.

Palestinian representatives said talks had made some progress, but the arrangement described by Trump had not been finalized. Fundamental issues remain unresolved, including the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the blockade from Gaza, unrestricted humanitarian aid access, and the durability of a ceasefire. Trump had earlier described an “historic” understanding on disarming armed Palestinian groups and a phased Israeli withdrawal.

Trump said Egypt, Qatar and Turkey had acted as mediators and that the process could pave the way for a new administrative structure in Gaza. Palestinian groups said disarmament is not a preliminary condition, but a possible later step contingent on Israel implementing commitments, particularly troop withdrawal and an end to military operations. Reports cited by the article said Israel views disarmament as a precondition for withdrawal, while Palestinians insist withdrawal must come first.

The Gaza Board of Peace has announced a framework to disarm Hamas and transfer Gaza’s governance to a non-political civilian body. The US-based international organization is chaired for life by US President Donald Trump. The plan is presented as a structure for postwar stability, reconstruction and administration in the Gaza Strip.

The Board of Peace will oversee high-level strategic planning, stability and reconstruction funding. A seven-member Founding Executive Board, led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will implement the board’s objectives and set its agenda. Potential members named in the report include Jared Kushner, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Middle East representative Steve Witkoff and World Bank President Ajay Banga.

A Gaza Executive Board will directly manage reconstruction and coordinate with regional diplomats. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a Palestinian technocratic and non-political committee, will run daily civilian administration without Hamas participation. A multinational International Stabilization Force will support security alongside a new local police force. The New Gaza Police Force will police areas Hamas leaves, though criteria for recruiting and selecting its members remain unclear.

Israel and Hamas have reached a major understanding aimed at ending the war in the Gaza Strip, senior Hamas officials told AFP on July 31. Under the arrangement, Hamas agreed to give up its weapons to protect Gaza’s residents, while Israeli forces would withdraw from the territory in stages. A ceasefire has been in effect since October, but Hamas’s disarmament had remained a major obstacle to progress, amid near-daily violence in Gaza.

Hamas negotiator Ghazi Hamad said the group adopted a flexible position to protect people from killing and displacement. He said the weapons issue is directly linked to an Israeli military withdrawal, deployment of a national committee and Gaza’s reconstruction. Hamas said Israel would have no role in disarmament, which would be handled solely by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

The committee is expected to oversee weapons inventories and their storage under a predetermined schedule, though it has not yet entered Gaza. US President Donald Trump said his Board of Peace had reached an understanding on disarming Hamas and other armed groups. Hamad warned that Hamas would not implement any part of the agreement if Israel failed to fulfill its commitments.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 60,000 children in the Gaza Strip have lost a father or mother since Israeli military aggression began in October 2023. Its latest report put the number of children who lost at least one parent at 60,737. The report was published on July 29, 2026.

According to the ministry, 52,095 children lost their fathers, while 5,929 lost their mothers. A further 2,713 children lost both parents and became fully orphaned. The report presented the figures as part of the human toll of the war and attacks in Gaza.

The ministry also said 2,276 families, comprising 8,858 people, were entirely killed, erasing their whole family lines from the civil registry or official records. More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict and attacks since October 2023, the report said. It added that attacks did not stop despite a ceasefire agreement last October, with more than 1,100 additional people killed in Gaza after the deal was signed.