UN Demands Israel Stop Gaza Takeover as 1M Civilians Face New Displacement

📻 Radio News Bulletin – “PNR Mid-East Desk – Saturday, 09 August 2025 –

I wish you all a good day. I’m Talia Menashe with the World News Network, and we begin with breaking developments from the Middle East. The United Nations has issued an extraordinary, high-level appeal to Israel this hour, demanding an immediate halt to what it calls a “complete military takeover of Gaza City”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, released a blistering statement overnight after Israel’s security cabinet formally approved a sweeping five-point plan late Thursday. The plan, according to a read-out from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, directs the Israel Defense Forces to “prepare for the takeover of Gaza City while relocating an estimated one million residents southward”. Türk warns the offensive “runs contrary to the International Court of Justice ruling that Israel must end its occupation as rapidly as possible”
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“A complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted. It will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering and atrocity crimes.”
The Secretary-General, António Guterres, doubled down, saying he is “gravely alarmed” and fears the move will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza’s 2.1 million civilians and further endanger the roughly 20 Israeli hostages believed still alive .

Humanitarian agencies paint a harrowing picture. The UN’s field office in Deir al-Balah reports that 87 percent of Gaza is now either a militarised zone or under evacuation orders. Aid workers themselves are fainting from hunger inside their own compound . Germany announced last night it will suspend all arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”, while the UK, France, Australia and Turkey have all urged immediate reconsideration .

In Tel Aviv, anguish spilled onto the streets. Dozens of hostage families held an overnight vigil outside Defence Minister Israel Katz’s home, setting an empty Shabbat table—each chair bearing a photograph of the missing. Anat Angrest, whose son Matan remains in captivity, accused the cabinet of issuing a “death sentence” to the hostages .

Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking to Fox News earlier this week, insisted Israel “does not intend to govern Gaza long-term”, but wants to “hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening Israel” . Hamas, for its part, labelled the takeover plan a “new war crime” and warned it will “cost Israel dearly” .

For now, Israeli troops already control roughly three-quarters of the Strip, and commanders say the new phase could begin within days. The world is watching—and for the civilians trapped amid the rubble, time is running out.

Stay with PNR: we will bring you live updates throughout the day. I’m Talia Menashe . Good bye.