Al Mayadeen – August 9, 2025
Aid site massacres continue in Gaza, death toll reaches 61,369
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 61,000 killed since October 7, with rising deaths from Israeli strikes, aid site attacks, and hunger.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that 39 fatalities and 491 injured individuals have been admitted to hospitals in the region in 24 hours.
The Ministry stated that the Israeli genocide since October 7, 2023, has now claimed 61,369 lives and left 152,850 wounded, with 9,862 dead and 40,809 injured since March 18, 2025.
The Health Ministry reported that 21 Palestinians were killed and 341 others wounded in the past day near aid distribution points, with the total casualties in such incidents having now risen to 1,743 dead and over 12,590 injured.
Meanwhile, another 11 people died from starvation and malnutrition in 24 hours, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths to 212, including 98 children.
Aid site massacres rage on
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that 5 people were killed near an aid center along the Netzarim axis in central Gaza, while 10-year-old Mohannad Zakaria Eid died after being struck by an airdropped aid package west of the Nuseirat camp, making him the fourth child his parents have lost.
Israeli strikes claimed two lives near a US-run aid distribution center in southwest Khan Younis, with an additional fatality and one wounded person reported after an attack on a residential building in western Khan Younis.
Furthermore, seven Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded after Israeli forces struck areas north of the Nuseirat refugee camp, while other attacks targeted crowds near an aid distribution point along Salah al-Din Street, south of Wadi Gaza in the central Strip.
Medical sources at Al-Awda Hospital reported receiving five fatalities and 33 injuries from Israeli shelling targeting northern Nuseirat camp, while artillery strikes on crowds near an aid distribution point south of Wadi Gaza killed two more civilians and wounded others.
Israeli artillery shelled the Zeitoun neighborhood in southeast Gaza City, while simultaneously, a drone struck near the Al-Shahid Mosque east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Middle East Eye – August 9, 2025
39 Palestinians killed in Gaza in last 24 hours
At least 39 Palestinians have been killed and 491 wounded by Israeli attacks in Gaza in the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
It said 21 of those were killed while seeking aid.
At least five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack near an aid centre north of Rafah, Al Jazeera reported.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/israel-kills-palestinians-truce-talks-stall
Iran arrests 20 Mossad agents in Tehran, other provinces
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has arrested 20 suspected Mossad agents across several provinces, with the judiciary vowing harsh sentences in espionage cases.
Iran’s judiciary spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, announced that the Ministry of Intelligence has so far arrested 20 individuals accused of working for the Israeli Mossad in Tehran and several other provinces.
Jahangir said the detainees’ cases are under review by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and stressed that the judiciary “will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Israeli entity,” vowing that firm sentences will be issued “to serve as a lesson for all.”
Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, has repeatedly emphasized that the country’s courts will deal with espionage cases firmly and in accordance with the law and principles of justice.
Iran executes top Israeli spy
Iranian judicial authorities announced on Wednesday the execution of Roozbeh Vadi, convicted of espionage for Mossad and passing sensitive information about an Iranian nuclear scientist to the Israeli intelligence agency.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), "The death sentence by hanging was carried out this morning against Roozbeh Vadi, who was arrested and tried on charges of espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel, after the completion of criminal proceedings and confirmation of the final ruling by the country's Supreme Court."
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, head of Iran’s judiciary, reaffirmed that the Islamic Republic will firmly confront espionage, especially cases tied to "Israel". "The Iranian judiciary will deal with spies firmly and in accordance with the law and justice," Mohseni Ejei stated, emphasizing that confronting espionage is a national and legal necessity.
He noted that the identification of spies is the responsibility of intelligence agencies, while the judiciary ensures that punishments are applied in accordance with legal procedures and the principles of justice, adding that "the judiciary will take the necessary measures in cooperation with the country's security institutions."
Iranian intelligence disbands MKO terror cell
On a related note, Iranian intelligence forces announced that they successfully disbanded a sabotage cell affiliated with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in the southeastern part of Tehran, according to Pakdasht County Governor Mohammad Hassanpour.
Hassanpour announced on Tuesday that the three-member group was actively working to disrupt public order and create instability in the area. Iranian security agencies were able to identify and apprehend the cell members following a comprehensive surveillance operation.
He emphasized that "enemies have continuously sought to recruit agents to carry out violent activities and organize sabotage teams." All three detainees are currently undergoing specialized interrogations. "The Judiciary and security forces will decisively deal with any criminal action against public security, and will not allow hostile elements to infiltrate [into the country] and operate," Hassanpour asserted.
Middle East Eye – August 9, 2025
Egypt signs record $35bn gas deal with Israel, paying 14 percent more for imports
The deal will deepen Egypt's energy dependence on Israel amid mounting public anger over its alleged
Egypt has signed a record $35bn gas deal with Israel, almost tripling its gas imports from the Israeli Leviathan gas fields and marking the largest export deal in Israel’s history.
The deal, which was announced on Thursday by Israeli energy company NewMed, will see 130 billion cubic metres (bcm) worth of gas piped from the Leviathan offshore field to Egypt through to 2040.
NewMed is one of three co-owners of the field, along with Israeli company Ratio and Chevron. It holds 45.34 percent of the gas reservoir.
This is a significant expansion of an existing deal struck between Egypt and Israel in 2018, which has seen 4.5 bcm worth of gas delivered to Egypt annually - despite Israel repeatedly interrupting its supply since its onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023. The current agreement is set to expire at the end of the decade.
The new deal will deepen Egypt’s energy dependence on Israel, as Cairo steps up imports to address growing domestic demand amid a collapse in its own gas production over the last three years.
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Egypt’s gaping energy gaps over the previous two summers have seen rolling blackouts amid soaring temperatures, sparking public anger.
The government has tried to plug the gap by boosting its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, which are projected to soar to $19bn this year, up from $12bn in 2024.
Israel currently supplies 15-20 percent of Egypt’s gas consumption, according to the Joint Organisations Data Initative.
NewMed CEO Yossi Abu hailed the agreement as a “win-win deal” that would save Egypt a “tremendous amount of money” compared to importing LNG.
The gas is supplied via pipelines, making it cheaper than LNG imports, which need to be “super-cooled” in order to be liquefied for transportation.
But according to Mada Masr, under the new deal, Egypt will pay roughly $35m more per bcm, representing a 14.8 percent increase on the previous deal.
A former Egyptian Petroleum Ministry official and a government sourceļ¾ told Mada Masr last year that the two countries had been locked in months-long negotiations to boost the flow of Israeli gas to Egypt.
They said that Egypt was likely to agree to paying a higher price for imports as Israeli gas is its cheapest alternative to address shortfalls in its supplies.
‘No assurance’ conditions will be met
However, the implementation of the deal is contingent on the completion of pipelines and additional export infrastructure.
The first stage of the agreement, which will see 20 bcm of gas piped to Egypt in early 2026, depends on the completion of a new pipeline to the Leviathan reservoir and the expansion of a pipeline running between Israeli port cities Ashdod and Ashkelon- a project that has been stalled by Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.
The second stage, which will see the flow of the remaining 110 bcm of gas to Egypt, hinges on the expansion of export infrastructure, including the construction of a new onshore pipeline from Israel to the Egyptian border at Nitzana, which has not commenced yet.
A notice issued by NewMed on Thursday warned that there was “no assurance” that these conditions will be met.
The move comes amid mounting public anger over Cairo’s alleged complicity in Israel’s siege on Gaza, where nearly 200 Palestinians have died of Israeli-imposed starvation.
In July, two men who stormed the Ma’asara police station in Cairo in protest of Egypt’s failure to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza, to allow life-saving aid into the territory, were forcibly disappeared.
This came shortly after a wave of protests the previous week outside Egyptian embassies in European capitals, sparked by activist Anas Habib in the Netherlands, who symbolically locked embassy gates to protest the Rafah closure.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has refuted the accusations. At a summit in Cairo this week, he condemned the “shortcoming in the values of the international community in addressing crises” and dismissed allegations of Egypt’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing onslaught on Gaza, which has killed over 60,000 Palestinians, as “strange talk”.
Middle East Eye – August 9, 2025
Egypt-Hamas tensions at all-time high over demand to disarm and leave Gaza
Sources say Cairo's position marks a dramatic shift in its approach to the Palestinian movement and mediation conditions
Egypt's support for calls to disarm Hamas has reignited tensions with the Palestinian movement and stalled ceasefire negotiations, Egyptian and Palestinian sources told Middle East Eye.
The rift emerged after Cairo relayed messages to Hamas leaders in Doha in late April, demanding the group surrender its weapons and withdraw fighters from Gaza - a position Hamas firmly rejects.
The push for disarmament reflects mounting pressure from the United States and key Arab states.
On 29 July, Egypt joined Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and the Arab League in endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution, which calls on Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
According to Egyptian sources, Cairo had initially resisted linking disarmament to ceasefire negotiations.
However, under sustained pressure from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Egypt shifted its stance, aligning itself with regional efforts to initiate what has been described as a "surrender process".
This position aligns with Israeli preconditions, backed by Washington, for ending the war on Gaza.
Sources said Egypt had previously insisted that disarmament be part of a broader political settlement tied to ending the Israeli occupation. Cairo had rejected any proposals requiring Hamas to disarm prior to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
This earlier stance was reiterated by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during a visit to Washington in March, citing Israel's failure to defeat Hamas militarily.
"It is unreasonable to ask mediators to achieve through politics what Israel could not achieve through months of military operations," Abdelatty said during his trip to Washington.
Two diplomatic sources in Cairo said the policy shift was also driven by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the breakdown of diplomatic channels.
Egyptian authorities are especially concerned by Israeli efforts to forcibly displace Gaza's population into northern Sinai.
Reports of a large-scale tent camp being constructed in the Rafah area, near the Egyptian border, to house more than half a million displaced people, have drawn condemnation, with many describing it as a concentration camp.
This, along with growing public anger in Egypt over what is perceived as government complicity and an inadequate response to the crisis, has further fuelled tensions.
Egypt’s credibility 'undermined'
Moataz Ahmadein Khalil, Egypt's former ambassador to the United Nations, told Middle East Eye that Egypt's shift reflects Washington's view of Cairo's role as "primarily a lever to pressure Hamas into accepting American and Israeli demands".
He explained that this perception stems from Egypt's acute economic crisis and its reliance on political backing from the US in securing support from international and regional donors, as well as direct financial aid from Washington.
"Egypt's alignment with the American agenda is detrimental to both Egypt and Hamas," argued Khalil.
"Accommodating Washington's demands would only encourage Trump to ask for more and would ultimately undermine Egypt's credibility as a mediator.
"Furthermore, this approach fails to leverage the mediation role to serve Egypt's own national interests, independent of US or Israeli goals."
Palestinians 'let down'
The Egypt-Hamas tensions reached their peak in late July following a televised speech by Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader.
The Doha-based leader made a direct appeal to the Egyptian people and their religious, military, community and intellectual leaders to help break the siege on Gaza.
"Our Palestinian people feel let down," Hayya said.
"Will your brothers in Gaza die of hunger while they are just across your border and within your reach?" he asked.
He criticised the air-dropping of aid, describing it as a "tragic farce", and criticised the closure of the Egyptian-Palestinian Rafah border crossing.
"We look to the great country of Egypt to say definitively that Gaza will not die of hunger, and that it will not allow the enemy to keep the Rafah crossing closed to the needs of Gaza."
According to one Egyptian security source, Cairo responded to Hayya's speech with deep anger, viewing it as incitement against the government and an attempt to hold Egypt responsible for Gaza's starvation.
Officials feared the speech could provoke popular unrest and threaten national stability. They also interpreted the call to forcibly open the Rafah crossing as a dangerous appeal to involve Cairo in the war against Israel and as a threat to Egypt's national security.
Following the speech by Hayya, regarded by Egyptian officials as one of the Hamas leaders closest to Cairo, the Egyptian regime launched a fierce media campaign against Hamas.
Numerous pro-government journalists and online platforms criticised the group. Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service, described Hayya's remarks as "extremely dangerous". MP Mostafa Bakry, known for his ties to Egypt's intelligence services, called on Hamas's leadership to issue a statement absolving Egypt of any role in the blockade and thanking it for the aid provided.
A source from within the Palestinian movement told MEE: "Hayya's appeal was made in the spirit of goodwill, brotherhood and the deep sense of hope the people of Gaza hold towards the Egyptians, and not as incitement."
The source added that, amid the severe deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and the complete political deadlock in negotiations, "the only door left to knock on is that of our brothers in Egypt".
MEE contacted the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment but did not receive a response by publication.
