Images of starving Palestinians have appeared with increasing insistency across the world’s media over the past few weeks. Deciding whose child and which picture best illustrates the territory’s slide into famine is a grim task. Five-year-old Lana Salih Juha, on this week’s cover, weighed just 8kg when this photograph was taken in Gaza City on 28 July.
As Malak A Tantesh reports from Gaza for this week’s big story, Lana’s parents are among many inside the territory forced to watch children waste away as deliberate aid restrictions from Israel mean hunger is becoming a killer. It was, as Malak reports, a week when two milestones were reached: a Palestinian official record of 60,000 deaths and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a group of UN and aid organisations, stating that the whole population of 2.2 people were now living in a state of famine.
But, as UN food expert Michael Fakhri told Nina Lakhani, this desperate state had been predicted since early 2024 when in an interview with the Guardian he warned that Israel’s policy to severely restrict aid deliveries would lead to what is now playing out.
In the face of such obvious and pressing need, what does it matter that the UK has joined France in saying it will recognise the state of Palestine in September unless its conditions for ending the war have been met? A former UK ambassador to Israel Simon McDonald agrees that the gesture may seem futile – but it is also necessary.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Transatlantic barbs traded over social media safety
The UK’s new law restricting under-18s’ internet access has only just come into force but already US tech giants and rightwing commentators are bolstering Nigel Farage’s efforts to turn restriction into a free speech issue, reports Dan Milmo
Environment | The best job in the world
Matthew Jeffery explains to Donna Ferguson how he became Cambridge University’s first expedition botanist since Darwin and how he prepared for his new post
Feature | Has nature writing strayed off the path of success?
In the footsteps of the controversy over The Salt Path, Alex Clark explores how, despite public appetite, memoirs of redemption through the natural world may have reached journey’s end
Opinion | A good jigsaw is simply champion
Why did the Lionesses bring Lego, sourdough starters and a puzzle or two to the Women’s Euro 2025? Because they are perfect ways to build mental resilience, explains Amy Izycky
Culture | AI rescues Woody Guthrie’s basement tapes
The legendary folk singer’s daughter and granddaughter tell Dave Simpson how they became custodians of his vast archive, including tracks that have now been released
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What else we’ve been reading
India’s mind-boggling last-day win over England at the Oval on Monday, to tie a five-match series, has been described as one of Test cricket’s finest moments. Who better to capture the cinematic absurdity of a day encompassing triumph, disaster and a one-armed batsman than Barney Ronay? Graham Snowdon, editor
I recently found this section on random gestures of generosity on the Guardian website and it’s been bringing a bit of positivity to my news consumption. It’s lovely to think about the impact small acts of kindness can have on a person’s day and life. Dani Harrup, performance marketing executive
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | Did lead poisoning help create a generation of serial killers? – podcast
• Video | Gaza before and after: new video shows extent of Israel’s destruction
• Gallery | Inside Travellers’ horse fairs
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