Friday briefing: Is Israel’s plan for Gaza City a full-scale assault – or political theatre?

<p>In today’s newsletter: After Israeli officials announced a stepped-up military operation in the city, Palestinians and the world wait to see what happens next</p><p></p><p>Good morning. Israel claims to have launched the first stages of a sweeping military operation to conquer Gaza City – the administrative heart of the strip – warning that a million people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/17/israeli-plan-to-displace-1m-palestinians-spreads-fear-in-gaza">could be forced from their homes</a>, sparking a wave of fear among residents.</p><p>In the past few nights Palestinians have described relentless bombardments, with thousands already scrambling to escape, while others are too starved or frail to evacuate.</p><p><em><strong>UK news</strong></em> | Protesters at the next mass demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/22/palestine-action-ban-protesters-defend-our-juries-plan-street-bail-police">will withhold their details</a> from officers to force en-masse processing at police stations in an effort to make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone.</p><p><em><strong>Ukraine </strong></em>| Moscow threw Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/21/russia-ukraine-trump-peace-foreign-intervention-veto-demand">Ukraine peace initiative</a> into disarray on Thursday, insisting it must have a veto over any postwar support for the country as its forces carried out a large-scale overnight missile barrage.</p><p><em><strong>Immigration </strong></em>| Refugee support organisations have been forced to install safe rooms in their premises, relocate to less visible sites and in some cases close their offices in response to the threat of far-right violence, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/21/refugee-charities-install-safe-rooms-and-relocate-amid-rise-in-far-right-threats">the Guardian can reveal</a>.</p><p><em><strong>US news </strong></em>| A federal judge in Miami late on Thursday <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/trump-alligator-alcatraz-judge-ruling">ordered the closure</a> of the Trump administration’s notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail within 60 days and ruled that no more detainees were to be brought to the facility while it was being wound down.</p><p><em><strong>Health </strong></em>| Baby food manufacturers have been given 18 months to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/aug/22/baby-food-firms-18-months-improve-quality-products-england">improve the quality of their products</a> in England amid mounting concerns that leading brands are nutritionally poor.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/22/first-edition-gaza-city-israel-attack">Continue reading...</a>