For today, links to five reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Western allies condemn Israeli finance minister’s suggestion that starving Gaza might be justified. From AP. JERUSALEM — Israel’s Western allies have condemned remarks by its far-right finance minister, who suggested that causing the starvation of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians “might be just and moral” until hostages captured . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel kills 25 Palestinians in Gaza airstrikes amid fears of wider war, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  Israeli forces stepped up strikes across the Gaza Strip today, killing at least 25 people, Palestinian medics said, in further battle with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for potential wider war in the region. READ MORE . . .

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The Israeli military orders another mass evacuation in southern Gaza. From AP. The Israeli military has ordered another mass evacuation in large areas around Khan Younis in southern Gaza, saying . . . READ MORE . . .

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Rights group says Israeli forces killed 7 sheltering in a Gaza City home. From AP. A new report from Human Rights Watch says Israeli soldiers killed at least seven people and severely wounded two, including a 5-year-old, when they attacked a home in Gaza City where a Palestinian family was sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war in December. Gaza faces . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM AUG. 7  Hamas has named a new leader – the man known as the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi | NPR  Hamas has named a new leader. He’s the group’s top military commander in Gaza and the man widely known as the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Why Hamas picked Yahya Sinwar as its new leader, by Rayhan Uddin | Middle East Eye  Yahya Sinwar, Israel‘s most wanted man and believed to be in tunnels deep below the Gaza Strip, is the new political leader of Hamas. The assassination of his predecessor . . . READ MORE . . .