ISTANBUL 

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday with, including Israel's deadly airstrikes killing dozens of Palestinians, US President Donald Trump announcing a 'massive' trade deal with Japan, and the UN chief warning Gaza is facing death and destruction due to soaring malnourishment.

TOP STORIES

• At least 85 killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza Strip

At least 85 people have been killed and many others injured in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip since early Tuesday, medical sources said.

The deadly incidents included the Israeli army killing 15 Palestinians in an attack on a house in the northwest of Gaza City.

In northern Gaza, five Palestinians were killed and others injured in a strike targeting the Al-Nasr neighborhood west of Gaza City.

Another 12 Palestinians were killed while waiting for aid trucks near the Zikim area north of Beit Lahia, which is under Israeli control.

Israel has killed more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

• Trump announces 'massive' trade deal with Japan

US President Donald Trump announced a "massive" trade deal with Japan on Tuesday.

"We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made.

"Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said the deal will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and added that Japan will open their country to trade, including cars, trucks, rice, and certain agricultural products.

"Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%," he added.

• UN chief warns Gaza faces 'death and destruction without parallel,' with 'soaring' malnourishment

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, describing it as a "horror show" marked by mass devastation and starvation.

"We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza—with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times," Guterres told the UN Security Council during a debate on multilateralism and peaceful dispute resolution.

"Malnourishment is soaring. Starvation is knocking on every door. And now we are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles," he said, adding: "That system is being denied the conditions to function. Denied the space to deliver. Denied the safety to save lives."

He denounced Israel's military operations, stressing that "with Israeli military operations intensifying and new displacement orders issued in Deir al-Balah (in central Gaza Strip), devastation is being layered upon devastation."

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NEWS IN BRIEF

• US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will "probably" meet with Xi Jinping in the "not too distant future" following a previously announced public invitation from the Chinese leader to visit Beijing.

• Whoever remains silent about the genocide in Gaza is "complicit in the crimes against humanity" committed by Israel, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.

• Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to decide on his resignation in August following the ruling coalition’s electoral losses, Kyodo News Agency reported Wednesday.

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday issued a strong appeal to the Israeli government, calling for an immediate end to the heavy bombing of the Gaza Strip and urging the facilitation of humanitarian aid.

• Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha stressed Tuesday that the continued and unprecedented crisis in Gaza “constitutes a war crime, a stain on the entire humanity.”

• The US announced on Tuesday its third withdrawal from UNESCO, effective Dec. 31, 2026, citing the organization's admission of Palestine as a member and conflicts with the Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday discussed progress on the procurement of Eurofighter aircraft over a phone call.

• US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff is traveling to the region in an effort to help finalize a Gaza ceasefire deal, the State Department said Tuesday.

• US House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday he will shut down the chamber early for the August recess, blocking Democratic efforts to force votes on releasing investigation files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

• The EU foreign policy chief on Tuesday described the killing of civilians who are seeking aid in Gaza as "indefensible."

• Hundreds of protestors on the Greek island of Syros blocked an Israeli cruise ship, local media reported on Tuesday.

• A Syrian investigative committee announced Tuesday that 1,426 civilians and military personnel were killed and 20 others went missing during violent clashes in the coastal region in March 2025.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Trump announces Indonesia trade deal that cuts tariffs, non-tariff barriers

US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the finalization of a "framework" trade agreement with Indonesia that he said will eliminate 99% of the tariffs imposed on US exports to the island nation.

"It is agreed that Indonesia will be Open Market to American Industrial and Tech Products, and Agricultural Goods, by eliminating 99% of their Tariff Barriers. The United States of America will now sell American Made products to Indonesia at a Tariff Rate of ZERO, while Indonesia will pay 19% on all of their products coming into the U.S.A.," Trump wrote on social media.

Türkiye, Vietnam ink defense deal

A defense cooperation protocol was signed between the Turkish Ministry of National Defense and its Vietnamese counterpart Tuesday during the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul.

Turkish Deputy Minister of National Defense Musa Heybet said at the signing ceremony: “I believe that this defense and security cooperation will prepare us for many more forward-looking projects and collaborations.”

Heybet noted that Ankara will provide full support to Vietnam's air, land, and sea platforms, with all of Türkiye's defense industry companies and the Ministry of National Defense.