Gaza City

The U.N.'s human rights chief has told the BBC that Israel is using starvation as a weapon in the war-torn Gaza by blocking aid deliveries, citing that if this intention is proven, it could be considered a war crime.

The southern Gaza Strip came under intense Israeli bombardment overnight, despite international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory where famine is looming.

Air and artillery strikes pounded targets in Gaza Sunday as U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called for a surge of aid into the besieged territory he said was stalked by "horror and starvation".

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to visit Egypt's border with Gaza on Saturday, after Israel said it would send in troops to fight Hamas in the nearby city of Rafah, even without U.S. support.

The United States is working hard to prepare a landing jetty which would facilitate aid to Gaza by sea, a senior US official said on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference in Cyprus, saying it could be ready before May 1.

As tensions escalate in Rafah, European leaders have issued an urgent plea to Israel, urging the nation to refrain from launching a ground operation due to the dire humanitarian consequences for refugees in Gaza and the volatile international situation in the region.

Officials from 36 countries and UN agencies gathered in Cyprus on Thursday to discuss how to expedite aid to besieged Palestinians in Gaza via a sea route launched last week.

Thursday's gathering is being attended by Sigrid Kaag, the UN's senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, as well as Curtis Ried, chief of staff of the US National Security Council.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to return Wednesday to the Middle East in a new bid to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

Following a failed attempt to secure a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last week, a new round of negotiations hosted by key mediator Qatar has begun.

A US-based charity said a consignment of almost 200 tons of food aid had reached starving people in northern Gaza on Tuesday, a week after being dispatched via a maritime route from the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

In a harrowing revelation, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that more than 13,000 children lost their lives during the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The distressing report, highlighted by Reuters, underscores the profound humanitarian crisis gripping the region, with many children suffering from severe malnutrition and unimaginable trauma.