Shifa Hospital said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

The U.N. is due to start vaccinating some 640,000 children in the territory against polio, relying on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting.

The leading international authority on food crises predicted "widespread death" in Gaza without immediate action.

The Gaza Strip is experiencing famine conditions, a group of global food-insecurity experts said, the most dire assessment of the enclave’s deepening hunger crisis since the war began.“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,

The leading international authority on food crises says the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza" and it predicts “widespread death” without immediate action

"Hamas actively interferes with and disrupts aid distribution," Israeli Consul General Afir Okunis told Newsweek.

Shaheen said in a statement that Israel has a right to defend its citizens, but added: "it is clear that the Government of Israel has not conducted its military operations in Gaza

The United States and Israel are quietly swapping envoys as the ineffectiveness of humanitarian aid in Gaza threatens the cooperation between the countries.

President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel on Thursday to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, one source familiar with the move and one senior White House official

President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is heading to Israel on Thursday amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.