Caroline Hawley
Diplomatic correspondent

As we’ve been hearing, aid workers themselves are not immune to the deepening hunger crisis in Gaza.

Maysoon, an Unrwa distribution worker in the north, fainted shortly after arriving for work today - due to exhaustion and hunger. She was found to have dangerously low blood pressure.

“The last meal I had was yesterday at 3pm, and it consisted of just half a piece of bread,” she says.

A teacher before the war, she has been displaced seven times and now lives in part of a damaged apartment.

“I work under continuous physical and psychological pressure, caused by sleep deprivation due to nonstop shelling for over two weeks around my home, and the fear and anxiety that accompany such conditions,” she adds.

She feels helpless in the face of her children’s “silent hunger crisis and the constant anxiety about our unknown future".

The distribution worker - with no supplies to distribute - called for an urgent resumption of UN food deliveries.

Her work currently involves trying to prioritise the most vulnerable for when there is food available to give out.

“We love life,” she says. “All we ask for are our basic human rights to live with dignity and nothing more.”

Alice Cuddy
BBC News

I’ve also been speaking over WhatsApp to 40-year-old Hanaa Almadhoun in northern Gaza.

She says the local markets are usually “empty of food or any basic goods, and if they do exist then they come at exorbitant prices that no ordinary person can afford”.

“Flour, which is the basis of everything, if found, is expensive and difficult to secure,” she says, adding that people have sold “their gold and personal belongings” to afford the food staple.

The mother-of-three says “every new day brings a new challenge” as people head out “in search of something edible”.

“With my own eyes, I’ve seen children rummaging through the garbage in search of food scraps,” she adds.

“There are no sanitary pads, no water for washing, no clean bathrooms, and no privacy,” she writes.

Hanaa says that people in Gaza have tried to find replacements for flour.

Alice Cuddy
BBC News

I’ve just been speaking to a woman in central Gaza who is eight months pregnant with her third child.

“We are experiencing a catastrophe and a famine that no one could have imagined,” nurse Walaa Fathi tells me over WhatsApp from Deir al-Balah.

“I hope that my baby stays in my womb and I don’t have to give birth in these difficult circumstances.”

Walaa says the only thing she has been able to find to eat is lentils, which she eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner when there is enough to spread through the day.

“I crave bread these days, but sometimes I feel hungry and don’t eat bread to make sure I have enough for my children,” she says.

Walaa says she has mixed feelings about the birth of her third child.

“I am happy that a new baby will come to me, and at the same time I am sad that I have nothing to offer him,” she says.

“There is no food or anything containing sugar. How can I feed my baby breast milk? Of course, there is no formula milk available.”

On the ceasefire negotiations, Mencer says Hamas continues to cling to its refusal.

The Israeli negotiating team is still in Doha, and the latest information is that Israel is still awaiting an official response.

The Israeli government's spokesperson says Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal, but Hamas has not.

Mencer adds that Israel wants its hostages back: "We have 50 hostages still remaining in Gaza, some of whom have been murdered and some are alive."

After another short round of questions from the press, the briefing with David Mencer concludes.

Mencer is now answering questions from the media.

He is asked to comment on the statement from more than 100 aid organisations, which says there is mass starvation in Gaza and call for a ceasefire.

Mencer says claims of a "famine" have been consistent throughout the conflict, he calls them "false warnings".

"Where there is hunger in Gaza, it is hunger orchestrated by Hamas."

Hunger is a tactic of Hamas to put pressure on Israel, he says.

The Israeli government spokesperson says that, as of the last 24 hours, there are more than 700 aid trucks inside Gaza, waiting to be picked up by the UN.

Mencer blames the UN for this "bottleneck" and suggests the UN is the main obstacle to maintaining the flow of aid into Gaza.

• For context: During the war, the UN has repeatedly said it struggles to get the necessary Israeli authorisation to collect incoming supplies with Gazan drivers from inside the crossing points and transport it through military zones

There is no famine caused by Israel, Mencer says.

"There is a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas," he says.

Aid has been flowing into Gaza through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and through UN-coordinated shipments of raw materials for bakeries and communal kitchens, Mencer continues.

Between 19 July until Tuesday, more than 4,400 aid trucks have entered Gaza, he says, containing food, flour and baby food.

Yesterday, the GHF distributed two million meals to Gazans in one day, he says before adding that 87 million meals have been distributed by organisation in total.

"Hamas is trying to prevent the distribution of food," Mencer says, adding "they are looting aid trucks".

We are now hearing from Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer.

He opens his statement with "profound sorrow" over the loss of Israeli soldiers. He says 895 have died since 7 October 2023.

He adds that the two latest military casualties were killed in southern Gaza.

The Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer is about to deliver a briefing to journalists.

It is anticipated he will speak about the aid situation in Gaza.

We'll bring you key updates here.

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says ten people have died from malnutrition within the last 24 hours, as aid organisations across the world attempt to draw attention to the humanitarian situation and prompt action from the Israeli government - which says aid is waiting at the border.

Here's the latest:

• The UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unwra) has warned there are one million children in the region who are at risk of severe malnutrition, with the Hamas-run health ministry saying 111 people have died due to starvation since the start of the war
• It comes as more than 100 NGOs said only 28 lorries' worth of aid is being distributed each day on average - the situation has led to exorbitant prices for basic food products
• The Israeli government has said hundreds of trucks are poised at the border waiting for collection but the UN said it's struggling to get commitments that Palestinians will not be killed while trying to access it
• UN Secretary General António Guterres called the situation a "horror show" - saying "starvation is knocking on every door"
• "Me and my children go to bed hungry every night," a market seller told us, while a doctor said nurses at the Nasser hospital "don't have enough energy to stand"
• Meanwhile the hostilities have continued after the recent escalation - with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting 113 deaths in the last 24 hours

In the last 24 hours 113 people have been killed in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says. A further 534 have been injured, it adds.

It says a number of victims remain under rubble and on the streets, with emergency services unable to access them.

The total death toll since 7 October 2023 has risen to 59,219, with 143,045 people injured, the statement adds.

In the face of a "deepening operation" by the Israeli military, people in Gaza are struggling to access food.

Pictures from the Strip today show the damage caused in residential areas, and the conditions surrounding getting crucial supplies.

Image source, Mahmoud Issa

Image source, Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images

Image source, Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images

Image source, Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP

Image source, Reuters

The Israeli military has issued an update on last week's strike on Gaza's only Catholic Church, where three people sheltering inside were killed and several injured.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says a completed inquiry shows that "the church was accidentally hit due to an unintentional deviation of munitions" during operations by its troops in the area.

Following the incident, it says, "guidelines for opening fire near religious buildings, shelters, and other sensitive sites were further clarified".

Following a call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Pope Leo XIV about the incident, the IDF reiterates that it "regrets any harm caused to civilians".

And, the Israeli military says it since "has facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medical equipment, and medication, to the Holy Family Church in Gaza".

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

Church leaders in Jerusalem say they have returned from a trip to Gaza with "broken hearts", describing starving people and children not "batting an eyelid" at the sound of bombing.

"We have seen men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of simple meal," the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told journalists.

"This is humiliation that is hard to bear when you see it with you own eyes. It is morally unacceptable and unjustifiable."

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III, said his Church would "stand in solidarity" with "the whole people of Gaza".

The two men made a rare visit to the war-torn Strip after Israeli tank fire hit the Catholic Holy Family Church in Gaza City last week, killing two women and a man.

US President Donald Trump is said to have made an angry call to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the deadly strike, which came days after an alleged attack by extremist Israeli settlers next to the ruins of an ancient church in the Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu's office expressed deep regret for what was described as "a stray ammunition" hitting the Gaza church.

However, local Christians have questioned whether the place of worship was deliberately targeted., external

Image source, Getty Images

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Image source, Getty Images

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly, with hunger and thirst being used as “weapons of war”, according to Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesperson for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unwra) in Gaza.

Abu Hasna warns that one million children in the territory are now at risk of acute malnutrition.

He adds that 90% of families are unable to access safe drinking water, and that the catastrophic effects of hunger now extend to the entire population, not just children.

“What is happening is a deliberate use of hunger as a weapon,” he says. “People in Gaza are not only suffering from hunger and thirst, but also facing the spread of epidemics and diseases due to the collapse of basic services.”

Abu Hasna calls for the immediate opening of border crossings and the entry of vital humanitarian supplies, warning that without urgent international intervention, the situation could spiral further into a full-scale famine.

"Me and my children go to bed hungry every night," a market seller in Gaza tells the BBC. "All people of Gaza are like that."

Abu Alaa says they haven't eaten flour in three days, and even by selling all of the items on his table - which appear to include some dry and tinned food - he still wouldn't be able to buy half a kilo of flour.

"We are not alive. We are dead. We are pleading with the whole world to intervene and save us."

He says he cannot afford food, and there is no work and money in Gaza.

To feed his family, he goes to the food kitchen if it is open, if not, "I don't eat".

• BBC correspondent Rushdi Abualouf writes that essentials in Gaza are now "priced well-beyond the means of most families"

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health says hospitals have recorded a further 10 deaths due to starvation in the past 24 hours.

In a statement, it adds that this brings the total number of deaths due to famine to 111, since the 7 October attacks in 2023.

In his hospital in the south of Gaza, Dr Ahmad al-Farra watches patients arrive every day, malnourished and weak.

Dr al-Farra, the head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, tells the BBC World Service's Newsday programme there's been no food for three days: "No flour, no vegetables. Nothing is available."

He says children come to his unit going through varying degrees of starvation. Some, he says, are malnourished and die in the hospital's care.

Others come to hospital with separate health issues that prevent nutrients from being absorbed by their bodies.

"We were afraid we would reach this critical point – and now we have," he says.

Why is aid not reaching people?published at 10:40 British Summer Time

10:40 BST

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, EPA

The new statement from more than 100 NGOs says that an average of only 28 lorryloads of aid is being distributed daily in Gaza.

Yet dramatic footage posted on X by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani on Tuesday shows huge quantities of goods – he says from 950 lorries – stacked up just inside Gaza’s crossings. “This after Israeli facilitated the entry of aid,” he writes.

So why is so much aid stuck?

During the war, the UN has repeatedly said it struggles to get the necessary Israeli authorisation to collect incoming supplies with Gazan drivers from inside the crossing points and transport it through military zones.

The ongoing hostilities, badly damaged roads and severe fuel shortages have exacerbated problems. Criminal looting by armed gangs has sometimes stopped operations. These issues remain.

But currently we are hearing from the UN that its key problem is that it's struggling to get commitments from the IDF that desperate Palestinians will not be killed while getting life-saving aid. Each time their teams try to collect aid from crossings, UN workers say, civilians approach their lorries which come under fire.

This is “despite repeated assurances that troops would not engage or be present,” says Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general.

“This cannot be stressed enough that this unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like,” he said at a briefing on Tuesday. “Absolutely no-one should have to risk their lives to get food.”

Image source, Reuters

We can bring you more now from the statement signed by more than 100 aid organisations who are warning about mass starvation in Gaza.

Here's a summary of its main points:

• "As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza," humanitarian workers are joining food lines risking being shot to feed their families, the organisations write
• The "total siege" in Gaza has "created chaos, starvation, and death"

• Supplies are "totally depleted", as humanitarian workers starve to death
• It says warehouses within Gaza with tons of food, water and medical supplies sit untouched, as organisations are blocked from accessing and delivering them
• "The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed, it has been prevented from functioning", the statement reads
• There are "record rates" of acute malnutrition, especially among children and the elderly
• The agencies demand a permanent ceasefire, a lifting of all restrictions, the reopening of all land crossings, a rejection of military-controlled distribution sites and a UN-led humanitarian response

A total of 115 aid agencies have signed the letter.