Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, says 21 children have died of malnutrition and starvation across the territory in the past 72 hours.

Some 900,000 children in Gaza are suffering from hunger, and 70,000 of them are in a state of malnutrition, he tells the BBC.

They face alarming numbers of deaths, the doctor warns, with diabetic and kidney patients at particular risk.

In addition to these figures from Salmiya, the Hamas-run health ministry says another 15 people in Gaza have died due to starvation and malnutrition in the past day. It brings the total number of such deaths to 101, the ministry says, including 80 children.

Image source, Getty Images

There are almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began to distribute aid in late May.

Both Israel and the GHF have disputed death tolls, recorded by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, however the ministry's figures are widely seen as a reliable count of bodies seen by Gazan hospitals.

Some of the deadliest incidents in recent days include:

• On Sunday, at least 67 people waiting for UN aid lorries in northern Gaza were killed
• The day before, at least 39 Palestinians seeking food were killed near two aid distribution points in southern Gaza
• On 20 July, at least 21 people died during a crush at a GHF site in Khan Younis

• Ten people, including six children, were killed in an air strike while waiting for water in central Gaza on 13 July

• Twenty-four people were killed by Israeli fire near a southern aid site on 12 July
• On 11 July, at least 15 people, including eight children, were killed while queuing for nutritional supplements in front of a clinic in central Gaza

At the end of June, when the death toll at aid sites was 500, BBC Verify published an investigation examining several earlier incidents where Israel was accused of killing civilians seeking aid.

Away from Deir al-Balah, one person has been killed and 118 others injured in Gaza City, according to a Palestinian Red Crescent statement.

The mass casualty occurred as civilians were targeted while waiting for aid near Nabulsi Junction in the south-western part of the city, the statement adds.

Since the early hours of Tuesday, medical teams in the city's al-Quds hospital have treated those wounded.

In the past weeks and months, there have been repeated incidents of killings and injuries of Palestinians seeking aid.

In a newly-released statement, Israel's military defends its decision to fire shots in Deir al-Balah - the area in which a ground offensive is being carried out.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says troops identified shots being fired at them and "responded toward the area from which the shooting originated". It also reiterates the evacuation orders for the area - issued on Sunday - saying that "prior to the start of IDF activities in the area, the IDF warned the civilian population to evacuate" for their safety.

Addressing criticism about the way people in the area are being treated, the IDF says it's normal procedure as part of its efforts "against the terrorist organisations in the area" to detain suspects for questioning.

"At times during field questioning, it is necessary for individuals suspected of terrorist activity to temporarily remove parts of their clothing in order to ensure that they are not concealing explosive belts or other weapons," the statement adds.

The Israeli military also emphasises that it maintains "continuous and consistent contact" with international organisations.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN is warning this morning that the "last lifelines keeping people alive [in Gaza] are collapsing".

It follows new evacuation orders in place for parts of Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, where displaced Gazans have been taking refuge. (There's more on that in our last post.)

In response, a statement issued by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson says Gaza's humanitarian system "is being impeded, undermined and endangered".

UN staff "remain in Deir al-Balah", the spokesperson adds, and two UN guesthouses were struck "despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises".

Israel has not commented on these claims.

Continuing, the UN spokesperson says Guterres "deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition" arising out of Gaza: "The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life".

Israeli tanks have this week advanced into Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the first time, triggering a fresh wave of displacement among civilians.

On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of six city blocks in Deir al-Balah's southern region.

Many displaced civilians had been sheltering in the city - an estimated 50-80,000 people were instructed to head towards the al-Mawasi area, on the coast.

Soon after, our colleagues at the World Service spoke to evacuees, who said "there is no place left to go" for displaced Gazans.

As we mentioned a little earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) says its facilities came under attack during Israel's first major ground operation in Deir al-Balah since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023.

The agency says Israeli forces attacked a building housing its staff and their families in the city on Monday. Its main warehouse was also destroyed, but WHO has not attributed blame.

The Israeli military has not commented on either incident.

WHO says the staff residence was attacked three times, and that residents - including children - were "traumatised".

The UN agency says the Israeli military entered the premises, handcuffing, stripping and interrogating male staff "on the spot".

"Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention."

David Lammy has been doing the government's media round this morning - and spoke to BBC Breakfast and Radio 4's Today programme along the way.

Asked on BBC Breakfast how he feels when he sees images of the scenes in Gaza, Lammy says: "I feel the same as the British public: appalled, sickened."

"These are not words that are usually used by a foreign secretary who is attempting to be diplomatic, but when you see innocent children holding out their hand for food, and you see them shot and killed in the way that we have seen in the last few days, of course Britain must call it out," he says.

He goes on to say that the UK "must get on the phone and we must urge Israel to think again", and that the government "will continue to pressure, we will continue to act".

Earlier in the interview, Lammy was asked if he had spoken to Israel's government since it released a statement, responding to the UK and more than 20 other countries accusing Israel of "drip feeding" aid into Gaza. He said he hadn't - but that he had spoken to the Israeli foreign minister beforehand.

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

As Israel continues its first ground offensive in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah, the UN warns that the "last lifelines keeping people alive" in the territory "are collapsing".

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says he feels "appalled" and "sickened" by the scenes coming out of Gaza.

It comes after the UK and more than 20 other nations criticised the Israeli government and military for its "unacceptable" conduct - that statement is here in full if you want to read it.

The Israeli government dismissed the statement as "disconnected from reality", saying Hamas is the "sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides".

Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) says its facilities have come under attack in Deir al-Balah, a claim Israel is yet to respond to, while reports of people dying from starvation continue to increase.

We'll bring you live updates on the situation throughout the day, as well as analysis from our correspondents on the ground. Stay with us.

Image source, Reuters

The UK and 27 other nations have sharply criticised the Israeli government and military for its "unacceptable" conduct in Gaza.

In a joint statement, also signed by the EU commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management, they condemn the "horrifying" killing of hundreds of Gazans attempting to get food from Israel's aid operations.

Israel has rejected the criticism as being "disconnected from reality", accusing its critics of "failing to focus the pressure on Hamas" and "to recognise Hamas’s role and responsibility for the situation".

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the lack of humanitarian assistance for Palestinians as "inhumane" and pledged the UK would provide £40m in aid to Gaza this year.

The mounting criticism comes as dire warnings of the starvation risk in Gaza are growing. Experts have warned that more than 1.5 million people in Gaza are at risk of severe malnutrition or starvation until at least October.

"I'm only asking for a piece of bread. That's all," a 17-year-old suffering from severe malnutrition in Gaza tells the BBC.

Earlier, Israeli forces launched a ground and air assault on the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the first time.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says the number of people killed has now exceeded 59,000 in the Strip since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

We're now closing our live coverage, but you can keep up to date with the latest from the Middle East in our news story.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just addressed reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, and briefly touched upon the recent deaths of civilians in Gaza who were attempting to reach aid.

Asked whether President Trump was "satisfied" with the way aid was being distributed in Gaza, Leavitt responded that "the president is the reason that aid is even being distributed in Gaza at all".

"He wants to see this distributed in a peaceful manner where lives are not being lost," she said. "He hated seeing pictures of starvation of women and children desperately needing that aid."

Leavitt added, however, that the White House did not want to see aid "end up in the hands of terrorists".

"I think both things can be done at the same time," she said.

The press secretary did not answer when asked if Trump had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the killings, although she said he had previously spoken to him regarding bombings in Syria and of a Catholic Church in Gaza.

Additionally, she said on several occasions that a negotiated settlement to the conflict continued to be a "top priority" for the administration - and said that Trump "inherited" the war from the "weak and incompetent" Biden administration, without providing more detail.

The UK Foreign Office has updated its earlier list of countries who released a joint statement calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Greece, Malta and Cyprus have now been added to the earlier list.

It lists the countries that released the joint statement:

• Foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK
• EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management

As we've been reporting, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for civilians in Deir al-Balah on Sunday, urging them to move towards al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast.

Our colleagues at the World Service have been speaking to some of the people who have been told to leave the central Gaza city.

Doha, who has been displaced "more than 10 times" throughout the conflict, says what's happening in Deir al-Balah is similar to what she's experienced before.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to be displaced yet again," she says. "But where should I evacuate?" she asks, adding that her family is "really stressed".

"There is no place left to go to."

Dr Ghada, a medical student near Deir al Balah, says most of her friends have already been forced to evacuate - "many have lost internet so it's very difficult to stay in touch".

"Gaza is staving. The markets are completely empty and we can't buy basic food," she says.

Dr Ghada says that the recent bombing of Deir al-Balah has also forced some medical schools in the area to suspend classes. "The students are too weak from hunger to continue," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

• Early this morning, Israel launched its first ground assault on Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza - one of the few parts of the Strip it had not yet conducted a major ground operation in

• The UN's humanitarian office, Ocha, described a displacement order issued by the IDF yesterday for the area as "yet another devastating blow" to humanitarian efforts, saying there were dozens of important resources (such as humanitarian warehouses, medical clinics and critical water infrastructure) in the area
• Following today's assault, the UK and 24 nations called for an end to the war in Gaza and condemned the "horrifying" killing of hundreds of Gazans trying to get food from Israel's aid operations in a joint statement
• Israel's foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein called the statement "disconnected from reality", and said the Israeli government "rejects" it
• Speaking to the House of Commons a short while ago, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described Israel's aid operation as "inhumane" before announcing an extra £40m in humanitarian assistance in Gaza this year

• And earlier in the day, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry announced that the death toll in the Strip had risen to 59,000 since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas on 7 October 2023. In the last 24 hours, 19 Palestinians have died from hunger, it added

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations Secretary General is "appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza", his spokesperson says.

Antonio Guterres "deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition", Stéphane Dujarric says, adding that the UN stands "ready to scale-up operations" in the Strip.

"Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted. The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life," Dujarric says in a statement.

"Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations."

The UN statement also reiterates calls for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".

"The time for a ceasefire is now."

Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller, agrees that the situation in Gaza is "inhumane and grotesque", and welcomes the aid allocations that Lammy has just announced.

But the problem, he says, "is that repeated expressions of regret by this government have not prevented further carnage being wrought by the Netanyahu government".

He then asks Lammy: "Does the foreign secretary truly believe that his government is doing all it can to put an end to terrible violence and starvation" in Gaza, adding that it is in "clear contravention" of international law.

"Can he dispel the widespread view that he is not setting the policy he would choose but he is instead being reined in by Number 10's desire not to upset President Trump by acting more boldly?"

Lammy responds by saying that the government has led much of the multi-lateral effort.

"We will continue to press and continue to look at what further we may need to do," he says.

"What is required now is painstaking diplomacy to get to that ceasefire," he says.

In response to Patel, Lammy says the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza "has got steadily worse".

"We believe the UN and its system are best placed to deliver aid to Gaza," Lammy says.

Lammy says the UK government will participate in the two-state conference that has been organised by France.

"That conference is dedicated to looking closely at the governance arrangements that you have to put in place," he says.

"When Hamas leave - and they must go and they cannot govern Gaza - how do we ensure this is not a 60-day pause but we bring an end to this and we move to a two-state solution?"

Image source, House of Commons

Responding to Lammy's statement, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel says the Conservatives also want to see an end to the conflict in Gaza, as well as the return of hostages and humanitarian support which is "desperately needed" getting into the Strip.

She asks where Britain's voice is when it comes to putting new pressure on Hamas to agree to the most recent US proposals to secure a ceasefire.

Patel asks Lammy to confirm what an "unconditional ceasefire" means for Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

On aid, Patel says the situation "has deteriorated beyond all rational comprehension".

"Daily reports of casualties seeking aid are appalling and we utterly condemn these attacks," she says.

"But our words and political statements of condemnation are not saving lives," she adds, and asks Lammy what practical solutions, proposals and options the government has discussed with the Israeli government on aid supplies into the Strip.

Image source, House of Commons

Lammy also confirms enhanced support of around £7m to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian governments, and it's delivering the reform plans which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has set out.

Lammy sets out that £20m will go to services supporting Palestinian refugees.

"There must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state, involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area," Lammy says.

"Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza," Lammy adds.

Lammy says the UK is co-leading on a "two-state solution conference" and pushing to agree plans for credible next phase in Gaza to turn any temporary ceasefire into lasting peace.