The United Nations humanitarian chief has issued a devastating warning for babies inside Gaza, saying 14,000 are at risk of dying in the next 48 hours alone unless life-saving food and supplements pour into the war-ravaged strip.
Israel has partially lifted its 11-week-long aid blockade of Gaza, conceding some supplies have started to run low.
Five trucks carrying items such as baby food were allowed to cross into the territory on Monday, and another 93 trucks were let into Gaza on Tuesday.
But Tom Fletcher from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed much more food needed to cross the border urgently.
"There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them," he told the BBC.
"This is not food that Hamas are going to steal.
"We run the risk of looting, we run the risks of being hit as part of the Israeli military offensive, we run all sorts of risks trying to get that baby food through to those mothers who cannot feed their children right now because they're malnourished."
He said the severity of the situation was "utterly chilling."
"But this is what we do — we keep going. It will be frustrating, we will be impeded, we will run huge risks, but I don't see a better idea than getting that baby food into those mums who at the moment cannot feed their own kids."
UN pressed for detail on figures
When pressed for clarification on how he arrived at this figure, Mr Fletcher said there were "strong teams on the ground" operating in medical centres and schools, but did not provide further details.
The BBC later sought further clarity from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
"We are pointing to the imperative of getting supplies in to save an estimated 14,000 babies suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Gaza, as the IPC [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification] partnership has warned about," it said in a statement.
"We need to get the supplies in as soon as possible, ideally within the next 48 hours."
The organisation highlighted a report from the IPC that stated 14,100 severe cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur among children aged six to 59 months between April 2025 and March 2026.
However, the IPC report says this may take place over the course of about a year — not 48 hours.
Israeli authorities have started allowing some aid to travel into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, near the Israel-Egypt border, after no deliveries had been made since March.
But the United Nations said it had not been able to access the aid delivered into Gaza so far, despite Israel allowing it to cross the border.
"Israeli authorities are requiring us to offload supplies on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing and reload them separately once they secure our team's access from inside the Gaza Strip," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
"Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to access the Kerem Shalom area and collect the nutrition supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse."
The Netanyahu government said it imposed the blockade because it needed to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages held there, accusing the militant group of stealing and stockpiling aid for its own purposes.
It had dismissed warnings from humanitarian organisations of famine hitting the strip as Hamas propaganda.
But, on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said some of his country's chief backers had told him the scenes of desperate Palestinians frantically scrambling for food in Gaza were challenging the support for his government during the now 19-month-long war.
Partially lifting the aid blockade and providing a "basic amount of food" to the population is a stopgap measure until a new US-backed organisation starts aid distribution in Gaza in the coming weeks.
Reacting to the news, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was "pleased" that aid had begun to re-enter the Palestinian enclave.
No breakthroughs at latest talks
Palestinian health authorities have reported at least 50 people have been killed in the latest round of Israeli strikes, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have ratcheted up their military campaign in Gaza.
Medics have said the death toll over the past week alone has topped more than 500 people.
Strikes have hit across Gaza, including one attack which hit a school in Gaza city where displaced Palestinians had been sheltering.
On Monday the IDF issued a major evacuation warning for the area around the southern city of Khan Younis, telling tens of thousands to flee towards the coast or risk being killed in an "unprecedented attack".
Intense fighting around hospitals has also continued, compromising or closing facilities across the strip, including the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza's north.
Qatar's prime minister has revealed the latest round of ceasefire and hostage negotiation talks in Doha has not led to any breakthroughs.
"Because there is a fundamental gap between the two parties, which is one party is looking for a partial deal that might or have the possibility to lead to a comprehensive deal and the other party is looking just for a one-off deal and to end the war and to get all the hostages out," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said.
The expanded military operation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza have fuelled anger from the leaders of the UK, France and Canada, who have threatened sanctions against Israel if it does not change tack.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told parliament on Tuesday the situation "where the level of suffering, innocent children being bombed again, is utterly intolerable".
"We're horrified by the escalation from Israel," he said.
"We repeat our demand for a ceasefire as the only way to free the hostages, we repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale up humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
"The recent announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza, a basic quantity, is totally and utterly inadequate, so we must coordinate our response because this war has gone on for far too long.
"We cannot allow the people of Gaza to starve."
Australia has joined calls from more than 20 other nations for aid to begin flowing in Gaza, but the Albanese government has not gone as far as making similar comments to Sir Keir, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian leader Mark Carney.
UK summons Israeli ambassador
Shortly after Sir Keir's speech to the House of Commons, it was revealed the UK would suspend free trade negotiations with Israel and it had summoned the country's ambassador to raise its concerns directly.
The UK also issued sanctions against a number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including outspoken far-right settlement advocate Daniella Weiss.
Ms Weiss has been calling for Israeli settlements to return to Gaza.
The International Court of Justice has ruled Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the construction of settlements is illegal.
Israel's foreign ministry said the Starmer government was not advancing trade talks anyway.
"If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative," spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on social media platform X
"The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago.
"External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction."
Mr Marmorstein said the sanctions against settlers were "unjustified and regrettable", particularly after the killing of a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank last week.
