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.

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 hunger crisis in Gaza has many asking if Israel had a deliberate policy of starving civilians. Israelis say that was never the case, but an ignorance of Palestinian suffering allowed an inconsistent government policy to lead to a calamity.

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.

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

At least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded on Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a local hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the U.