TRANSCRIPT:
After 12 days of missile strikes, a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding.
That has given fresh hope to Palestinians in Gaza that have seen 20 months of war.
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Abu Salman al-Bureim says the scale and extent of the suffering defies description.
"We ask Qatar and the Americans, and we ask the West specifically for a ceasefire in Gaza, and to integrate us in this ceasefire so this crime and tragedy ends. This tragedy has not been matched across human history, nothing like this has happened historically, from massacres, ugliness, they committed all misdeeds, all misdeeds. We ask them for mercy and to stop the destruction and suffering."
Amid starvation, the deadly attacks continue in the enclave daily - contributing to a death toll since October 7, 2023 that has now surpassed 56,000 Gazans.
Local medics and witnesses say at least 46 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza have died in new shootings by Israeli forces.
Gaza's civil defence agency says there were two incidents - one in central Gaza, and another in south Gaza.
Israel's military says it is reviewing reports of casualties from fire by its troops, in particular an incident where it says a group of people approached soldiers in an area near the Netzarim Corridor.
19-year-old Abdallah Al-Najjar is among those who survived - and is being treated at Al-Shifa Hospital.
"I was going to bring food to my family, to my siblings and my brother. We got injured, there was a lot of fire. Those who don’t die in the strikes, die from hunger. It is all fire, they don’t stop shooting with shelling, quadcopters, tanks, anything."
The head of the hospital, Haasan Al-Shaer, says the intensive care unit has been overwhelmed in the last 24 hours.
"There is a severe shortage in supplies. It was clear that towels needed for surgeries, diagnostic ones for the abdomen and the chest... there are no enough towels to be used by these patients. The suffering is great. The loss is big and the situation is very bad. There is a near-complete collapse of the health system inside the Gaza Strip."
The United Nations says in the last month there have now been 456 deaths of Gazans seeking food outside the four delivery sites that are run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or GHF, which uses armed American security contractors.
The privately-run aid group, backed by Israel and the US, has replaced the United Nations as the main supplier of aid in the enclave.
The four hubs - which replace the 400 sites run by the UN - are built in Israeli military zones where independent media have no access.
In a statement, the GHF says it had not heard of any violent incident near their aid site, which it says is located several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, says two million Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation.
Given that situation, he says the tactics of Israeli authorities in blocking access sought by the UN and other aid providers is unacceptable.
"The newly created so-called aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people. It is a death trap costing more lives than it saves. Humanitarian principles need to be reinstated."
Israel and the United States accuse Hamas of stealing aid, without offering evidence.
The UN denies there has been any systematic diversion of aid by Hamas, saying it has mechanisms to prevent that.
The global spokesperson for the UN's children's agency, UNICEF, James Elder, says the impact on children is devastating, with more than 5,000 diagnosed with malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in May.
And he says there is now another challenge confronting children in Gaza.
"In a war already defined by its brutality, Gaza now teeters at its deadliest edge. So since all electricity to Gaza was cut after the horrific attacks of 7th of October, 2023, fuel became essential to produce, to treat, to distribute water to more than 2 million Palestinians. If the current more-than-100 day blockade of fuel coming into Gaza does not end, children will begin to die of thirst. A virtual blockade is in place. Humanitarian aid is being sidelined. The daily killing of girls and boys in Gaza does not register. And now a deliberate fuel crisis is severing Palestinian's most essential element for survival - water."
Israel's military chief says the focus will shift to Gaza, now the ceasefire with Iran now in place.
In a statement, Chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir says the goal still remains the return of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas.
Meanwhile, Mr Lazzarini says he welcomes the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, and he has called for it to be widened to include Gaza.
"We need a ceasefire. We need the release of the hostages. We need to be able to scale up in an uninterrupted way the assistance to the population in Gaza. Hearing about the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, I really hope it hold. Anything de-escalating the situation, of course, is welcome, is needed more than ever. The region is in turmoil. And if this can lead to a ceasefire on Gaza, I think that would be certainly great news that we are all hoping since a long time."
The war erupted following the October 7 Hamas attack in 2023 in southern Israel, where Hamas killed 1200 people and kidnapped about 250.
Many of them have been released during two ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.
About 50 hostages still remain in captivity in Gaza.
