Israel Launches Offensive on Gaza Aid Hub Amid Fears Over Starvation

Raids start as UK joins 24 countries condemning killing of Palestinians

- Peter Beaumont

Israel launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza yesterday targeting Deir al-Balah, the territory's main hub for humanitarian efforts, amid urgent warnings of widening starvation.

The assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become an almost daily slaughter.

The UN food agency, the World Food Programme, said the majority of those killed on Sunday had gathered near the border fence with Israel in the hope of getting flour from a UN aid convoy, when they were fired on by Israeli tanks and snipers.

Yesterday the UK and 24 other countries issued a sharply critical letter condemning the Israeli military's killing of hundreds of Palestinians seeking food in recent weeks and calling for an immediate end to the conflict.

"It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law," it said.

Witnesses described massive airstrikes overnight in Deir al-Balah-the last remaining area of Gaza that has not suffered significant war damage - which is packed with Palestinians displaced from elsewhere in Gaza.

Israeli sources had said the reason the army had so far stayed out was that they suspected Hamas might be holding hostages there. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in captivity in Gaza are thought to be still alive.