Famine-hit Gaza City is a combat zone - IDF

Israel's military will no longer pause fighting to allow aid into Gaza City, a military spokesperson has said, a decision likely to deepen the famine gripping the north of the territory.

- William Christou, Beirut Emma Graham-Harrison, Jerusalem

Israel has been stepping up attacks in and around Gaza City as the military prepares for a ground operation that humanitarian groups and many of Israel's closest allies have warned will be catastrophic for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians already struggling to survive hunger, disease and Israeli attacks.

Gaza's health ministry said yesterday that malnutrition had killed five people and Israeli strikes killed 59 others over the previous 24 hours.

In a statement on X the Israeli military announced that the "local tactical pause will no longer apply to Gaza City as of yesterday morning".

The whole city is now considered a "dangerous combat zone", the military said, although Israel has not ordered civilians to evacuate.

About 80% of Gaza is under evacuation orders, with civilians crammed into just one-fifth of its total area.

Even those areas are not safe, with Israeli attacks targeting even parts that had been labelled "humanitarian zones".

The Israeli military described attacks now under way as the "initial stages" of a planned operation, although military chiefs are reportedly still arguing with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about whether the military has the capacity to do what he has ordered after nearly two years of war.

Also yesterday, the Israeli military said it had recovered the remains of the 55-year-old hostage Ilan Weiss and another unnamed hostage. Weiss was killed in the 7 October attack and his body was taken to Gaza.