Gaza Strip: Hopes dimmed on Thursday for a truce before Ramadhan in the Israel-Hamas war that entered its sixth month with dozens more killed, according to the health ministry in the territory threatened by famine.
The ministry said 83 more people had been killed over the previous day, adding to a toll it says has reached 30,800, mostly women and children, in a war that China called "a disgrace to civilisation".
In the wasteland of Jabalia, northern Gaza, Palestinians gathered to receive meals at a donation point.
"There is no gas to cook our food on. There is no flour, or rice," said Bassam al Hou, standing beside large, blackened cooking pots among the dusty rubble.
He said children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?"
In Deir al Balah, central Gaza, the bodies of about 14 people killed lay in front of a hospital.
US President Joe Biden had urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadhan begins, as early as Sunday depending on the lunar calendar.
But on Thursday, Hamas's delegation left Cairo and talks "will resume next week" during Ramadhan, said Al Qahera News channel, which is linked to Egypt's state intelligence service, citing a senior source.
"It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whose country has been historically sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
By late January, the war had damaged around half of all buildings in Gaza and rendered the territory "uninhabitable" for its 2.4 million people, a UN agency said, warning the impact would only worsen if the war continued.
The health ministry on Wednesday said 20 people had died of malnutrition and dehydration, at least half of them children.
Only limited aid has reached Gaza's north.
James McGoldrick, interim UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian Territories, said aid convoys would continue to be looted or ransacked unless assistance can "really flood" the north.
He said Israeli authorities had "given the green light" for use of a military road on the eastern side of Gaza to reach the north.
On Saturday, the United States joined Jordan and other countries which have airdropped aid, but humanitarians say this is not the most efficient way to provide relief.
Airdrops continued on Thursday, AFPTV images showed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected in Cyprus on Friday for talks on a maritime aid corridor from the island to Gaza.
In the grey ruins of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's largest city, dozens of people went to inspect their homes and take what belongings they could recover after Israeli forces pulled out of the city centre.
Gaza's Civil Defence agency said Israeli forces "destroyed all water, sewage, electricity, communications, and road networks" in central Khan Yunis.
Witnesses said violent clashes had also occurred in the Zeitun district of Gaza City and Shuka, a village in Rafah, where around 1.5 million people have sought refuge near the Egyptian border but have been unable to escape the fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing public pressure over the fate of hostages still held, and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.
The war has highlighted deep divisions between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, a member of his war cabinet who made an unauthorised trip to Washington and London this week.
Netanyahu has vowed to push on with the campaign to destroy Hamas, before or after any truce deal.
The war claimed its first reported fatalities after months of missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels on ships in the Red Sea area vital for world trade.
The Philippine government said two Filipino crew members were among those killed in the rebel missile strike on the bulk carrier True Confidence.
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