Further 10 people die of malnutrition in Gaza as aid agencies warn of mass starvation

This update brings the total number of people to die in Gaza of malnutrition since Hamas' October 7 attack to 111.

At least 80 of those to die of hunger during that period were children, hospital workers in Gaza have said.

The UN has blamed rising hunger and malnutrition on Israel’s continued blockade of Gaza, which has seen the region’s people “drip-fed” aid, a policy the UK government has branded “inhumane.”

Israel has denied it is responsible for shortages of food and other supplies.

Read more: Families of Air India crash victims 'sent wrong bodies' in bungled repatriation

Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Shifa hospital in Gaza City, added that around 900,000 children in Gaza are suffering from hunger.

At least 70,000 of them are in a state of malnutrition, he warned.

It comes as 111 aid organisations from across the globe signed a statement calling for Israel to end its blockade.

The statement read: "As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families.

"With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.

"The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death."

The organisations called for a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response” as the risk of famine in Gaza continues to rise.

Earlier this week, the UK joined 27 other nations in calling for Israel to end its “drip-feeding” of aid to Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary and counterparts from 27 other nations, including Australia, Canada and France, plus the EU commissioner for equality, urged the Israeli government to "immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid".

They also described proposals to move 600,000 Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Rafah as "completely unacceptable".

These plans, which eventually aim to have all of Gaza’s almost two million people living in the tiny zone, have been likened to a ‘concentration camp’, including by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

In a statement shared on Monday afternoon, the foreign secretaries said: "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths."The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food."

They said it is "horrifying" that hundreds of Palestinians "have been killed while seeking aid" and that the "Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable".