Famine set to be officially declared in Gaza for first time by UN-backed group – Israel-Gaza war latest updates | Israel

Welcome to live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. It is 10.42 in Gaza City.

Here are some of the latest developments:

• Israel’s plans to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. The Red Cross became the latest voice to condemn the plan on Thursday, calling it “intolerable”. The Israeli defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorises the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

• Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have urged Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to accept a proposed ceasefire deal, saying a failure to do so is “a death sentence for the living hostages and a sentence of disappearance for the deceased ones.”

• In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighbourhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

• Children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza could die if emergency provisions are not immediately put in place during Israel’s Gaza City military operation, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency has warned. UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said its data showed a six-fold increase in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza City since March.

• Israeli citizen Saleh Abu-Hussein, who was detained in Lebanon for about a year, has returned to Israel following negotiations with the help of the Red Cross, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. The prime minister’s office did not disclose details on the circumstances of the citizen’s detention, according to Reuters.

• Armed Palestinian groups in Lebanese refugee camps will start handing over their weapons to the authorities on Thursday, a joint committee said, following a deal reached in May. “Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps,” Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh said in a statement.

• The UK’s Foreign Office has summoned Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely over Tel Aviv’s approval of a major settlement plan in the West Bank.

• Turkish port authorities have begun informally requiring shipping agents to provide letters declaring that vessels are not linked to Israel and not carrying military or hazardous cargo bound for the country, according to two shipping sources. The move is another step Turkey has taken against Israel after it last year severed trade with the country, worth $7bn (£5.20bn) annually, over its war in Gaza with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

• The UK has called on Israel to allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza as Tel Aviv prepares to step up military operations in the territory. In a statement alongside 25 other members of the Media Freedom Coalition, the UK urged Israel to “allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza”.

• Britain imposed sanctions on one individual and four entities on Wednesday under its Iran sanctions regime, saying they are part of a network that supports Tehran’s overseas activities, including in Ukraine and Israel. The sanctions include an asset freeze on Iranian oil magnate Hossein Shamkhani, and on four companies operating in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors, according to a government notice published online.

• Iranian state television report said the nation’s first military exercise since the 12-day war with Israel involved a frigate IRIS Sabalan and a smaller vessel, the IRIS Ganaveh, which launched Nasir and Qadir cruise missiles at targets in the sea, striking them. Coastal batteries also opened fire as part of the exercise.

• A group of 17 US senators sent a letter to secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday calling for the United States to press Israel to grant access and protection to journalists in Gaza. The letter comes one week after an Israeli strike killed a group of Palestinian journalists in the besieged territory.

A famine is set to be declared in Gaza by the international body responsible for monitoring world hunger, reports the Telegraph.

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition.

It has been used to declare just four famines since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year.

The organisation has previously warned famine is imminent in parts of Gaza, it has until now stopped short of making a formal declaration, citing a lack of hard data.

However, this morning, it is expected to formally declare a famine in Gaza City, the last remaining major built-up area of Gaza and home to some 500,000 people.

The Israeli government has consistently denied that famine is taking place in Gaza and is currently moving in on Gaza City.

In order to declare a famine, three strict criteria must be met: at least 20 per cent of households face an extreme lack of food, at least 30 per cent of children suffer acute malnutrition, and two people for every 10,000 die each day due to “outright starvation”.