Live: Six more Palestinians die of famine as Israel blocks Gaza aid

China said on Tuesday it was "shocked" by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital in which five journalists were among at least 20 people killed.

"We are shocked and condemn the fact that medical personnel and journalists have once again unfortunately lost their lives in the conflict," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said when asked about the strikes.

"We express our condolences to the victims and our sympathies to their families," Jiakun said.

China is "highly concerned" about the current situation in the Gaza Strip, Guo said, adding China condemns "all actions that harm civilians... including acts of violence against journalists".

The World Food Programme warned on Tuesday that the aid Israel is allowing to enter Gaza remains a "drop in the ocean", days after famine was formally declared in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza last Friday, blaming the "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel during its nearly two-year war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Carl Skau, WFP's chief operating officer, said that over the past two weeks, there has been a "slight uptick" in aid entering, averaging around 100 trucks per day.

"That's still a drop in the ocean when we're talking about assisting some 2.1 million people," Skau told AFP during a visit to New Delhi.

"We need a completely different level of assistance to be able to turn this trajectory of famine around."

The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in Gaza.

Protesters calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the return of captives took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning ahead of a security cabinet meeting scheduled for the evening.

Israeli media reported others rallying near a US embassy branch in the city, as well as outside the houses of various ministers across the country. 

Einav Zangauker, the mother of an Israeli captive, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not returning the captives because of personal interests.

"We could have ended the war a year ago and brought all the hostages and soldiers home. We could have saved the hostages and soldiers, but the prime minister has chosen again and again to sacrifice civilians for his rule," she said.

Israeli forces have killed at least 24 Palestinians across Gaza today, according to Al Jazeera.

Two Palestinians, including a two-year-old child, were killed in the last few hours, the network reported.

Three more people, all adults, have died in Gaza over the past 24 hours "due to famine and malnutrition," according to the health ministry in the Strip.

The ministry said the total number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza now stands at 303, with 117 of them children.

Clergy and nuns from Gaza City’s Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches are refusing evacuation to care for those who cannot leave ahead of the Israeli military’s planned occupation.

In a joint statement, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said that the Greek Orthodox compound of Saint Porphyrius and the Holy Family Church compound “have been a refuge for hundreds of civilians” including elderly, women, children and disabled people, since October 2023.

“Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months. Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence," the statement said.

“For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds," the patriarchates said.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire after Israel’s "horrific" attack on Nasser Hospital on Monday killed five journalists and others.

“What we’ve seen overnight with the attack on a hospital is horrific, and what we would say to Prime Minister Netanyahu is you should heed the call of the world and agree to a ceasefire,” the minister said in a statement, according to the ABC.

“You should take the advice of your own military and agree to a ceasefire. This war must stop,” Wong added.

Israeli attacks killed at least 20 people in Gaza on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported, citing medical sources.

The latest victims include seven people killed in a family home in Gaza City, as well as six others, including children, the report said.

Norway's $2 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar, as well as five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds.

The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank , First International Bank of Israel, and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement.

The six groups were excluded "due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict", said the fund, which is operated by Norway's central bank.

The fund's ethics watchdog, called the Council on Ethics, said that "in the council's assessment, there is no doubt that Caterpillar's products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law".

Prior to its divestment, the fund held a 1.17 percent stake in Caterpillar valued at $2.1bn as of 30 June, its records showed.

The stakes in the five Israeli banks were valued at a combined $661m, also as of 30 June, according to fund data.

Reuters and the Associated Press have sent a joint letter to Israeli officials demanding a "clear explanation" for double-tap air strikes that killed five journalists at a hospital in Gaza on Monday.

"We are outraged that independent journalists were among the victims of this strike on the hospital, a location that is protected under international law. These journalists were present in their professional capacity, doing critical work bearing witness," the letter read.

The agencies also questioned the Israeli military's willingness to investigate itself in such incidents due to its track record and demanded an "urgent and transparent" accountability.

"Unfortunately, we have found the IDF’s willingness and ability to investigate itself in past incidents to rarely result in clarity and action, raising serious questions including whether Israel is deliberately targeting live feeds in order to suppress information," they said.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Israel's war on Gaza, now in its 689th day:

• The Israeli security cabinet will meet Tuesday evening in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman says, with local media reporting that it will discuss renewing negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

• Reporters Without Borders said on Monday that Israel deliberately targets journalists, calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to end Israel's killing of journalists.    

• The Brazilian government does not intend to approve the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador to the country, Gazeta de Povo reported.

• US President Donald Trump said that Israel's war on Gaza could be over in the coming weeks. "I think in the next 2 to 3 weeks. You're gonna have a pretty conclusive ending," he said.

• Amnesty International says the Israeli army’s extensive destruction of civilian property in south Lebanon, including after a ceasefire with Hezbollah, should be investigated as a war crime.

Our live blog is now closed until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

- Two Middle East Eye journalists, Mohamed Salama and Ahmed Abu Aziz, were among five journalists killed by an Israeli "double-tap" strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza on Monday. A total of 21 people died in that attack.

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the hospital attack a "tragic mishap" that he said Israel "regrets". 

- Local officials said 89 Palestinians were killed overall across Gaza on Monday, including a sixth journalist who was shot dead by Israeli forces in Khan Younis.

- US President Donald Trump said that he is "not happy" about the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital. "I don't want to see it. At the same time, we have to end that... nightmare," he told reporters. 

- Condemnations have come in from governments around the world, including the United Nations and the Foreign Press Association, containing some of the strongest language yet after Israel killed yet another group of journalists, many of whom worked for some of the biggest Western news agencies including the Associated Press and Reuters. 

- The Israeli army has warned the government that implementing its demands to demolish all of Gaza City could take several months, potentially more than a year, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has urged Muslim-majority nations to work toward suspending Israel from participating in United Nations General Assembly meetings and activities. 

Overnight raids Monday into Tuesday by the Israeli military are taking place near the cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, several videos uploaded to social media show. The operations appear to have included arrests of a number of young men.

This comes as the Israeli air force steps up its bombing campaign across Gaza, targeting homes in the Bureij camp in the north, in Nuseirat in the centre of the enclave, and in Khan Younis in the south, according to individual reports shared by eyewitnesses. 

A total of 89 people were killed in Gaza on Monday, including six journalists, health officials confirmed.

Canada has condemned the Israeli double-bombing of a Gaza hospital on Monday which killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.

"Canada is horrified by the Israeli military strike at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, which killed five journalists and many civilians, including rescuers and health officials. Such attacks are unacceptable," the foreign ministry said in a statement.