The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said famine is happening in Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

For now the famine is centred in the governorate of Gaza, one of five in the strip. It is the most densely populated and home to Gaza city. By the end of September, famine is expected to spread south to the governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis (see maps).

The determination comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israel’s restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza were causing starvation among Palestinian civilians.

While claiming credit for the release of the other hostages, Trump asserted that not every hostage family disagreed with Israel's plan for a military occupation of the Gaza Strip. There are "probably" fewer than 20 hostages left alive in Hamas captivity out of the 50 being held by the terror group,

Israel, which has repeatedly downplayed the extent of hunger inside Gaza, dismissed the report as false and biased; Benjamin Netanyahu said it was an “outright lie”. But United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said it was “irrefutable testimony” and described the declaration as a “moment of collective shame for the world”.

Spain has air-dropped about 12 tons of aid via 24 parachutes, intended for approximately 11,000 people over the last two months. Spain denied that the aid it delivered to the Gaza Strip contained pork products or food products unfit for consumption,

The United States has halted entry via visitor visas for individuals from the Gaza Strip until further notice. "All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,

A U.N.-backed food security group has issued a dire warning: famine has officially now taken hold in northern Gaza and is expected to spread in the coming months.