Gaza Truce Hopes Dim as Casualties Rise

Hopes dimmed for a truce before Ramadan in the Israel-Hamas war that entered its sixth month with dozens more killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

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 civilization".

President Joe Biden was set to announce he had ordered the US military to set up a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered territory by sea, senior US officials said, cautioning it would take "a number of weeks".

In the wasteland of Jabalia, northern Gaza, Palestinians gathered to receive meals at a distribution point.

Fighting began after an unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment, alongside a ground offensive, that Hamas said had continued with more than 30 air strikes across the territory.

In Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, around 14 bodies lay in front of a hospital, the bare feet of some protruding from under coloured cloth.

Biden had urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan begins.

But Hamas's delegation voiced dissatisfaction with Israeli responses so far and left Cairo for consultations with the movement's leadership in Qatar.

The health ministry said 20 people had died of malnutrition and dehydration, at least half of them children.

Gaza's Civil Defence agency said Israeli forces "destroyed all water, sewage, electricity, communications, and road networks" in central Khan Yunis.