Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000, news agencies reported on July 29.

The escalating humanitarian crisis represents what experts describe as a catastrophe of historic proportions, with widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease driving a rise in hunger-related deaths across the Palestinian territory.

Dozens of Palestinians, mostly children and women, were killed in intensive Israeli bombardment targeting homes in Nuseirat, Khan Younis, and western Gaza City, amid continued siege and prevention of aid deliveries, Al Mayadeen reported on July 29.

Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat received 30 bodies, most in fragments, following strikes that targeted several homes in the New Camp area north of Nuseirat in the central Strip.

The health ministry figure excludes deaths from hunger in the Palestinian territory, which has been gripped by dire humanitarian conditions made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative, a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises, said "the worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip."

Arab media reported Israeli forces committed offences in the New Camp area north of Nuseirat, killing eight Palestinians, mostly children and women, and injuring 11 others after targeting a house belonging to the Abu Ataya family. This has not been verified by IntelliNews.

This week, Israel launched a daily pause in fighting and opened secure routes to enable UN and non-governmental agencies to distribute food on Gaza's devastated streets, with hundreds of truckloads of aid beginning to arrive.

Ross Smith, the World Food Programme's emergency director, likened the situation to some of the worst famines of the past century, saying it reminded him of "previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra."

In a dangerous indicator of deteriorating humanitarian conditions, 10-year-old Nour Abu Sal'a died as a result of malnutrition and lack of healthcare amid the tight Israeli siege imposed on the Strip and the prevention of food, medicine, and clean drinking water for months.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and stealing food aid destined for Palestinian civilians, stating that "Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis."

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported injuries among those seeking humanitarian aid due to gunfire by Israeli forces near the Netzarim axis, south of Gaza City.

Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat announced receiving 13 bodies and 105 injured following forces targeting gatherings of citizens near an aid distribution point on Salah al-Din Street, south of Wadi Gaza in the central Strip.