In the same time period, at least eight people, including three children, have starved to death in the territory, bringing the total count of hunger-related deaths to 235, including 106 children, the ministry says.

Protests have continued around the world against Israel’s targeted assassination of four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelancers in Gaza.

A Hamas delegation has arrived in Egypt for more talks on securing a ceasefire deal, even as Israel pushes ahead with its plan to seize Gaza City, forcibly displace close to 1 million Palestinians and push them towards concentration zones further south.

Albanese said on Monday that his government would formally announce the move when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meets in New York.

“A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza,” Albanese said at a news conference in Canberra.

Australia’s announcement comes as Canada, France and the United Kingdom are also preparing to formally recognise Palestine at the meeting next month, joining the vast majority of UN member states that already do so.

Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said recognition of a Palestinian state will do nothing to end the war in Gaza, telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): “We reject the recognition, unilateral recognition.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also slammed the Australian announcement as a reward for Hamas for its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, repeating the Israeli government’s stance on all recognition announcements thus far.

This latest recognition comes about a week after hundreds of thousands of Australians marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to protest Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees slams Israeli plans for the mass displacement of Palestinians towards Rafah in southern Gaza.

Doctors at Gaza’s largest hospitals say the lives of more than 100 premature babies and 350 dialysis patients are at risk because of fuel shortages caused by Israel’s ongoing siege.

US President Donald Trump extends timeframe for a truce, saying there is a “very good chance” of a deal in Gaza this week or next, but Hamas says talks in Qatar have been “difficult” because of Israel’s stubbornness.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 57,575 people and wounded 136,879, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

She kissed the 23-year-old’s face, hands and feet as she cried. Her six other children and relatives tried to hold her back, but she pushed them away.

“Leave me with him. Leave me with him,” she cried. “Ahmed will speak again. He told me, ‘Mom, I am not going to die. I’ll bring you something from the aid centre in Rafah.’”

Ahmed had left the displaced family’s shelter in al-Mawasi before dawn on Thursday to collect food. He never returned.

His cousin, Mazen Shaat, was with him. Mazen said Ahmed was shot in the abdomen when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd near the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution centre in Rafah. Others were also killed and wounded.

In just one month, 600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded by Israeli fire near GHF aid distribution sites, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, and the number of deaths at these centres climbs on a near-daily basis. What were meant to be lifelines – facilitated by the US while bypassing United Nations agencies – have instead become fatal chokepoints.

Human rights organisations and UN officials have criticised the GHF model as militarised, dangerous and unlawful. A report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday quoted Israeli army soldiers saying they had been ordered to shoot into unarmed crowds, even when no threat was present.

Asmahan’s grief turned to fury: “Is it reasonable that my son should die because he went to bring us food? Where is the world that calls itself free? How long will this torture go on?”

Gaza’s population of 2 million people, worn out by 21 months of relentless bombing and displacement, has been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel’s restrictions that have, since March 2, allowed only a trickle of humanitarian items through the sealed crossings it controls.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), just this morning, 29 casualties arrived at the ICRC field hospital in west Rafah, eight of whom were dead. Almost all had explosive trauma wounds, with two others admitted with gunshot wounds. The UN reiterates that civilians must always be protected. No person – anywhere – should be forced to choose between risking one’s life and feeding one’s family.

Fuel stocks in Gaza are critically low, putting further strain on critical services and humanitarian operations. Over the weekend, some 260,000 litres of fuel were looted in northern Gaza. Prior to this, the UN had repeatedly attempted to reach these stocks to retrieve them, but these attempts were denied by the Israeli authorities.

Since 15 May, the missions to retrieve this fuel were denied by the Israeli authorities 14 times. Humanitarians’ attempts to reach fuel supplies in Rafah, in the south of Gaza, also continue to be denied. The UN warns that unless a solution is found in the coming days, the entire aid operation could come to a standstill.

Since the Israeli authorities allowed limited amounts of aid to enter Gaza on 19 May, the UN and its partners have only been able to collect about 4,600 metric tons of wheat flour from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Most of it was taken by desperate, starving people before the supplies reached their destinations. In some cases, stocks were looted by armed gangs.

Attacks on humanitarian assets and personnel must never be tolerated. Israel, as the occupying power, bears responsibility with regards to public order and safety in Gaza. That should include letting in far more essential supplies, through multiple crossings and routes, to meet humanitarian needs and help reduce looting.

Partners working on food security in Gaza estimate that between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tons of wheat flour is required to reach all families across the Strip with at least a single bag of flour to ease the pressure on markets and reduce desperation – alongside other diverse food supplies. Beyond this, the sustained and unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza must resume as soon as possible.

The US was the only country to vote against the measure on Wednesday while the 14 other members of the council voted in favour.

The resolution also called for the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza, but Washington said it was a “non-starter” because the ceasefire demand is not directly linked to the release of captives.

In remarks before the start of the voting, Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea made her country’s opposition to the resolution, put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council, painfully clear, which she said “should come as no surprise”.

China’s Ambassador Fu Cong said Israel’s actions have “crossed every red line” of international humanitarian law and seriously violated UN resolutions. “Yet, due to the shielding by one country, these violations have not been stopped or held accountable.”

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara noted that the US veto makes it “so isolated.”