Gaza Calamity Deepens

More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are "wasting away".

Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory, rejected the organisations' statement and accused them of "serving the propaganda of Hamas".

Their warning came as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said another 10 Palestinians had died as a result of malnutrition in the last 24 hours.

That brings the number of such deaths across Gaza since Sunday to 43, according to the ministry.

The UN has reported that hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and that others are said to be collapsing in the streets.

"As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families," the 109 humanitarian organisations said in the statement published on Wednesday.

"With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes."

- Author: David Gritten, BBC