Israeli tanks close in on Gaza City, UNSC warns Gaza famine

Israeli tanks pushed into a new area on the edge of Gaza City overnight, destroying houses and prompting residents to flee, witnesses said.

Israel has said it is preparing to launch a new offensive in Gaza City, which it describes as Hamas' last bastion. Around half of Gaza's 2 million people are currently living there and Israel has said they will be told to evacuate.

Israeli tanks retreated from the edge of Gaza City later on Wednesday to the Jabalia area, where they have been operating for months.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces were operating in Jabalia and the outskirts of Gaza City to "dismantle terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists."

It said it had killed a senior Hamas militant, Mahmoud Al-Aswad, who served as the group's head of general security intelligence for the west Gaza area, on August 22. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

Israel's military campaign against Hamas has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. It has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, displaced nearly its entire population and left much of the territory in ruins.

On Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said 10 more people have died of malnutrition and starvation, raising deaths from such causes to 313 people, including 119 children, since the war started. Israel disputes fatality figures by the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip.

'Manmade crisis'

All United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members, except the United States, on Wednesday said the famine in Gaza was a "manmade crisis" and warned that the use of starvation as a weapon of war is banned under international humanitarian law.

In a joint statement, the 14 council members called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, a substantive surge of aid throughout Gaza, and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said 514,000 people – nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine and that is due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.

Israel asked the global hunger monitor on Wednesday to retract an assessment. Israel dismissed the findings as false and biased, saying the IPC had based its survey on partial data largely provided by Hamas, which did not take into account a recent influx of food.

At the UNSC meeting on Gaza on Wednesday, acting U.S. Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea questioned the credibility and integrity of the IPC report, saying it "doesn't  pass the test on either."

The Jordan Armed Forces on Wednesday evacuated the 10th group of sick children from Gaza under the Jordanian Medical Corridor initiative, according to a military statement.

The group included 19 children, accompanied by 62 family members. They were transported to Jordan for specialized care in local hospitals, said the statement.

The evacuation was carried out in coordination with the Jordanian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, said the statement.

(With input from Reuters, Xinhua)