The UK government announced additional humanitarian aid for Gaza as it urged Israel to allow supplies into the territory and reverse plans for an expanded military operation to take control of a key city in the enclave.

Gaza Ministry of Health says at least 39 people killed in 24 hours, including 21 seeking aid and 11 from starvation.

International condemnation is growing over Israel's decision for a military takeover of Gaza City. Meanwhile, 20 more aid-seekers have been killed in Gaza and 11 more have died of malnutrition-related causes.

The move followed weeks of debate over reports of hunger in Gaza, but it was precipitated by Israel’s decision to expand military operations there.

Russia condemns and rejects Israel's plan to expand its military operation in the Gaza Strip, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. "The implementation of such decisions and plans, which provoke condemnation and rejection,

The Israeli cabinet agreed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military plan, but the quandary of who will eventually govern Gaza remains intractable.

Netanyahu wants us to believe, or at least wants the Trump administration to, that Israel has no alternative than to intensify the war and, in effect, reoccupy the whole of the Gaza Strip — seriously risking the lives of the hostages in the process.