The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.

"Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any @UNRWA food convoys to the north," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, said on X.

"This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine."

Israel did not immediately respond Sunday to AFP's request for comment about Lazzarini's statement.

UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told AFP the decision had been relayed in a meeting with Israeli military officials on Sunday. It followed two denials in writing for convoy deliveries to the north last week.

No reason for the decision was given, Touma said.

Gaza faces dire humanitarian conditions as a result of Israel's war against Hamas that began nearly six months ago, triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Last week a UN-backed food security assessment warned that famine was projected to hit the north of Gaza by May unless there was urgent intervention.

UNRWA has not been able to deliver food to the north since January 29, Touma said.

"The latest decision is another nail in the coffin" for efforts to get desperately needed aid to Gazans reeling from war, Touma said.

Martin Griffiths, head of the UN humanitarian coordination office, said on X on Sunday that UNRWA "is the beating heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza".

He added: "The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine. It must be revoked."

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said on X that blocking UNRWA aid deliveries was "in fact denying starving people the ability to survive".

Earlier Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an end to the "non-stop nightmare" endured by Gaza's 2.4 million people in the territory's worst-ever war.

Israel has accused UNRWA staff members of participating in the October 7 attack and called the agency "a front for Hamas".

Touma said Israeli authorities on Sunday also rejected a UN request to send a team to Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where fighting has flared for almost a week, "to evacuate people who are injured".

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

Israel's military campaign to eliminate Hamas has killed at least 32,226 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

UN chief decries 'horror and starvation'

Air and artillery strikes pounded targets in Gaza Sunday as UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a surge of aid into the besieged territory he said was stalked by "horror and starvation".

Other world leaders added their voices to that of Guterres in appealing for an immediate ceasefire and a halt to Israeli plans to send in troops against militants in Gaza's crowded southern city of Rafah.

Talks aimed at a deal for a truce and release of hostages were taking place in Qatar but the heads of the Israeli and US spy agencies involved in the negotiations have now left the Gulf emirate for consultations, an informed source told AFP.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Sunday that another 84 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours, raising the total death toll in the territory during nearly six months of war to 32,226, most of them women and children.

The Gaza war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has vowed to destroy the militants, who also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

Palestinian children, some with heads bandaged, others more severely wounded in the latest bombardments, were rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings and rushed to Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah.

Guterres, on a visit to Egypt, urged an end to the "non-stop nightmare" endured by Gaza's 2.4 million people in the territory's worst-ever war.

"Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it," the UN secretary-general said, visiting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"The whole world recognises that it's past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire."

With the United Nations warning of imminent famine in Gaza, Guterres urged Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid via the Rafah border crossing whose Egyptian side he visited, saying trucks were "blocked".

On social media, Israel's military responded that the UN should scale up its logistics and "stop blaming Israel for its own failures".

- 'Extreme danger' -

Combat has flared for almost a week in and around Gaza's biggest hospital complex, Gaza City's Al-Shifa.

The UN on Friday had reported "intensive exchanges of fire" involving Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in the area.

The Hamas government media office said 190 people had been killed in the Al-Shifa operation, and 30 nearby buildings destroyed.

The army said its forces had killed more than 170 militants and detained about 480 militants affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which is fighting alongside Hamas.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday that Israeli forces were also besieging Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis city.

The Red Crescent said messages broadcast from drones demanded that everyone in Al-Amal leave naked, while forces blocked the gates of the hospital with dirt barriers.

"All of our crews are currently under extreme danger and cannot move at all," the Red Crescent added.

In response to AFP's request for comment, the military said it was operating in the Al-Amal area but "not currently... in the hospitals".

The military said the operation began with air force strikes on about 40 targets, including military compounds and tunnels.

Jordan's King Abdullah II stressed in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron the need for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and protecting innocent civilians", the palace said.

He also called for more aid to reach Gaza as his country's planes again airdropped relief supplies with aircraft from the United States, Egypt, Germany and Singapore.

- Munitions -

Tensions have grown between Israel and Washington, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel but has become increasingly vocal about the war's impact on civilians.

Prior to taking off for an official visit to the United States, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his focus will include "preserving the qualitative military edge" and "our ability to obtain platforms and munitions".

He is set to meet Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials.

A source of tension between the two countries is Israel's plan to extend its ground invasion into Rafah city on the Egyptian border, where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge, mostly in overcrowded shelters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a major ground operation in Rafah was not necessary to deal with Hamas, and "there is no place" for civilians there to get out of harm's way.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition including religious and ultra-nationalist parties, has vowed to go ahead with a Rafah invasion even without Washington's support.

Macron, in a phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday, repeated his opposition to any Israeli military operation against Hamas in Rafah and said forced transfer of Rafah's population would be "a war crime".

Macron urged Israel to open all crossing points into Gaza, which could help the aid flow, and said he intended to bring a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for "an immediate and lasting ceasefire".

Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-led draft resolution for the Council to support "the imperative" of a ceasefire.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was on Sunday to begin a visit to Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Before leaving Germany she appealed for "an immediate humanitarian ceasefire".

At talks in Doha, a major sticking point has been Hamas's position that a temporary truce must lead to a permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a demand Israel has rejected.

The latest negotiations had "focused on details and a ratio for the exchange of hostages and prisoners", a source briefed on the talks said, adding that technical teams remained in Qatar.

UNSC to vote on new ceasefire resolution

The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a new draft resolution on an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, after Russia and China vetoed an earlier text proposed by the United States.

The Council has been divided over the Israel-Hamas war since the October 7 attacks, approving only two of eight resolutions, with both dealing mainly with humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza Strip.

Permanent Council member and key Israel backer the United States has unequivocally supported Israel's right to defend itself following Hamas's unprecedented attacks.

But with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepening, the United States has tempered its support for Israel over its conduct of the war against the Palestinian militant group.

The Gaza war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel has vowed to destroy the militants, who also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday put the total death toll in the territory at 32,226, most of them women and children.

The ministry said 72 people had been killed in early hours of Sunday, including at least 26 killed in air strikes on five homes in the southern city of Rafah.

Last Friday, the Security Council voted on a draft submitted by the United States that called for an "immediate" ceasefire linked to the release of hostages.

China and Russia vetoed the resolution, criticizing it for stopping short of explicitly demanding Israel halt its campaign.

- UN deliveries to northern Gaza -

The new text, according to the version seen by AFP on Sunday, "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, "leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire."

It also "demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages as well as the "lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale."

The text is being put forward by non-permanent members of the Security Council, which worked with the United States over the weekend to avoid a veto, according to diplomats speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We expect, barring a last-minute twist, that the resolution will be adopted and that the United States will not vote against it," one diplomat told AFP.

Ahead of taking off for an official visit to Washington, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his focus would include "preserving the qualitative military edge" and "our ability to obtain platforms and munitions."

He is set to meet Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials.

A key source of tension between Israel and the United States has been the fate of Rafah, where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter since the start of the war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a major ground operation in Rafah was not necessary to deal with Hamas, and "there is no place" for civilians there to get out of harm's way.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition including religious and ultra-nationalist parties, has vowed to go ahead with a Rafah invasion even without Washington's support.

In Rafah, a displaced 10-year-old girl lamented the pain of losing her home and the uncertainty she faces.

"I have the right to live as a little girl, like anywhere else in the world, in a safe place," Rama told AFP in the makeshift camp that has become her home.

"I used to go to school safely, but now we don't go to school because of the bombing, and when I go out of our home I am very scared."

Negotiations aimed at securing a truce in exchange for the release of hostages have meanwhile continued in Qatar, but the heads of the Israeli and US spy agencies involved in the talks have now left the Gulf emirate for consultations, an informed source told AFP.

A major sticking point has been Hamas's position that a temporary truce must lead to a permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a demand Israel has rejected.

The UN agency for Palestinians said on Sunday that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.

"Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any @UNRWA food convoys to the north," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, said on X.

"This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine."

Israel did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment about Lazzarini's statement.