Palestinians in Gaza begin Ramadan amid worsening hunger crisis

Palestinians began fasting for Ramadan as the Muslim holy month arrived with ceasefire talks at a standstill, hunger worsening across Gaza and no end in sight to the five-month-old Israeli war.

Prayers were held outside amid the rubble of demolished buildings late on Sunday.

Some people hung fairy lights and decorations in packed tent camps, and a video from a UN-school-turned-shelter showed children dancing and spraying foam as a man sang into a loudspeaker.

But there was little to celebrate after five months of war that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and left much of Gaza in ruins.

Families would ordinarily break the daily fast with holiday feasts, but even where food is available, there is little beyond canned goods and the prices are too high for many.

"You don't see anyone with joy in their eyes," said Sabah al Hendi, who was shopping for food on Sunday in the southernmost city of Rafah. "Every family is sad. Every family has a martyr."

Ceasefire talks

The United States, Qatar and Egypt had hoped to broker a ceasefire ahead of the normally joyous month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that would include the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of a large amount of humanitarian aid, but the talks stalled last week.

Hamas is demanding guarantees that any such agreement will lead to an end to the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until "total victory" against the Palestinian resistance group and the release of all the remaining hostages.

The war has driven around 80 percent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people from their homes and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine. Health officials say at least 20 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza.

Israeli forces have largely sealed off the north since October, and aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of law and order have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver desperately needed food in much of the territory.

The United States and other countries have begun airdropping aid in recent days, but humanitarian groups say such efforts are costly and insufficient. The US military has also begun transporting equipment to build a sea bridge to deliver aid, but it will likely be several weeks before it is operational.