UN warns of catastrophic humanitarian 'collapse' in Gaza

Artillery fire pounded southern Gaza as the focus of the fighting in recent weeks has been Khan Younis, the main southern city, where constant air strikes and shelling overnight was reported.

The health ministry recorded at least 125 deaths across the besieged territory in the latest Israeli strikes.

UN agency chiefs said a bitter row over the main aid agency for Palestinians could "have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza."

Major donors, including Israel's top ally the United States and Germany, have suspended funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, over Israel's claim that several staff members were involved in the October 7 attack.

Withholding the funds was "perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza," the heads of the UN agencies said in a joint statement.

Meanwhile, mediation efforts gathered pace following a Sunday meeting of top US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials that produced a proposed framework for a new truce and hostage release.

A Hamas official said a delegation headed by the group's leader Ismail Haniyeh "will be in Cairo today or tomorrow (Wednesday or Thursday)" to discuss the proposal.

'Constant fear'

In Khan Younis, there were "dozens of air raids" overnight, leaving vast areas reduced to a muddy wasteland of bombed-out buildings, Gaza's media office said.

According to witnesses, artillery shells hit the area of Nasser Hospital, the city's largest, where the UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on social media platform X that "Israeli shelling and gunfire continue" around another hospital in Khan Younis.

Staff and patients at the Red Crescent's Al Amal Hospital "and thousands of displaced people, primarily children and women, live in constant fear and anxiety," it said.

An AFP journalist witnessed people fleeing Khan Younis on Tuesday as explosions sounded nearby.

"We left Nasser Hospital... under tank fire and air strikes. We didn't know where to go," said one woman. "We're out in the cold, left to fend for ourselves."