More than 100 people were reported killed early Saturday in overnight strikes across Gaza, as Israel's spy chief was in Paris for talks seeking to "unblock" progress towards a truce.
The Paris negotiations come after a plan for a post-war Gaza unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew criticism from key ally the United States and was rejected by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on Friday.
They also come as fears for civilians in the territory are deepening, with the UN warning of the growing risk of famine and its main aid body for Palestinians, UNWRA, saying early Saturday that Gazans were "in extreme peril while the world watches on". AFP footage showed distraught Gazans queuing for food in the territory's devastated north on Friday and staging a protest decrying their living conditions. "Look, we are fighting each other over rice," said Jabalia resident Ahmad Atef Safi. "Where are we supposed to go?"
"We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger. Our backs and eyes hurt because of fire and smoke," fellow Jabalia resident Oum Wajdi Salha told AFP. "We can't stand on our feet because of hunger and lack of food."
In a Friday night statement on social media platform X, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said: "Without adequate food and water supplies, as well as health and nutrition services, the elevated risk of famine in #Gaza is projected to increase."
- Post-war plan -
Netanyahu on Thursday night presented his war cabinet with a plan for the post-war Gaza Strip that envisages civil affairs being run by Palestinian officials without links to Hamas.
The plan stipulates that, even after the war, the Israeli army would have "indefinite freedom" to operate throughout Gaza to prevent any resurgence of terror activity, according to the proposals.
It also states that Israel will move ahead with a plan, already underway, to establish a security buffer zone inside Gaza along the territory's border.
The plan drew criticism from the United States, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying Friday that Washington had been "consistently clear with our Israeli counterparts" about what was needed in post-war Gaza.
"The Palestinian people should have a voice and a vote... through a revitalized Palestinian Authority," he said, adding the United States also did not "believe in a reduction of the size of Gaza".
Asked about the plan during a visit to Argentina, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would "reserve judgment" until seeing all the details, but that Washington was against any "reoccupation" of Gaza after the war.
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