The world's leading authority on food crises says the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread without an immediate ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

A UN-backed body says more than half a million people across Gaza are facing "starvation, destitution and death".

David Lammy has condemned the famine in Gaza as “utterly horrifying” and a “man-made catastrophe” caused by Israel.

The world's leading body on hunger declared famine in the Gaza Governorate on Friday as the Israeli military vowed to destroy the area if Hamas doesn't agree to its terms.

Saudi Arabia on Friday said it was extremely worried about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip after a UN-backed report confirmed for the first time famine in an area of the war-devastated territory.

A mother has told the BBC her five-year-old daughter has lost almost half of her body weight due to the famine in Gaza City. Lamia Hijjeh, whose family has been displaced several times during the war, has lost 8.5kg and cannot walk, according to her mother Rida.

U.N. Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher said that the famine that has struck part of Gaza was preventable, blaming the "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel and demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let supplies in on a massive scale.