LIVE UPDATES: PALESTINE, EPICENTRE OF MIDEAST CRISIS

Israel has killed seven in an airstrike at a UN school where displaced Palestinians took shelter, Al Jazeera reported, citing health authorities.

Al-Awda Hospital said that among the dead in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza were a woman and a young girl.

The strike also wounded 18 others, mostly children, said the hospital, which received the casualties.

The Israeli army said it attacked a Hamas “command-and control” centre “used by terrorists to plan and execute attacks”. The army often uses the justification when it kills civilians in Gaza’s crowded displacement camps.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at condemnation of his country's military offensive in Gaza by the leaders of France, Canada and Britain saying they had given a "huge prize" to Hamas.

"By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities," Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the October 2023 attack that set off the Gaza war.

An East Jerusalem hospital chief told AFP on Monday that Gaza was in a "catastrophic" state after weeks of a complete blockade of humanitarian aid and called on countries to act to end the suffering of civilians.

Fadi Atrash, chief executive of the Augusta Victoria-Hospital in East Jerusalem -- which helps Palestinians from the occupied territories and Gaza -- said he could no longer "find the words" to describe the crisis faced by people in war-torn Gaza.

"We are facing a very, very critical and catastrophic situation," he said, with all components of the healthcare system destroyed, and health care workers "running out of energy".

Augusta Victoria, which had a hospital in Gaza that has been destroyed in Israeli bombings now provides healthcare in Gaza with the limited resources available, Atrash said.

Atrash visited Finland -- which has not recognised Palestine as a state -- on Monday as part of a tour of the Nordic countries.

"My main message for the Nordic countries is to put pressure to stop the war, to stop the killing".

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the Israeli occupation’s military escalation in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as its expansion in occupying large areas of the territory.

"Such actions contradict the will of the international community, violate human rights law and United Nations charters, and hinder prospects for peace and stability in the region," said the foreign ministry in a statement.

"The Kingdom reiterates its condemnation and denunciation of all ground operations carried out by the Israeli occupation, as they pose a threat to the lives of Palestinian civilians and exacerbate the humanitarian suffering of Gaza's population."

The Saudi government also warned of the grave consequences of continuing these blatant and unjustified violations, which constitute a clear breach of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people.

The leaders of Britain, France and Canada on Monday condemned Israel's "egregious actions" in Gaza, opposed its expanded offensive and aid blockage, and slammed Israeli ministers for threatening the mass displacement of civilians.

"We will not stand by" while the government of Benjamin Netanyahu pursues those actions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement.

Israel on Monday permitted the entry of trucks carrying baby food into the Gaza Strip, marking the first delivery of aid since it announced a partial easing of the two-month-long blockade.

"Today, Israel is facilitating the entry of trucks with baby food into Gaza," foreign ministry director general Eden Bar Tal told reporters, adding that "in the coming days, Israel will facilitate the entry of dozens of aid trucks."

Asked how many trucks had already entered Gaza, foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein told journalists that "we need to check the exact number".

He added that "the idea is to have some significant numbers coming in the upcoming days".

UN agencies have warned of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines in the besieged territory.

Sweden's foreign minister on Monday condemned Israel's plans to "take control" of the Gaza Strip, saying the move would violate international law.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, whose country has recognised the Palestinian state since 2014, reacted strongly.

"If this means annexation, it is against international law. Sweden stands firm in its belief that Gaza's territory must not be changed or reduced," she said.

She also urged Israel to allow a resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, as the World Health Organization warned that two million people were starving in the territory.

Two million people are "starving" in the Gaza Strip, with the deliberate blocking of aid driving up the risk of famine, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief warned Monday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO and other UN agencies stood ready to deliver aid into the Palestinian territory — if and when it is allowed to enter.

Israel has said its blockade since March 2 was aimed at forcing concessions from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday Israel needed to prevent a famine in Gaza for "diplomatic reasons" after his government announced it would allow in limited food aid.

"Two months into the latest blockade, two million people are starving," Tedros said, while 160,000 metric tonnes of food are blocked at the border just minutes away.

"The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade."

The Eurovision song contest should exclude Israel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, expressing solidarity with "the people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment".

Russia did not participate in last weekend’s Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, "therefore Israel shouldn’t either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture", said Sanchez.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will "take control" of the whole of Gaza, as the military pressed a newly intensified campaign in the war-ravaged territory.

"The fighting is intense and we are making progress. We will take control of all the territory of the Strip," Netanyahu said in a video posted on Telegram.