AT LEAST 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s latest attacks, including people sheltering in tents or seeking aid, in the day since a famine was formally declared in Gaza.

Aid groups have warned for months that Israel’s attacks and blocking of aid into Gaza were causing starvation, and the world-leading authority on food crises officially released its determination yesterday that a human-made famine is taking place in parts of Gaza.

Despite the famine, Israel is pressing ahead with its plans to seize full control of Gaza City.

Early today, Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people in southern Gaza, according to morgue records and health officials at Nasser Hospital.

The officials said the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, which became home to hundreds of thousands who had fled from elsewhere in Gaza.

More than half of the people killed were women or children.

In northern Gaza, Israeli gunfire killed at least five aid-seekers this morning near the Zikim crossing with Israel, where the UN and other agencies’ convoys enter Gaza, according to health officials at the Sheikh Radwan field hospital.

Six people were killed in other attacks on more locations in Gaza, according to hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The report yesterday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Gaza City is suffering a famine that is likely to spread if Israel’s attacks and restrictions on humanitarian aid continue.

The IPC said nearly half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of the population, face catastrophic hunger putting many at risk of dying. It said hunger has been magnified by widespread displacement and the collapse of food production.

Aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF) has said that its clinics around Gaza City are receiving high numbers of patients as people flee recent bombardments.

The group said in a statement that “strikes are forcing people, including MSF staff, to flee their homes once again, and we are seeing displacement across Gaza City”.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said that Israel’s expanding military offensive in Gaza City will make the famine even worse and cause mass civilian deaths.

“Engineered scarcity has created a man-made famine. The people of Gaza are not only being bombed and displaced, but they are also being starved,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“In Gaza, under occupation, Israel has a duty to allow relief but aid remains blocked,” Egeland said.

“States must use their political and diplomatic weight to break the obstruction and get aid to civilians. Gaza’s children go without food or safety and their mothers ask which will come first, bombardment or starvation.

“There will be a damning historical verdict on global leaders who confine themselves to express ‘concern’ as civilians in Gaza are bombarded, displaced, and starved,” Egeland continued.

“An immediate ceasefire is the only way to stop the killing, secure the release of all hostages, and allow the massive humanitarian response needed to save lives.”

Contains additional reporting by Press Association