Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service coming live from London.

This is Owen Bennett Jones and we begin today with the dire situation in Gaza.

The food blockade has been in place since March the 2nd.

There are now consistent reports of desperate shortages and emaciation. And then today

began with Israel launching an assault. The start it seemed of a major new offensive. And then there

was more news from Hamas, which said that it was involved in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel

in Doha. Well, let's begin our coverage with Umphiraz al-Mazi. She and her family were

living in a tent in Deh al-Bala. It was bombed overnight, killing a neighbor.

This is the 13th time we've been struck at the Axa-tented camp. Where should we go if the Axa camp is not safe?

We left our bombed-out houses and came here to the tented camp looking for safety.

Well, Dr. Victoria Rose is a British surgeon working at a hospital in southern Gaza.

I mean, the main thing that we're seeing is the malnutrition. People really are

katechic. The children are really, really thin. We've got a lot of, you know, youngsters whose teeth

have fallen out. One of my colleague's daughter, he's got a two-year-old and her hair is thinning.

They really are in the worst condition I've ever seen them. And that makes it so difficult

for us, because a lot of them have quite significant burn injuries. And with this level of malnutrition,

they're so much more prone to infection, and they've got so much less capacity to heal.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Arab League Summit in Baghdad, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

addressed the risks that Gazans are now facing.

We reject the repeated displacement of the Gaza population, and we obviously reject any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.

We must also stay focused on the terrible situation in the occupied West Bank.

Let's be clear. Annexation is illegal. Settlements are illegal.

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