Hello and welcome to NewsA for the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm James Menendez.

And we're going to begin today in Gaza, focusing on the situation with supplies of food and medicine.

Israel's coming under growing international pressure to allow more aid into the territory. It has been blocking all deliveries

for the past 11 weeks in an effort to press Hamas to release the remaining hostages. And that's

led to widespread hunger, according to aid agencies. Well, this week, the blockade was lifted. In the past

two days, about 100 trucks carrying essential supplies have been allowed in,

although those have yet to be sent out. More on that in a moment. But first, let's get a picture

of what it's like right now. International journalists still aren't allowed into Gaza, but we were

sent this voice message from one resident of Gaza City. He's Amja Shawa.

I'm based in Gaza City. I was very lucky that my home is still there and I could stay here.

But the Nepperwood almost destroyed. But the worst is not only these mountains of rubbles

was of destruction and what is behind these rubbles,

where his beloved ones died and killed under this rubble

and no one could manage to get them out. This is the worst humanitarian catastrophe.

All the hospitals are out of service.

Just partially, there is some clinics here and there,

which is overwhelmed by patients and injured people.

Every day we have this intensive air strikes, night by day.

And our nights, we cannot sleep because our homes are shaken. There is no windows in our home.

So you can imagine that my daughters and my son, that's just threatened by these air strikeskes and the worst that the Israelis are expanding their

military operation in Gaza so we are living in neighborhoods which is became dumps for solid waste

there is 600,000 tons of solid waste in the Nepal woods on sides.

...