Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians, local health authorities said, as President Donald Trump continued his visit to the Middle East.

One in five people in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation as the entire territory edges closer to famine, a new United Nations-backed report warns, after nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of critically needed humanitarian aid.

Israel’s government has publicly dismissed warnings of extreme food shortages after it blocked aid deliveries, but an internal analysis concluded that a crisis looms if food supplies are not restored.

As Israel sets out to expand military operations in Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Newsweek that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sticking behind U.S. President Donald Trump 's vision of transforming the war-torn Palestinian territory into a coveted Middle East destination.

New Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand accused Israel on Wednesday of using a lack of food as a political tool in its Gaza operation and urged further work on a ceasefire with Hamas, the militant group that controls the Palestinian enclave.

As US President Donald Trump continued his tour through the Middle East, Israel escalated its mass killings in Gaza, bombing two hospitals and killing at least 80 people in a single day.

Why it matters: Israel has frozen all supplies of food, water and medicine to Gaza for two months, and the UN has warned food supplies will run out within days. The foundation said Israel had agreed to resume aid immediately, though the Israeli government has not confirmed that.

A new humanitarian organization with U.S. backing says it expects to begin aid operations in Gaza before the end of the month. The group, which calls itself the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, said Wednesday that it got what it describes as key agreements from Israeli officials on delivery.