LIVE UPDATES: PALESTINE, EPICENTRE OF MIDEAST CRISIS

More than 60,000 children age five and under in Gaza face malnutrition, according to the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, according to Al Jazeera.

Sigrid Kaag said the humanitarian aid sent to the region through the UN during the January 19 ceasefire reached those in need without any problems. But since March 2 “aid has not been allowed in”.

She highlighted under international law, Israel is obliged to ensure aid can be delivered to Gaza.

Kaag said Israel’s attacks on Gaza are “horrific not only for civilians but also for international aid workers”.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on the campaign trail Saturday vowed to deport foreigners from Canada for criminal hatemongering, accusing pro-Palestinian protestors' "hate marches" for contributing to a spike in anti-Semitism.

Poilievre was campaigning in an Ottawa electoral district contested by Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who this week drew the ire of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over remarks on the war in Gaza.

"We will bring in tougher laws to target vandalism, hate marches that break laws (and) violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion," Poilievre told reporters.

"Anyone who is here on a visitor visa who carries out law-breaking will be deported from this country," he added, words echoing messaging from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has deported pro-Palestinian student protesters.

The Israeli military says it completed the construction of what it calls the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as it expanded its attacks on the southern part of the Strip, Al Jazeera reported.

The Israeli army’s Arabic language spokesperson on Saturday issued new forced displacement orders for several neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, warning of an imminent attack “with great force” in response to alleged Hamas rockets fired at Israel from the area.

Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported.

At least 20 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since the early hours, medical say.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 50,912 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 115,981 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza that began in October 2023.

After a rocket was fired earlier from central Gaza, Israel’s military has told civilians to immediately flee the area from where it is suspected to have been launched, reported Al Jazeera, citing a statement.

“To all residents of the Gaza Strip who are in the Nuseirat area … this is a final advance warning before the attack!” said army spokesperson Avichay Adraee in a statement.

“We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched.”

It listed the neighborhoods of al-Iman, al-Taqwa, al-Basatin, al-Zahraa, al-Bawadi, and al-Nuzha as areas to be targeted.

A rocket has been fired towards Israel, but the military says it shot down the projectile, Al Jazeera reported, citing a statement from Israeli army.

“Following alerts issued in open areas surrounding Gaza, the air force intercepted a launch that crossed over the Gaza Strip. No casualties,” the army said in a statement.

Despite renewed ground assaults and heavy bombardment, Palestinian fighters in Gaza continue to have the ability to launch rockets towards Israel after 18 months of war.

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing an Israeli-American hostage alive, in which he criticises the Israeli government for failing to secure his release.

Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified him as Edan Alexander, a soldier in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was abducted by Palestinian fighters during their October 7 attack on Israel.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, published the more than three-minute clip showing the hostage seated in a small, enclosed space.

Alexander, who turned 21 in captivity, was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in the US state of New Jersey, returning to Israel after high school to join the army.

Hamas has offered the release of Israeli captives in exchange for the cessation of war, saying: "The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it."

"The escalating calls within the occupying entity to stop the war and free the prisoners confirm [Israel’s PM Benjamin] Netanyahu’s responsibility for prolonging the war and for the suffering of his prisoners and our people," Al Jazeera quoted the group's statement.

The statement continued, “the blood of Gaza’s children and the occupation’s prisoners are victims of Netanyahu’s ambitions to remain in power and to escape prosecution”.

“The equation is clear: the release of captives in exchange for a cessation of the war. The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it. Every day of delay means more killing of defenseless civilians among our people and an unknown fate for the occupation’s prisoners,” it concluded.

Israeli forces have completed the encirclement of Gaza's Rafah, the military said on Saturday, part of an announced plan to seize more areas of the enclave, accompanied by large-scale evacuations of the population.

The military has issued repeated evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across Rafah since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, forcing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.

Israel said on April 2 that troops had begun seizing an area it called the Morag Axis, a reference to a former Israeli settlement once located between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

"Over the past 24 hours, the 36th Division's troops completed the establishment of the Morag route, separating Rafah and Khan Younis," the military said on Saturday.

Decrying the dire situation in Gaza, the European Union called for accountability after Israeli troops shot dead 15 emergency workers on a rescue mission.

"The European Union deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza. The EU’s priorities remain the resumption of the ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the restoration of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza," Al Jazeera quoted a statement.

"The EU firmly condemns the killing of 15 humanitarian aid workers in Gaza on March 23 and calls for accountability. Too many Israelis and Palestinians have suffered and the death toll of civilians in Gaza is unacceptable.

"The EU is extremely concerned by reports of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which suggest that food supplies brought in during the ceasefire are running out. Under International Humanitarian Law, humanitarian aid must reach civilians in need."