A pair of leading Israeli human rights groups has accused Israel of “committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” becoming the first such organizations to make the claim.

Famine is "playing out" in the Gaza Strip, a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday as international criticism of Israel intensifies over rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave.

Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000.

Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 60,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, the enclave's health ministry said, a conflict that has devastated the coastal territory and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Israel ended a truce in Gaza in March, hoping to break Hamas. The move has heightened suffering for Palestinians but achieved few, if any, Israeli goals.

Tuesday’s alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed at least 36 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, including a pregnant woman and her newborn, local health officials said. Israel meanwhile eased some aid restrictions as it came under mounting pressure over the spiraling hunger crisis in the war-ravaged territory.

The United Arab Emirates and Jordan airdropped aid into Gaza on Sunday, as aid agencies warn the situation remains dire. This is the first airdrop in months as Israel has started daily 10-hour military activity pauses in parts of Gaza to let aid deliveries through.