As Israel faces mounting pressure to end the Gaza war, a hospital director says the Palestinian enclave is facing "alarming numbers of deaths" from starvation.

A six-week-old infant was among 15 people who have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, with malnutrition now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war.

The aid agency says its buildings in the central part of the territory were attacked after the military targeted Deir al-Balah, which had largely been spared.

The World Health Organization said that its staff residence and main warehouse in Gazan city of Deir al-Balah was attacked thrice on Monday. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,

Eyewitnesses said massive air strikes took place on the city overnight into Monday, one of the last remaining areas of the Strip not to suffer significant damage from the Israel-Hamas war.View on euro

Israel Defense Forces pushed into a central Gaza city on Monday for the first time since the war with Hamas began.

The area is packed with Palestinians who left their homes during 21 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of whom fled west or south after Israel issued an evacuation order on Sunday. Israeli tanks pushed into the southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah on Monday,