US envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas was to blame for the impasse, and Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister in Netanyahu’s coalition, welcomed Netanyahu’s step, calling for a total halt of aid to Gaza and complete conquest of the enclave, adding in a post on X: “Total annihilation of Hamas, encourage emigration, (Jewish) settlement.”

Mahmoud Awadia, another journalist attending the funeral, said the Israelis were deliberately trying to kill reporters. Israel denies intentionally targeting journalists.

Mass hunger in Gaza

Gaza medical authorities said nine more Palestinians had died over the past 24 hours from malnutrition or starvation. Dozens have died in the past few weeks as hunger worsens.

Naima Abu Ful holds her malnourished 2-year-old child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Source: AP / Jehad Alshrafi

Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it, in what the Israeli foreign ministry called on Friday “a deliberate ploy to defame Israel”. The United Nations says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher also has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusations that staff with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Hamas, according to a letter seen by Reuters.