US mediators are heading home after Hamas allegedly showed a lackluster effort to reach a cease-fire deal with Israel on Thursday, President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said.

U.N. officials, aid groups and experts have warned for months that Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine without formally declaring one.

Against the backdrop of ongoing warnings of a deadly hunger crisis, some aid has reached the Gaza Strip, the United Nations said on Thursday. The UN confirmed that its teams were able to collect mainly flour at two border crossings on Wednesday and bring it into the coastal strip,

The evacuation order has cut off the coastal area of Al Mawasi, where thousands of Palestinians are living in tents, from the city to the rest of central Gaza, where most humanitarian organizations in the Strip are headquartered, according to a visual analysis by ABC News.

The United States is recalling its negotiating team from Doha, where talks on a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza have been taking place, with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff saying the latest response from Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire.

When Israel launched its controversial US-backed aid plan for Gaza, it aimed to stop Hamas’s alleged profiteering from the seizure and sale of humanitarian supplies.

As humanitarian groups warn mass starvation is spreading across Gaza, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius joins Morning Joe to discuss the growing crisis, stalled ceasefire talks, and why Trump’s frustrations with Netanyahu have yet to translate into real pressure: “It’s tragedy upon tragedy.

The prime minister’s statement is the latest sign of rising international alarm over the starvation and deaths of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Malnutrition has reached alarming levels in Gaza, aid officials say, with hunger now reportedly affecting civilians as well as journalists, doctors, and other personnel on the ground.

Ciarán Donnelly, who oversees the International Rescue Committee’s work in Gaza, explains how “insufficient” and “dehumanizing” the aid crisis is for residents. He tells CNN’s Brianna Keilar they lack critical permissions to share more supplies with civilians in desperate need.

France becomes the most powerful Western nation to recognize Palestine, intensifying global pressure for a Gaza ceasefire and renewed peace efforts.