The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency is visiting Qatar on Thursday to revive the cease-fire and hostage exchange talks with Hamas, officials said.

Famine has struck an area of Gaza and will likely spread over the next month, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday (Aug 22), an assessment that will escalate pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Israel's decision to expand its military offensive to seize control of Gaza City has sparked widespread international alarm, with Qatar saying the plans undermine efforts to secure a ceasefire. Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Friday that Israel's decision to "fully occupy the Gaza Strip" was a "dangerous escalation that threatens to exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the territory,

Qatar has strongly condemned the decision by the Israeli occupation authorities to seize full control of the Gaza Strip, describing it as a grave and alarming escalation that