Volunteers deliver food in Gaza as hunger strikes

STORY: The war between Israel and Hamas that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis has had "a significant negative impact" on the human rights situation in the country, the U.S. State Department said in its annual report on Monday.

Israel launched its assault in response to a Hamas attack on October 7, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed.

Israel's commitments to improve aid access in the Gaza Strip have had "limited and sometimes nil" impact, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week as he pushed for urgent, meaningful and measurable progress to avert famine.

Israel, which denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza, has said that aid is moving into Gaza more quickly. But the amount is disputed and the United Nations says it is still much less than the bare minimum to meet humanitarian needs.