A senior UN official on Wednesday urged the Security Council to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, warning that the war has become “a nightmare of historic proportions” and it is “long past time” for the fighting to end and for hostages to return home.

Says the unfolding hunger crisis, with a third of Gaza’s population going days without food, is a dire warning of “catastrophic levels of food insecurity”.

In a statement signed by 111 organizations, including Mercy Corps and Refugees International, the groups warned that mass starvation was spreading.

US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff is set to meet Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Italy’s capital, Rome, on Thursday for Gaza ceasefire talks, local media said.

I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” Pope Leo XIV declared, his words resonating through a world which has seen the suffering of Gaza in real time.

Former Mossad official Rami Igra warned that the Gaza war is damaging Israel's global reputation and called for an immediate end to the conflict, emphasizing the need for a long-term solution. Former Mossad official Rami Igra warned that the ongoing images emerging from Gaza will harm Israel’s reputation for generations and called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Wednesday on the 103FM program with Anat Davidov and Odi Segal.

In Gaza, we said very clearly, enough with the bombings, enough with the civilian deaths,' says Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani - Anadolu Ajansı

Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed numerous civilians, raising international concern over humanitarian conditions. Over 1,000 Palestinians have died while seeking food, prompting calls for increased aid.