Dozens of desperate, displaced Palestinians gathered Saturday at a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, hoping to fill their pots with hot food.

"A thousand people come to get food that can only feed 500," said Fayiz Abdel Qader, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.

The food situation across the Gaza Strip has only worsened since a U.N.-backed monitor declared parts of the territory were experiencing famine last month.

Israel halted aid deliveries through its crossing into northern Gaza on Sept. 12 and has increasingly rejected U.N. requests to bring supplies from southern Gaza into the north, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

People fleeing the Israeli offensive in Gaza City for the south said food remains too expensive, and runs out at crammed charity kitchens offering staples like lentil soup and rice.

"Sometimes we get food and sometimes we just go home,” said Rami Joda, who was displaced from the north.

International pressure on Israel to end the war is increasing, with a growing list of countries deciding recently to recognize Palestinian statehood, which Israel rejects.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,900 people and wounded more than 167,000 others, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up around half the fatalities.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, but U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Israel’s campaign was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Forty-eight captives remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were freed in ceasefires or other deals.