President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to establish a temporary port in Gaza for aid deliveries, officials said on Thursday, as famine warnings multiplied after five months of Israeli offensive, AFP reports.

Hopes dimmed for a new truce between Israel and Hamas before the start of Ramazan after Hamas negotiators left talks with mediators in Egypt to consult with the movement’s leadership in Qatar.

In the wasteland of Jabalia, northern Gaza, Palestinians gathered to receive meals at a distribution point. “There is no gas to cook our food on. There is no flour or rice,” said Bassam al-Hou, standing beside large, blackened cooking pots among the rubble.

He said children “are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger”.

Biden was set to announce the aid harbour for Gaza in a keynote address to Congress later on Thursday, officials said, in a sign of the political pressure he is facing over his steadfast support for Israel despite the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.