The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign has commenced in southern Gaza, where vaccination teams aim to reach 340,000 children in four days, Al Jazeera reports.

According to an OCHA report released on the latest developments, an estimated 12,000 patients in Gaza needing urgent medical care await to be evacuated for treatment abroad as Israeli forces continue to seal shut border crossings.

The food security situation in Gaza is deteriorating because of critical shortages of aid and ongoing attacks, it said.

Daily meals provided to families in need have dropped by 35 per cent across the Gaza Strip because of Israeli-issued evacuation orders, it added.