The European Union is considering partially suspending Israeli access to funding under its flagship research programme, in what would be the bloc's first action taken against Israel in response to its actions in Gaza.

For months, humanitarian aid organizations and international bodies have warned that Gaza is facing "critical" levels of hunger and that famine is "imminent" in parts of the Gaza Strip. An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have also been reported and gut-wrenching images have emerged of suffering children and long food lines.

The leading international authority on food crises says the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza" and it predicts “widespread death” without immediate action

Experts say famine thresholds have been reached in most of Gaza, as Israel continues to restrict aid entering the Strip. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitoring system,