UN relief chief calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid ongoing humanitarian crisis

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher called for the immediate release of all hostages and an end to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

"Two years on since Hamas and other armed groups carried out those abhorrent attacks in Israel, as I've seen and heard from meeting the survivors and the families of those taken, the pain is indescribable.

"Today, I renew my call for the unconditional, immediate release of all the hostages-and until then, they must be treated humanely," Fletcher said in a statement.

Civilians everywhere must be protected, he added.

Fletcher stressed that tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands endure starvation and displacement.

"So we renew the call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for all civilians to be protected, and for humanitarian aid to flow freely at the scale needed.

"There's now a glimmer of hope that this can happen. We must keep it alive," he added.