Jordan hosts emergency humanitarian aid summit for war-torn, hungry Gaza

Jordan will host a summit on Tuesday on the urgent humanitarian response for Palestinians enduring more than eight months of devastating war in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of looming famine.

With much of the territory's food, water and energy cut off, the vast majority of Gazans rely on sporadic aid deliveries by land, sea and air.

The summit seeks to bring together leaders and aid officials to "determine means for enhancing the international community's response to the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip", according to the Jordanian royal court.

The conference is jointly organised by the UN, Jordan and Egypt on the Dead Sea coast and will be attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since the deadly war broke out, seeking to push a truce and hostage exchange deal put forward by US President Joe Biden at the end of May.

Under the proposal, Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centres and Hamas would free hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire would last an initial six weeks, which would be extended as negotiators seek a permanent end to hostilities.

Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble and nearly all of its 2.4 million people displaced by the war aged by Israel on October 7, which has killed at thousands of Palestinians, amid international outcry and condemnation.

Aid to Gaza has been severely restricted, particularly since the closure in May of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt - the main conduit for humanitarian and fuel deliveries - after Israeli troops seized the Palestinian side as they carried out their attacks on Gaza's southernmost city.

Jordan's foreign ministry said the conference would discuss "preparations for early recovery, and seek commitments for a collective and coordinated response to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza".

"The main purpose of this summit is to reach consensus over practical measures to meet the immediate needs" in Gaza, the ministry added in a statement.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 37,124 people mostly women and children, according to the enclave's health ministry, with thousands more feared to be trapped under rubble.

The spread of disease, the lack of basic necessities and the overall dire humanitarian situation are factors that could likely exacerbate the death toll in the coastal enclave.