Live Updates: Israel hits Gaza with new air strikes ahead of UN truce vote

0603 GMT — Israel has hit Gaza with new air strikes as world powers grappled with how to broker a ceasefire ahead of a UN Security Council vote.

The United Nations sounded the alarm over the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory, warning that food shortages could lead to an "explosion" of preventable child deaths.

Four months of Israel's relentless war has flattened much of the Palestinian territory, pushed 2.2 million people to the brink of famine and displaced three-quarters of the population, according to UN estimates.

0550 GMT Palestine urges ICJ to declare Israeli occupation illegal as hearing begins

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki has told the UN's top court his people were suffering "colonialism and apartheid" under the Israelis, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation.

"The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid... There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering," Al Maliki told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday.

Speaking in the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits, the minister urged judges to declare the occupation illegal and order it to stop "immediately, totally and unconditionally."

The ICJ is holding hearings all week on the legal implications of Israel's occupation since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries, including the United States and Russia, expected to give evidence.