Famine fears and the new death toll are grim milestones in a conflict that began almost two years ago when Hamas attacked Israel.

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has passed 60,000.

France will air-drop aid into Gaza in coming days, a diplomatic source quoted by French news agency AFP said on Tuesday. The move comes as UN-backed experts warned the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory is slipping into famine.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private U.S.- and Israeli-backed group, said it has distributed over 96 million meals since late May, in boxes of staples such as rice, flour, pasta, tuna, beans, biscuits and cooking oil.