When Bakr al-Naji realises the meals he prepares each day for a charity in the Gaza Strip won't be sufficient to fill the stomachs of the children, his heart sinks.

In Rafah, a city at the southern end of Gaza, thousands of people queue up for a little food at the Tkiyeh centre, said Naji.

The 28-year-old was displaced from Gaza City, but volunteers to cook for those facing the same circumstances.

"The most difficult moment, for me, is when I hand out the meals," he told AFP.

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 200 people in 24 hours, Hamas-controlled authorities said Saturday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect civilians.

Despite growing calls for restraint and for more aid to reach war-stricken Palestinians, Israel showed little sign of modulating its 11-week-old "Operation Swords of Iron" -- which aims to rout Hamas.

Fighting is now centred on Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Yunis, both considered strongholds of the Palestinian militant group that carried out bloody October 7 raids into Israel.

Ten Indian passengers among more than 300, including unaccompanied minors, on a Nicaragua-bound plane held in France over suspected human trafficking have applied for asylum, a source close to the case told AFP Saturday.

The plane has been held at Vatry airport, 150 kilometres (95 miles) east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday following an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

In the Lebanese Christian border village of Qlayaa, the priest urged his parish to keep the Christmas spirit alive despite clashes between Hezbollah and Israel forcing many to flee.

Nestled among lush, green fields and flowing olive groves, Qlayaa has echoed to the sound of bombing on an almost daily basis since October 7.

"Of course we are upset and bothered by the war... but we want to feel the joy of Christmas," father Pierre Rai told a dwindling number of parishioners in Qlayaa's Maronite Saint George Church.

The United States on Friday accused Iran of close involvement in attacks on commercial ships by Yemen's Huthi rebels, stepping up the tone as Washington considers tougher measures including possible force.

The White House publicly released US intelligence as the Iranian-linked Yemeni insurgents persist with ship strikes they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling Hamas militants.

The White House said that Tehran's clerical state has provided drones and missiles to the Huthis as well as tactical intelligence.

Awaiting inspection by Israeli soldiers, a miles-long queue of aid trucks bound for the war-battered Gaza Strip is held up for hours at a recently reopened but since bombarded crossing.

The trucks arrive from Egypt, loaded with crucial food and humanitarian supplies for Gaza's besieged and hungry population.

The vehicles wait on the Israeli side of Kerem Shalom crossing, which on Thursday was hit by a deadly Israeli strike more than two months into war with Gaza's Hamas rulers, triggered by deadly attacks on Israel.

Israel pressed its Gaza offensive Saturday, with Hamas authorities reporting heavy shelling in several cities hours after world powers demanded more aid be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry said 18 people were killed in a strike on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, as other targets were hit up and down the strip.

In a falafel joint in south Lebanon, Hussein Murtada prepared flat-bread snacks for his few remaining customers as an Israeli surveillance drone buzzed above the border village of Kfar Kila.

"We work under the bombs. A few days ago, a shell fell 200 metres (650 feet) from here. Shrapnel hit the shopfront and the wall," said Murtada, 60, pointing to the damage.

"I hid behind the fridge in the restaurant" during the bombardment, he told AFP.

The United Nations warned the Israel-Hamas war was pushing Gaza towards famine, ahead of an expected Security Council vote Friday on a resolution to boost aid to the Palestinian territory but not call for a ceasefire.

Separate diplomatic efforts were also under way for a fresh pause in the worst-ever Gaza war, which was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel in October.

With conditions deteriorating in the territory, the UN Security Council has been locked in negotiations on a resolution that would boost aid deliveries.

The United Nations Security Council approved on Friday a watered-down resolution that demands all sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict allow the "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale."

After days of delays, the resolution also called for the creation of "conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities" but did not call for an immediate end to fighting.

Russia and the United States, which both could have vetoed the measure as permanent members of the council, abstained, meaning it passed with 13 votes in favor.