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.

The United Nations Security Council once again pushed back a vote for a much-delayed resolution on the war between Hamas and Israel, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

The postponement to Friday came even as the United States, which has opposed a number of proposals during the resolution's drafting, said it was ready to support it in its current form.

There are no longer any functional hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization said Thursday, describing "unbearable" scenes of largely abandoned patients begging for food and water.

The UN health agency said it had led missions to two badly damaged hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli, in the north of the Palestinian territory on Wednesday.

In the damp December cold, a blue bus stops near Weymouth town centre in southwest England. A few men get off, relieved to be spending a few hours away from what they call their "prison" -- a barge housing asylum seekers.

Hasan James, a 38-year-old Nigerian, is one of around 200 migrants staying on the Bibby Stockholm in the port of Portland, around 20 minutes' drive from Weymouth on the Dorset coast.

The impacts of the Israel-Hamas war are set to push crisis-hit Lebanon's economy back into recession, the World Bank said Thursday, blaming mainly a "shock to tourism spending".

Lebanon's southern border has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the Gaza conflict erupted on October 7.

The impact of the conflict had reversed a slight recovery for Lebanon, which has battled a deep economic crisis for years, the Washington-based bank said in a report.

Israel bombed a newly reopened aid crossing point on Thursday, Hamas authorities said, hours before the United Nations Security Council was to make another attempt to pass a much-delayed resolution on pausing the Gaza fighting.

Separate diplomatic efforts continued for a fresh truce and hostage release deal in the worst-ever Gaza war.

The United Nations human rights office in Ramallah said it had received reports that Israeli troops had "summarily killed" at least 11 unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood this week.

Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza's main city as diplomats pressed on with efforts to secure a pause in the war that Hamas says has claimed 20,000 lives.

The United Nations said Israel had issued evacuation orders on Wednesday for large areas of Khan Yunis, where more than 140,000 displaced people were sheltering.

Israel told civilians to leave the north of the besieged Palestinian territory at the beginning of the conflict, urging them to seek safety in southern areas.

Mohamed Ibrahim had barely settled into life in Sudan's main agricultural centre after fleeing fighting in the capital Khartoum, only to discover the war had again arrived on his doorstep.

"Seven months ago, when the battles intensified in Khartoum, I was displaced with my family to Wad Madani" 180 kilometres (110 miles) south, the 53-year-old said.

Thousands of families made the same move, and Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah state, quickly became a safe haven and a crucial hub for aid operations.

The UN Security Council on Thursday will try once again to pass a resolution calling for a halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas after previous efforts to win Washington's backing fell short.

Diplomatic wrangling at United Nations headquarters in Manhattan headquarters -- which caused the vote to be postponed again Wednesday -- has come against a backdrop of deteriorating conditions in Gaza and a mounting death toll.