Palestinians are returning to the devastated city of Khan Younis after Israel withdrew troops from southern Gaza to prepare for an attack on Rafah. Residents of Khan Younis say the city has been largely reduced to rubble and smells like death. The temporary troop withdrawal comes six months after Israel began its assault on Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7.

The official death toll in Gaza has topped 33,100, but many fear the actual number is far higher. The Guardian reports tens of thousands have disappeared in Gaza over the past six months with their whereabouts unknown.

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres repeated his call for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages still held in Gaza.

Secretary-General António Guterres: “More than half the population — over a million people — are facing catastrophic hunger. Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water. This is incomprehensible and entirely avoidable. Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

On Friday, the head of Save the Children U.S., Janti Soeripto, addressed the U.N. Security Council.

Janti Soeripto: “Three hundred and fifty thousand children under the age of 5 are at risk of starvation as we speak. The world is staring down the barrel of a man-made famine. The hunger in the north is of a particular concern, where people have now resulted to eat animal feed or tree leaves. If we continue down this path of all parties to conflict flagrantly breaching the rule of war and international humanitarian law, zero accountability, powerful nations refusing to use the levers of influence at their disposal, then the next set of mass deaths of children in Gaza will not be from bullets and bombs. It will be from starvation and malnutrition.”