Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor

United Nations aid agencies have condemned the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, reiterating calls for an immediate ceasefire.

In a statement, heads of UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) expressed outrage at the civilian death toll in Gaza calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The call comes after Israeli troops and Hamas fighters engaged in house-to-house combat in densely populated Gaza, where the war has sent 1.5 million people fleeing to other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover.

Israel launched a massive onslaught after Palestinian militants staged the worst attack in the country’s history where more than 1 400 people, mostly civilians were killed while over 240 others were taken hostage.

The health ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas, says more than 9 700 people, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign since the war began.