DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli ground troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.

Twenty-five countries including Britain, France and Canada, have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.

The suffering of Gaza's people has “reached new depths”, more than two dozen countries warned on Monday as pressure mounted on Israel to stop its “drip-feeding of aid” to the strip. Britain and France were among 25 countries to say Israel's aid policy is “dangerous,

Israeli troops entered central Gaza's Deir al-Balah city, heightening tensions in the area believed to house hostages held by Hamas. The incursion has been met with international criticism as ceasefire talks continue.

While UN and European officials hope that a cease-fire deal would help ease suffering among the Strip’s population, Israelis worry that as in the

CAIRO/JERUSALEM/GAZA, July 12 (Reuters) - Progress is stalling at talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the sides divided over the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources familiar with the negotiations in Doha said on Saturday.

Hundreds of Palestinians in the enclave have been killed trying to collect aid, while dozens of people, including children, have died from malnutrition.