Advocates are renewing calls for Canada to recognize a genocide in Gaza following the release of a new report. A joint media investigation using the Israeli military's own data found at least five out of every six people killed by Israeli forces in the Israel-Hamas war have been civilians.

The determination comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israel’s restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza were causing starvation among Palestinian civilians.

The world's leading authority on food crises says the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread without an immediate ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organized the "Israel on Hold” protests, said that over a million people took part in the demonstrations across the country on Sunday. Per the organization, almost 500,000 protesters gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

For now the famine is centred in the governorate of Gaza, one of five in the strip. It is the most densely populated and home to Gaza city. By the end of September, famine is expected to spread south to the governorates of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis (see maps).

Israel has systematically obstructed food entering Gaza, aid agencies say, as a UN-backed body confirms a famine.

In an environment like that of Gaza today, where most people live in tents or shelters with very little clean water, and with much of the sewage system destroyed, illness is rife and people with weakened immunity are at even greater risk, all the aid agencies said.