U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met anguished relatives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza on Saturday, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a U.S.-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months.

Israel's top general has warned that there will be no respite in fighting in Gaza if negotiations fail to quickly secure the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

"I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages," said army chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, according to a military statement.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Friday that his visit to U.S.-backed aid stations in Gaza would help Washington draw up a plan to deliver more aid to the Palestinian territory.

"Today, we spent over five hours inside Gaza," Witkoff said in a post on X, accompanied by a photo of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a distribution center.

The U.N. human rights office said Friday that 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for aid in the shortage-stricken Gaza Strip since late May, most of them by the Israeli military.

"In total, since 27 May, at least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food; 859 in the vicinity of (U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites and 514 along the routes of food convoys," the U.N. agency's office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement.

Sweden on Thursday called on the EU to suspend the trade section of its association agreement with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.

"The situation in Gaza is absolutely appalling, and Israel is failing to fulfil its most basic obligations and agreements on emergency aid. Sweden therefore demands that the EU freeze the trade section of the association agreement as soon as possible," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X, calling on the Israeli government to allow "unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza."

Canada and Malta announced Wednesday they will recognize the state of Palestine in September, joining France and the United Kingdom in stepping up pressure to end the nearly 80-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement after a Cabinet meeting. Christopher Cutajar, the permanent secretary at Malta's Foreign Ministry, made his country's announcement earlier at the U.N. General Assembly's meeting on a two-state solution to the conflict which was extended to a third day because of the high number of countries wanting to speak.

At least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the U.S. Mideast envoy was heading to Israel for talks.

Israel's military offensive and blockade have led to the "worst-case scenario of famine" in the coastal territory of some 2 million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. A breakdown of law and order has seen aid convoys overwhelmed by desperate crowds.

Gaza is slipping into famine, U.N. agencies warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the Palestinian death toll in the nearly 22-month war had topped 60,000.

The World Food Program, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization warned that time was running out and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine."

Turkey will start exporting natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria from Saturday, the energy minister said on Wednesday.