Qatar says there has been “a bit of progress” in the talks aimed at securing a new truce in Israel’s war on Gaza as the United Nations makes an urgent appeal for Israel to lift the “total and complete blockade” of the besieged Palestinian territory.

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, on Sunday met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for talks in Doha, which were dominated by Israel’s 18-month war in Gaza.

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“We have seen on Thursday a bit of progress compared to other meetings, yet we need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war. That’s the key point of the entire negotiations,” said Mohammed, who also serves as foreign minister.

Media reports said David Barnea, director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, travelled to Doha on Thursday to meet Mohammed amid efforts to reach a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Mohammed did not say which elements of the ceasefire talks had progressed in recent days but said Hamas and Israel remained at odds over the ultimate goal of negotiations.

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Mediator Qatar has been trying to resuscitate a truce after a previous ceasefire collapsed when Israel pulled out of it and resumed its military operations on March 18, imposing a total siege on Gaza.

Turkiye’s Fidan said the “ethnic cleansing being practised” by Israel in Gaza is against international and humanitarian law.

“Humanitarian aid hasn’t reached Gaza in two months now. It is a humanitarian crisis that is being seen and watched by the entire world. We need to find a way to stop the aggression on Gaza and to make sure the aid will reach … those people in desperate need,” he said.

The United Nations said Palestinians in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as World Food Programme warehouses across the enclave sit empty after running out of supplies last week.

On Sunday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said “the siege must be lifted”, adding that people in Gaza “have been plunged into a cycle of deadly violence and deprivation”.

In an earlier statement, UNRWA denounced Israel, saying there is nothing that “can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

On Saturday, Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, accused Israel of “weaponising” aid by denying it to displaced Palestinians.

“Today, people are not surviving in Gaza. Those that aren’t being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying,” he said. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance. And humanitarian aid should never be weaponised.”

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Amid warnings of famine in Gaza, Israel continued its air strikes across the Palestinian territory. At least nine people had been killed since dawn on Sunday as hospitals remain inundated with children among the victims.

At least 52,243 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and 117,639 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since it began 18 months ago. The Gaza Government Media Office updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.

An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, described Israel’s aerial and ground attacks as “devastating”.

“It seems that Israel and Hamas are still locked in a prolonged war of attrition, and the Israeli air strikes continue to overwhelm heavily built-up neighbourhoods,” he said.