TWO children and a woman were crushed to death today as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip amid a worsening food crisis in the war-ravaged territory, medical officials said.

The latest tragedy came as the world observed the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The three were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery.

The flow of food allowed into Gaza by Israel has fallen to nearly its lowest level of almost 14-month-old war for the past two months, according to Israeli official figures. 

The UN and aid officials say hunger and desperation are growing among Gaza’s population.

Some bakeries in Gaza were closed for several days last week due to a shortage of flour. Palestinians across the Gaza Strip heavily rely on bakeries and charitable kitchens, with many able to only secure one meal a day for their families.

Hamas claimed responsibility today for an attack on an Israeli bus at a junction near the settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that injured eight people and identified the shooter as Samer Hussein.

Meanwhile much of the world expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people on a day designated for the purpose by the UN in 1977.

Hundreds of activists from The Peace Partnership, a coalition of organisations united against the war and headed by the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and the Communist Party of Israel, carried out protests throughout Israel.

The protesters called for an immediate end to the war, the return of the hostages, and a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.  

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted on the X social media platform that the people of Cuba were “demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza, as the world unites to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. 

He added: “Every moment of inaction will cost more innocent lives. We must act immediately.”

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “The UN will continue to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights to live in peace, security and dignity.”

The UN body that supports Palestinian refugees — known as UNRWA — said it was again calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and described the plight facing Palestinian refugees as the world’s “longest unresolved refugee crisis.”