The United Kingdom's foreign secretary has called on Israel to provide answers to "very disturbing pictures and reports" of abuse by Israeli troops at a hospital in Gaza.

The BBC published testimony from three Palestinian medical staff who said they were stripped, beaten, humiliated and detained following a raid at Nasser Hospital which rendered it not functional.

The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to these allegations but said abuse of detainees is prohibited, according to the BBC.

While being questioned in the House of Lords, David Cameron said the claims should be investigated.

"We need to get to the bottom of what exactly happened; we need answers from the Israelis. When we have those, it will be easier to comment."

He also said the UK is "doing all we can to increase aid into Gaza", listing collaboration with Jordanian humanitarian airdrops and helping with the maritime aid corridor from Cyprus.

"However, this cannot substitute delivery by land, which remains the best way to get aid in at the scale needed," he said.

"Israel must open more land routes, including in the north, for longer and with fewer screening requirements.

"I have been clear: we need an immediate humanitarian pause to increase aid into Gaza and get the hostages out.

"Israel must remove restrictions on aid and restore electricity, water and telecommunications."

He said the average number of trucks getting in has gone up after falling in February, and that "if Israel really wanted to help, it could open the Ashdod port" in Israel to maximise the Cyprus aid.

But he said "one of the trickiest pieces of the jigsaw" is how aid gets around Gaza, suggesting Israel needs to "give out more visas to UN workers who are capable of distributing the aid".

Mr Cameron was also questioned about whether the "unnecessary blockages" and hindrances to aid for children would amount to a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

"The way that Israel behaves as the occupying power … is a material consideration when it comes to looking at how it is complying with international humanitarian law," he offered in reply.

"What matters is whether it has the commitment and the capability, and whether it is complying. That is what we keep under review."

He conceded that an end to the conflict must be reached "through a process of negotiation" that would see hostages released and Hamas infrastructure dismantled, otherwise "there would be a return to fighting".

More children killed than in four years of worldwide conflict

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said more children have been reported killed in the war raging in Gaza than in four years of conflict around the world.

"Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined," Philippe Lazzarini said on X, formerly Twitter.

His post referenced United Nations numbers showing that 12,193 children had been killed in conflicts worldwide between 2019 and 2022.

It compared that to reports from Gaza's health ministry indicating that more than 12,300 children died in the Palestinian territory between last October and the end of February.

"This war is a war on children. It is a war on their childhood and their future," Mr Lazzarini said.

Israel's bombardments and ground offensive in Gaza have killed 31,184 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

The brutal war began with the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures.

The militants also took about 250 hostages, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November. Israel believes about 130 captives remain in Gaza, including 32 presumed dead.

UN uses new land route from Israel to reach northern Gaza

The United Nations used a new land route on Tuesday to deliver food to northern Gaza for the first time in three weeks amid a looming famine. 

Jamie McGoldrick, UN aid coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told Reuters that a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy had used an Israeli military road that runs alongside the Gaza border fence to reach the enclave's north.

Enough food for 25,000 people was delivered to Gaza City in the early hours of Tuesday, WFP spokesperson Shaza Moghraby said.

It was WFP's first delivery to the north since February 20 and "proves that moving food by road is possible".

"We are hoping to scale up. We need access to be regular and consistent, especially with people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine," Ms Moghraby said.

"We need entry points directly to the north."

The UN has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are on the brink of famine.

Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the use of the military road by the WFP convoy but later released unverified footage of what it said were humanitarian aid trucks heading to the northern Gaza Strip.

It issued a statement saying that in accordance with government directives, six humanitarian aid trucks containing aid from the WFP entered the northern Gaza Strip via the "96th" gate on the security fence on Tuesday night and that this was done as part of a pilot in order to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid.