When the crowds gathered at a food distribution site in northern Gaza, six-year-old Ismail Abu Odeh struggled.

"Give me some," he shouted.

His bowl was full of lentils, but when he went back it was knocked down. He returned to his family's tent and cried.

An uncle who managed to get some food shared some food with Ismail.

The next day, no water or food was delivered to the displacement camp where he lived, a school in Gaza where people gathered, leaving empty bottles and bowls. Ismail cried again.

The BBC has spoken with people in Gaza over the past two days as Israel intensified its military operations and continued its lockdown on food, medical supplies and other aid for more than 10 weeks.

There are growing warnings from the United Nations, others pointing out that the enclave is on the verge of famine.

The Israeli government insists that Gaza is insufficient in food and that “the real crisis is Hamas robbery and sales aid”.

Government ministers have put the shutdown of aid as a "main pressure pole" to ensure that Hamas is defeated and all hostages are taken away. Gaza still has 58 hostages, with as many as 23 of them considered alive.

Israel does not allow international journalists to visit Gaza freely, so our communication is via phone and WhatsApp messages, as well as trusted Palestinian freelancers living in the territory.

Those who spoke with the BBC described their efforts to find even a meal every day, and the food kitchen was closed due to shortages in the market and several items. They say there are still items available that are affordable at a highly expensive price.

A man who runs the leftover food kitchen in Gaza said he was looking for food and oil "daily". Another man we spoke to said the kitchen he volunteered to attend closed 10 days ago when the supply was run out, describing it as a “disastrous feeling.”

A 23-year-old woman living in Northern Canada said that “dizziness becomes a constant feeling” and “a general weakness and fatigue in lack of food and medicine.”

Adham al-Batrawi, 31, who once lived in the wealthy city of al-zahra but is now displaced in central Gaza, said hunger is "one of the most difficult parts of daily life".

He said people must "survive creatively" by describing how he would overcook pasta and knead into dough and then cook over fire to create a parody of bread - a staple in the Palestinian diet.

"We invented methods of cooking and food," he said.

He added that his recent meals are “enough to keep us all day, but that’s far from enough to meet our energy needs”.

Elsewhere in central Gaza, in the city of Deir Al-Balah, nurse Rewaa Mohsen said it was a tough effort to provide her two young daughters with a young age of three and 19 months.

She said she stocked diapers during the ceasefire earlier this year, but those diapers would be used up within a month.

Speaking on WhatsApp on Thursday, she said her daughter had grown into the sounds of what used to be bombing and that would ring. “Sometimes I’ll be more scared than them,” she wrote, adding that she distracts the child with coloring books and toys.

The next day, she said she said her area had issued an evacuation order before Israel strikes attacked a nearby building.

When she returned home to “clean the mess,” she found the doors and windows were blown away.

"Thank God, I am still alive with my girl," she said.

When asked if she would stay in the apartment, she replied, “Where else can I go?”

Throughout Gaza, medical staff described the impact of the lockdown on medical supplies and said they no longer felt safe at work after an Israeli strike targeting the hospital.

Nurse Randa Saied said she was working at the European hospital in Khan Younis when she was attacked during an Israeli strike this week and described it as a moment of "pure horror and helplessness".

Israel has long accused Hamas of using hospitals as a secret base and weapons storage, which the group denies.

European hospitals are no longer operating, but Landa said staff and patients have moved to nearby Nasser Hospital.

"Our patients are mothers, sons, daughters and siblings - just like us. We know deeply that our duties must not be over, especially now when they need us the most."

Staff at other hospitals in Nasser and Gaza told the BBC that the lockdown meant they worked on basic supplies such as painkillers and gauze and had to shut down some services.

The United States has confirmed that it is preparing a new system of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza through private companies, and that Israeli forces will ensure the center is around. The UN criticized the plan, saying it appeared to be a "weapon" assistance.

Back in Gaza, Ismail's father said he was no longer able to provide struggles for his six children.

"My kids are hungry," he said. "Sometimes, if I don't manage to provide them with food, sometimes I will cry like a kid."