“I just got off the phone with President Biden and discussed an urgent path forward towards recovery for the thousands of families impacted.”

"The government need to take urgent action. We need help," she said.

Gaza's health ministry also issued an urgent appeal for fuel to operate the generators of hospitals in the south.

Famine has been declared in several parts of the country, with 24.6 million people - about half the population - in urgent need of food aid, according to experts.

In all, some 2.4 million Canadian families are crammed into homes that are too small, in urgent need of major repairs or are seriously unaffordable, a government watchdog report released in December has suggested.