Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists waved flags and unfurled banners on Wednesday as the Tour de France peloton rode through Dieulefit, a southeastern French town honoured as a "Town of the Just" for sheltering Jewish people during World War Two.

The signatories included the foreign ministers of about 20 European countries as well as of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Dozens of international humanitarian organizations warned Israel’s blockade of aid into Gaza is endangering the lives of doctors and aid workers, while a major news agency says it is trying to evacuate its remaining freelance journalists because the situation has become “untenable.

Britain and more than 20 other countries called on Monday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and criticised the Israeli government's aid delivery model after hundreds of Palestinians were killed near sites distributing food.

Top diplomat says he hopes to help evacuate some Palestinian reporters as French news agency warns its Gazan partners are in danger of starvation

A house was draped with Palestinian flags, and protesters waved dozens more by the roadside. Cries of "Free Palestine" echoed through the town, as the riders cycled through.

A major news agency has pleaded for its contributors to be evacuated from Gaza amid fears they could starve to death during the strip’s humanitarian crisis and blockade.

French news agency Agence France-Presse called on the Israeli government to allow its freelance journalists to leave the Gaza Strip because of worsening hunger.