NEW YORK: A top official of the United Nations (UN) on Sunday accused Israel of denying the global body humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip.
The UN food chief warned a full-scale famine has started to spread in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
Executive Director of the World Food Programme Cindy McCain in an interview with Western media said there is full-blown famine in the north, and it is moving towards the south.
A UN-backed report in March said famine was imminent in northern Gaza and could spread across the besieged enclave by July.
According to UN figures, at least 20 percent of the entire population of Gaza is suffering extreme shortages of food, with one in three children malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying from starvation, malnutrition, and disease every day.
UN officials say by the time a famine is formally declared it is too late to save many people. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week said that the most vulnerable people in Gaza’s north are already dying of disease and hunger.
The UN has complained about a lack of humanitarian assistance access throughout the seven-month-long war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Guterres has said the UN is trying its best to avert a human-made famine in northern Gaza.
Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed at least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The UN human rights chief has said that Israel as the occupying power, is obligated to ensure the provision of food and medical care to the population of Gaza and facilitate humanitarian organizations trying to deliver aid.
