HAMILTON, Canada

The UN on Monday sounded the alarm over mounting Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip, warning that displaced civilians remain in dire need of essential supplies.

"Amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza city, the Israeli military has issued more orders over the past day for people to leave specific buildings or areas within Gaza city, warning of imminent attacks," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

"In the past two days, at least one partner organization has been hit in Gaza City, killing several people, including at least one aid worker and one child," Dujarric said.

"Over 80% of Gaza is either under displacement orders or within militarized areas," he added.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric warned that "people are in dire need of food, water and shelter items" following Israel's instructions for people to move from parts of Gaza city southward.

On humanitarian access, he underlined that "in most areas, the Israeli authorities continue to require any movement of humanitarian personnel to be coordinated with them in advance."

"Yesterday, 11 out of 24 missions requiring coordination were facilitated, including the collection of fuel from Kerem Shalom crossing and the transfer of fuel supplies to the north," he said.

"While three missions were denied, another four missions had to be cancelled by the organizers. Although the remaining six missions were impeded, humanitarians were nevertheless able to distribute water in the north and collect food cargo from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings," he added.

In response to a question from Anadolu on now-rejected Israeli amendment to change the reference to “observer states” with “observers of the General Assembly” in a genocide-related draft resolution, Dujarric said: "The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) and his High Commissioner for Human Rights (Volker Turk) and his special representative on the prevention of genocide (Chaloka Beyani) are all very concerned about the various situations around the world."

"I think every member state of this organization has a duty and responsibility to do whatever it can to prevent genocide," he added.