HAMILTON, Canada

To avert looming famine, the “trickle” of aid currently entering the Gaza Strip must reach vastly greater proportions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday as a new food security alert revealed the worst conditions since the start of the conflict.

"The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Alert confirms what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine," Guterres said in response to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert.

"The facts are in — and they are undeniable," he stressed, as the IPC report showed that two out of three famine thresholds have now been breached in parts of the territory.

"Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes," he said.

Saying that "the trickle of aid must become an ocean," Guterres emphasized. "Food, water, medicine, and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction."

"This nightmare must end," he added.

Guterres described the situation in Gaza as a test of global values that "we cannot afford to fail."

"Ending this worst-case scenario will take the best efforts of all parties - now," he urged.

The UN chief further reiterated urgent demands for an end to hostilities and unrestricted humanitarian access.

According to the IPC, people’s access to food across Gaza is "now alarmingly erratic and extremely perilous," as since May 27, over 1,000 people have been killed while trying to access food.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of aid convoys and ignoring international calls to reopen them.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 147 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 88 children.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.