ISTANBUL

The head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) called Tuesday for flooding the Gaza Strip with a “massive scale-up of aid” to end famine in the Israel-blockaded enclave.

“The worst-case scenario of famine is now happening in Gaza, according to the leading world experts. An entirely man-made famine.” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazarrini said in a statement.

He said more than 100 people have died due to hunger in Gaza in the past few weeks alone.

“The threshold of famine has been reached with widespread starvation and malnutrition across the war-torn enclave, including among children,” Lazarrini said.

“The only way to reverse this catastrophe is to flood Gaza with a massive scale-up of aid.”

The UNRWA chief said the UN has the expertise and resources to reverse the ongoing famine in Gaza.

“UNRWA alone has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of food and medicine ready to cross into Gaza,” he said. “Let us do our work without restrictions, in safety and dignity.”

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the territory’s 2.4 million population.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 147 people have died of starvation since October 2023 – when Israel started its relentless offensive – including 88 children.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and led to a severe hunger crisis.

On Monday, Israeli rights groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, citing the systematic destruction of Palestinian society and the deliberate dismantling of the territory’s health care system.