HAMILTON, Canada

The UN on Wednesday said access for medical professionals into the Gaza Strip remains severely restricted, with over 100 health workers, including surgeons and specialized staff, denied entry since March.

"Yesterday, emergency medical teams were denied entry into Gaza," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told a news conference, adding that "the World Health Organization tells us that more than 100 health professionals, including surgeons and other specialized medical staff, have been barred from entry since March this year."

Asked whether the group denied entry was a specialized team, Haq said: "As far as I'm aware, this was not a specialized group."

"This is part of the constant practice of banning the entry of medical professionals since March," he added.

Noting that not all medical staff were barred from entering the Gaza Strip since March, Haq stressed that "certainly, 100 of them have been banned since March, so it's a huge number."

He said access issues also stem from visa and movement restrictions by Israeli authorities.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Haq described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "beyond catastrophic."

"More people are being killed and injured, either along convoy routes or where they're staying," he added.

The spokesman said "starvation continues to happen," with five new malnutrition-related deaths reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to nearly 200, half of them children.

Saying that Israel continues to block the entry of shelter materials since March, Haq said: "Today, the Israeli military renewed two displacement orders spanning some 1.5 square miles across five neighborhoods in Gaza and Khan Younis governorates."