GENEVA

As experts warn that Gaza is on the verge of catastrophic famine, the UN's human rights chief said Tuesday that such a "human-made catastrophe" could still be prevented.

"The projected imminent famine in Gaza can and must be prevented. The alarm bells sounded over the past months by the UN, including my office, have not been heeded," human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence read the remarks of Volker Turk at a UN press briefing in Geneva.

"This catastrophe is human-made and was entirely preventable," Turk said.

The situation of hunger, starvation, and famine is "a result of Israel's extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure," he said, underlining that law and order were breaking down as desperation mounts.

He urged Israel to ensure that the population could access this aid in "a safe and dignified manner."

"The clock is ticking," he said. "Everyone, especially those with influence, must insist that Israel acts to facilitate the unimpeded entry and distribution of needed humanitarian assistance and commercial goods to end starvation and avert all risk of famine."

The rights chief reiterated his call for a full restoration of essential services and an immediate cease-fire.

According to a special brief by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) released on Monday, famine is "imminent" in Northern Gaza and Gaza City, projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May.

Israel is waging a retaliatory offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The offensive has killed 31,819 victims and injured 73,934 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of the enclave's northern areas, on the verge of starvation.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.