​​​​GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned Saturday that at least 1 million women and girls in the Gaza Strip are facing mass starvation due to Israel’s months-long blockade and devastating war on the enclave.

“Women and girls in Gaza are facing mass starvation, violence and abuse,” UNRWA said in a post on the US social media company X. “They are being forced to adopt increasingly dangerous survival strategies, such as venturing out in search of food and water at the extreme risk of being killed.”

The agency pushed for the lifting of the Gaza blockade and the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid.

Gaza is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in its history, with famine compounding the ongoing conflict.

Since March 2, Israel has closed all crossings into the territory, blocking humanitarian aid and pushing the enclave into famine despite thousands of trucks waiting at the border. Only a trickle of supplies has been permitted in, falling far short of the needs of Gaza’s starving population.

Earlier this month, the UN World Food Program also warned that one-third of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents had gone without food for several days.

Israel has killed nearly 61,900 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.