HAMILTON, Canada

A senior spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in the Gaza Strip on Friday emphasized the worsening conditions for civilians, warning that hundreds of thousands are being forced into an impossible situation under continuing Israeli bombardment.

"In an instant, this Tuesday, Gaza City was handed a death sentence: leave or be killed. Hundreds of thousands of battered, exhausted, and terrified civilians were ordered to flee to an area already so overcrowded that even small animals must search for spaces to squeeze between to move around," Olga Cherevko, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson in Gaza, said in a virtual news conference from Deir al-Balah.

Noting that the sea is to the west, she explained that "to the east, north, and south, ground forces and tanks are tightening the torque on the disappearing space as drones and fighter jets circle above."

"Gaza doesn't need pity. Gaza needs an end to this appalling violence," Cherevko stressed, describing the "unmistakable smell of death" across Gaza's streets, where ruins conceal the remains of countless civilians.

She recounted driving back into Gaza through "barely passable roads, as people crowded around our convoy, visibly distraught, pleading for this horror to end."

Families, she said, have lost "dignity and hope" as systems that sustain life are "systematically dismantled and destroyed."

"The race against time, against death, against the spread of famine, feels like we as humanitarians are running through quicksand. Even more so as humanitarian convoys are too often denied, delayed, or obstructed by the Israeli authorities," she added.

Calling for an urgent decision to end the suffering in Gaza, she also urged for "an immediate and sustained ceasefire," "unfettered humanitarian access," protection of civilians, and accountability for violations of international law.

"The people of Gaza are not asking for charity. They are asking for their right to live in safety, in dignity, and in peace," she said, adding that "history will judge us not by the speeches we make, but by our actions. When Gaza burned, children starved, (and) hospitals collapsed, did you act?"

Asked about "diversion of food" going to either Hamas or other armed groups, Cherevko explained that "the risk of diversion is present all over the world. It's not unique to Gaza."

"This is why the systems that we have in place are very strict mitigation measures to make sure that diversion is prevented, minimized, and addressed if it does happen," she added.

Cherevko also noted that the issues of looting or diversions of aid did not happen during the ceasefire, "because we did not have reports of children and adults starving to death on a daily basis. We did not have a malnutrition service that was soaring every month and getting higher and higher."