HAMILTON, Canada 

The UN on Tuesday urged Israel to implement the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion calling for an end to its occupation activities, as humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip continue to deteriorate.

"As you are aware, of course, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its advisory opinion a year ago, called on Israel to cease its occupation activities, and we would urge that Israel implement that and avoid further occupations," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a news conference.

While declining to speculate on the possibility of an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, Haq reiterated the UN's call for de-escalation and a complete ceasefire.

"The people of Gaza have suffered for more than 20 months. And at a time when the entire population is suffering from hunger, as I just mentioned, and 96%, or almost the entire population, is suffering from inadequate access to clean water, we need to stop the fighting and actually get aid to two million people who are desperately in need of such aid," he said.

Asked whether an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza would impact UN operations, he said: "Again, I don't want to speculate on what might happen. You are aware that we have stayed in Gaza through nearly two years of fighting… even though it's come at tremendous cost in the loss of more than 300 lives of our people in Gaza."

Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Haq noted that "people continue to struggle to survive in Gaza. With starvation on the rise, the volumes of supplies that are entering Gaza remain insufficient to meet people's needs."

"Malnutrition levels are rising; children are more likely to have weakened immune systems, hindering their development and growth far into the future," Haq warned.

He reported that "last Thursday, 71 kitchens prepared and delivered more than 270,000 hot meals across Gaza."

"These included 10,000 meals delivered to health facilities, most of which are struggling to operate as mass casualties, widespread destruction, and shortages of basic necessities continue to overwhelm the healthcare system," he added.

Considering that "the number of meals being provided is far below the minimum required to reach more than two million people in Gaza," Haq made it clear that there must be "an urgent scale-up of supplies, as well as an environment that allows humanitarians to reach people in need safely, rapidly, and efficiently."