A child cries as Palestinians gather to receive a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
“A meaningful and uninterrupted flow of aid into Gaza is the only way to prevent the current disaster from spiralling further,” the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook. “The people of Gaza cannot afford to wait any longer.”
The warning comes as Israel, under mounting international pressure, has allowed some humanitarian shipments to enter the besieged enclave for the first time since March.
On Monday, the first trucks crossed through the Karm Abu Salem crossing after weeks of calls for unimpeded access.
However, aid groups say the volume remains grossly inadequate.
Of the roughly 400 trucks reportedly cleared for entry in recent days, only 115 made it into Gaza, according to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres.
“All the aid authorized by Israeli authorities so far amounts to a teaspoon of relief,” he said on Friday. “The supplies – 160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks – are waiting."
Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on 2 March, halting all humanitarian aid and commercial goods, before unilaterally ending the two-month ceasefire—brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US—and resuming genocide on 18 March.
The blockade has pushed over two million Palestinians to the brink of starvation, with most of Gaza’s population now dependent on food assistance.
UNRWA, Gaza’s largest aid provider, has been barred by Israeli authorities from operating in the territory since earlier this year.
UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna said on Saturday that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are “starving,” with at least 300,000 facing immediate danger.
“Residents of Gaza are dying either from hunger or under Israeli bombardment,” he told Sky News Arabia, calling the situation “an unprecedented famine.”
He also warned against what he described as a potential mass displacement.
“We are calling for urgent international intervention to prevent the forced confinement of Palestinians to the Rafah area,” he added.
Meanwhile, Guterres condemned the ongoing Israeli war on the strip as “atrocious” and said it was exacerbating civilian suffering.
“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict,” he said, urging Israel to allow and facilitate humanitarian deliveries without restriction.
With conditions deteriorating, aid agencies are renewing calls for an immediate ceasefire, full reopening of all crossings, and restoration of UNRWA’s operational role to prevent what the UN has described as a “man-made famine.”
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