At a press conference on Wednesday, UN secretary-general’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric stressed that since the beginning of the current Israeli war on the Palestinian territory in early October, the world body has warned about severe food shortages there.

“Four months since the escalation of hostilities, OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) is warning that in Gaza, severe food shortages, a breakdown in health services and inadequate facilities for water, sanitation and hygiene are putting children under the age of 5, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, at increased risk of malnutrition,” he said.

In his daily update, Dujarric also warned that the risk of malnutrition is particularly high for some 300,000 people in northern Gaza who have been largely cut off from humanitarian assistance.

Citing the World Food Programme, OCHA has reported that the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza City in the north is “not enough to prevent a famine”, as the last time the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) managed to distribute food in the north of the territory was on January 23.