"Denying immediate access to food and essential supplies in the Gaza Strip is causing more deaths and a slide into famine," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on the X platform.
Ghebreyesus noted that "we don't need to wait for a famine declaration in Gaza to know that people are already suffering from hunger, disease, and death, while food and medicine are just minutes away from the border," and called for "an immediate end to the aid blockade, the release of all hostages, and a ceasefire."
He pointed to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released Monday, which stated that 470,000 Palestinians in Gaza are facing "catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5)," and that the entire population is suffering from severe food insecurity.
"catastrophic levels"
In this context, the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed on Monday that the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached "catastrophic levels" and called for an "urgent" resumption of the ceasefire.
In a statement following its contribution to the release of Israeli-American soldier Idan Alexander from the Gaza Strip, the organization explained that there is an "urgent need for political will to save lives and resume the ceasefire."
"It is essential to spare civilians the ravages of hostilities, ensure humanitarian access to Gaza, and work to reunite more families," said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric .
"The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels," Spoljaric noted, stressing that "the ceasefire must be urgently resumed."
On Friday, the government in Gaza warned of the threat of famine threatening the lives of more than 65,000 children in the Strip, given the ongoing Israeli blockade and the prevention of the entry of aid and essential supplies for more than two months, as part of the genocide being perpetrated by Tel Aviv.
In early March, Israel escalated its crimes by arbitrarily closing all crossings into the Gaza Strip, completely preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, relief supplies, and fuel trucks.
The 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza are entirely dependent on this aid after Israel's ongoing genocide over the past 19 months rendered them impoverished, according to World Bank data.
