Condition in northern Gaza Strip is “apocalyptic”: Senior UN officials

“The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence,” they said in a statement signed by the acting UN aid chief Joyce Msuya, heads of U.N. agencies, including UN children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Programme, and other aid groups.

Israel began a wide military push in northern Gaza last month.

“Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need,” they added.

They urged all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians and called on Israel to “ceases its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help”.

The Israeli army has killed more than 1,200 Palestinians in northern Gaza, forced half of the population to flee from bombardments, and left the other half trapped without water or food for nearly three weeks, the Palestinian Civil Defense has announced.

The regime has continued its devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.