The United Nations has issued an urgent call to end Israel’s devastating food blockade on the Gaza Strip, now in its tenth consecutive week, warning that the lives of 2.1 million Palestinians hang in the balance amid what it describes as a deepening, man-made humanitarian catastrophe.

In a statement published on its official website, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed that its aid stocks are nearly exhausted due to Israel’s ongoing total siege of Gaza, which has prevented the entry of all humanitarian, medical, and commercial supplies since early March.

“For nearly three months, we’ve been unable to get even the most basic essentials into Gaza. The population is on the brink of starvation,” the UN agency said, stressing the urgent need to lift the blockade to prevent mass death.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) echoed these warnings, confirming that thousands of trucks loaded with critical food and medical aid are being blocked at the border. “Our teams are on the ground and ready. We have the supplies. What we don’t have is access. Israel’s inhumane siege is denying civilians the right to survive,” the agency declared.

According to UNRWA, Israel’s refusal to allow aid convoys into Gaza has already caused irreparable damage to the lives of tens of thousands, especially children, pregnant women, and the elderly, who are now suffering from malnutrition, untreated wounds, and disease.

In a grim supplement to these warnings, the UN Satellite Imagery Analysis Program released data showing that over 81% of Gaza’s arable land has been rendered unproductive due to Israeli bombing and bulldozing campaigns, part of the military aggression that began on October 7, 2023. Farmlands have been flattened, irrigation systems destroyed, and entire agricultural zones turned into barren wastelands.

Since March 2, not a single truck carrying food, water, fuel, or medical aid has been allowed into the besieged enclave, even as famine spreads, hospitals collapse, and displaced families resort to eating animal feed or going days without meals.

International observers and human rights groups have condemned Israel’s policy as a systematic war crime, accusing it of using starvation as a weapon against an already devastated civilian population.

Despite mounting global pressure, Israel continues to ignore calls for a humanitarian corridor, further tightening the blockade and accelerating what the UN has warned could soon become one of the worst famine-induced disasters in recent history. (ILKHA)