NEW YORK (Dispatches) – The UN says that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached its most “catastrophic” level since the start of Zionist regime’s military assault, with ongoing strikes, mass displacement, and severe aid restrictions, Anadolu reports.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference that “the catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst it has been” since start of Zionist regime’s military aggression in October 2023.
He said Israeli strikes have intensified across the enclave, particularly in north Gaza, where the al-Awda hospital — the last partially functioning hospital in the area — was forced to evacuate following repeated attacks.
“Displacement continued across Gaza, with nearly 200,000 people displaced in the last two weeks alone,” he said, adding that renewed Israeli displacement order now covers around 30% of Gaza’s territory, while many civilians are also moving “driven by the search for food and necessities, rather than displacement orders.”
On aid delivery, Dujarric said only five truckloads were collected from the Palestinian side of Kareem Shalom on Wednesday.
“The other 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area,” he said.
Asked about the reason for the aid trucks returning, Dujarric said it was because the road “was no longer safe to use.”
On the occupied West Bank, Dujarric warned of a sharp increase in settler violence, and said: “So far this year, settlers have injured more than 220 Palestinians, an average of 44 per month, and the highest rate in at least 20 years.”
“Meanwhile, Israeli-imposed movement restrictions across Salfit governorate — in the northern West Bank – continue to disrupt the access of nearly 90,000 people to healthcare, education and livelihoods,” he said.
The United Nations also warned that Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth” and its entire population is at risk of famine, as desperate Palestinians are shot at, starved, and forced from their homes by the Israeli forces.
Calling on Israel to stop its campaign of deliberate starvation and allow food into the besieged enclave, the UN said its mission to help Gaza’s Palestinians is the “most obstructed in recent history”.
“The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, said.
 “I have no flour, no oil, no sugar, no food. I collect mouldy bread and feed it to my children. I want to get a bag of flour for my children. I want to eat. I’m hungry,” a Palestinian told Al Jazeera.