The UN Humanitarian Coordinator said that the crisis in Gaza is approaching famine, with Israel imposing additional restrictions on aid to Gaza. In more than 100 days, “millions have been displaced, hundreds of thousands are starving, and tens of thousands have been killed by the Israeli army.”

“Providing humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza is almost impossible,” Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the Security Council: “Our access to Khan Yunis [in southern Gaza] and the central area is largely absent.” He added, "Our efforts to send humanitarian convoys to the north were met with delays, rejection, and the imposition of impossible conditions."

One issue restricting the delivery of aid is Israeli inspection protocols. Griffiths explains that aid checks in Tel Aviv have been tightened recently. “The growing list of rejected items means we are unable to get supplies into Gaza to rehabilitate life-sustaining infrastructure,” the UN official said. Hospital generators and water treatment centers are on the list of prohibited items.

Last week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) described on "Face the Nation" how Israel is using inspection protocols to obstruct the delivery of aid to Gaza. The US Senator from Maryland said: “When one item in the truck is rejected, the entire truck is rejected.” “And according to all the international [NGOs] we talked about that were working in conflict zones around the world, they had never seen a worse operation to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.”

In addition, Israel has imposed restrictions on the equipment that humanitarian relief workers have access to, making aid delivery less safe and efficient. "Failure to respect the humanitarian notification system puts all movements of aid workers at risk, as well as the completely insufficient quantities of armored vehicles and limited communications equipment we were allowed to bring in," he explained.

Griffiths reported that the Israeli bombing was already deadly and devastating to international relief organizations. He told the UN Security Council: “134 facilities belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees were bombed, and 148 United Nations staff and employees of other relief organizations were killed.” The Israeli bombing of Gaza led to the death of at least 23,000 Palestinians, including about 10,000 children and 7,000 women.

Last week, the United Nations reported that only 129 aid trucks enter Gaza each day on average. Before the war, which led to the displacement of at least 1.9 million Palestinians, 500 trucks entered the Gaza Strip daily. UNICEF says aid will not be enough to sustain Gaza, and commercial goods must be allowed into the Strip.

“The volume of commercial goods for sale in the Gaza Strip needs to increase and increase rapidly. What we need is the entry of at least 300 trucks of special commercial goods every day,” said Lucia Elmi, UNICEF Special Representative.

In addition to restricting aid, Israel has destroyed much of Gaza's life-supporting infrastructure. Wim Zwijnenberg, a researcher with the Dutch organization PAX, determined through satellite images that Israel destroyed the solar panels powering a wastewater plant that serves a million Gazans. A water facility located near the Indonesian Hospital, serving 30,000 Palestinians, was also bombed. It was found that about 20% of agricultural land in Gaza had been destroyed.

The bombing and lack of aid have created horrific conditions. Griffiths said: “Colleagues who have managed to reach the north in recent days describe scenes of absolute horror: bodies left lying on the road. People showing obvious signs of starvation stop trucks in search of anything they can get to survive.

The UN official warned that the risk of famine is increasing day by day. Relief groups estimate that more than 500,000 Palestinians are living in a state of famine, and that the entire population of the Strip faces acute food insecurity.

Griffiths also said that the health care system has collapsed, and women are no longer able to give birth safely. Doctors in Gaza reported performing medical procedures in crowded corridors and on floors. The lack of supplies means that many dangerous surgeries, including amputations on children, must be performed without anesthesia.