For the seventh day in a row, dozens of settlers continue to prevent aid trucks from reaching the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

It connects Gaza to Israel through the Beit Hanoun crossing, which is designated for the passage of individuals, and the Karam Abu Salem crossing for the passage of goods.

Last December, the Israeli government voted to reopen the crossing to the entry of aid that comes from abroad and is transported through Israel, after closing all crossings with the Gaza Strip on October 7.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned earlier this month that time is accelerating towards a comprehensive famine in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli war continues since the seventh of last October.

The Agency's Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a blog post published on the "X" platform that the residents of the Gaza Strip are being subjected to "collective punishment" in light of the scarcity of humanitarian aid.

He continued: "Gaza, there has been a brutal war that has been going on for three months, mass displacement, human losses, injuries, and destruction. The unbearable suffering has been exacerbated by the continued dehumanization and unlimited promotion of hate speech."

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates warned in a statement that the occupation’s allowing demonstrators to prevent aid from reaching the Kerem Shalom crossing deepens the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry stressed that every individual in the Gaza Strip is in dire need of aid of all kinds, starting with food, water, medicine, electricity, fuel, and safe shelter, especially in light of winter, heavy rain, and extreme cold. This is in addition to hundreds of daily demands and appeals issued by all countries, leaders, and officials, which Demanding the provision of basic humanitarian needs for our people in the Gaza Strip.

It pointed out that preventing the entry of aid is further evidence of the intentions of the occupying state and its insistence on implementing the threats of its officials and leaders to deprive all residents of the Gaza Strip of basic humanitarian needs, after the precautionary measures taken by the International Court of Justice, in official Israeli disregard for its decision.

The United Nations had previously warned that 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip were at risk of famine.

About 1.7 million people were displaced in the Gaza Strip, including one million in or around UNRWA shelter centers registered with it.

UNRWA warned of the deterioration of health and environmental conditions, and the spread of skin diseases, meningitis, and hepatitis, especially in the winter.