The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza is insufficient to address the "catastrophic" situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Almost simultaneously with this announcement, the Israeli army indicated the opening of a new crossing at Qarara/Kissufim to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, on the eve of the deadline set by the United States for the Israeli authorities to allow increased aid, according to Agence France-Presse.

Asked about the US warning, UNRWA official Louise Waterridge declined to comment at a news conference, but stressed that the situation in the Gaza Strip "is simply catastrophic."

She explained from Gaza that aid had reached its lowest levels in months, "and the average for last October was 37 trucks per day across the entire Gaza Strip, and this is not enough at all for a population of 2.2 million people who need everything."

“While we receive testimonies of people on the ground begging for crumbs of bread or water, the UN is still denied access to this area,” she said, stressing that no food has been allowed into the besieged area in northern Gaza for a whole month, and that all requests made by the UN to access the area “have been denied.”

She noted that "attempts" had been made since then, and the World Health Organization had carried out limited medical evacuations, adding, "But I can tell you that as of this week, I was supposed to do two missions in the north" and they were "rejected."

Last Saturday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned of the possibility of famine in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been under siege under the weight of the occupation since October 5.

Lazzarini expressed his regret that the possibility of famine "is not surprising," noting that Israel has used hunger as a weapon, depriving people in Gaza of basics, even food to survive, amid growing international and UN warnings of a famine in northern Gaza.

For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in the occupied Palestinian territories also expressed its concern today, writing via the X platform, “As the situation in northern Gaza deteriorates, the lack of access to appropriate medical care continues to affect civilians.”

This comes as Israel continues its war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 146,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and worsening famine.