Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa declared the Gaza Strip a famine zone on Wednesday.

During a press conference on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, attended by the government's emergency operations room, Mustafa called on the entire UN system to immediately activate its mechanisms and treat Gaza as a famine zone, which would entail urgent international intervention and the immediate lifting of all restrictions preventing relief.

The Prime Minister held Israel, the occupying power, fully responsible for the deliberate humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Mustafa called on the UN Security Council and Secretary-General to intervene immediately and implement Article 99 of the UN Charter. He also called on all UN member states to take urgent action in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, recognize the catastrophe and famine, and work to provide political and logistical support to end the siege, ensure aid access, and activate international accountability mechanisms.

Mustafa affirmed that the government will continue to work to confront the aggression and famine against our people, and will work tirelessly with the international community to save lives, leading to recovery and reconstruction.

The Prime Minister said: "Documented reports issued by international and UN institutions, field indicators, manifestations of hunger and thirst, daily scenes of children's thin bodies, and the cries of pain from among the tents of the displaced and the rubble, all indicate that Gaza has now become a famine zone. We raise our voices loudly in the face of silence and the absence of international action. Do not let the besieged children of Gaza die of hunger. Do not allow food and water to be used as tools of war."