(CNN) — People starving and dead bodies left in the streets. This is the dire picture of conditions in northern Gaza painted by a top UN official in charge of relief operations in the enclave.
The risk of famine grows by the day as food and water is running out, he said, while the health system is “in a state of collapse.”
Women are unable to give birth safely and children cannot get vaccinated, with cases of infectious diseases on the rise and people seeking shelter in hospital yards, he said.
Aid has been trickling into Gaza slowly from two border crossings in the south.
On Thursday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Israel had denied critical supplies from entering northern Gaza. But Israel has accused the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency of not doing enough and “stalling” the progress.
Efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to other parts of the enclave have also been badly impacted. “Our access to Khan Younis and the middle area is largely absent,” he said.
The UN official also laid into Israel’s policy of telling people to leave their homes ahead of increased military operations.
Up to 1.9 million people, representing 85% of the population in Gaza, have been displaced, some multiple times, since the conflict began, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
But Griffiths also reminded UN Security Council members of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Rocket fire continues to pound populated areas of Israel, “causing more civilian casualties and trauma,” he said.
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