LONDON

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief said that almost everyone in the Gaza Strip is going hungry, calling this situation "inhumane."

"@WHO calls for immediate access for all humanitarian aid, starting with food and medicine for severely malnourished children, who need to be treated urgently," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

WHO continues to call for a cease-fire as "best medicine is peace," he said on Thursday.

Since 2006, Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, turning the region into what many describe as the world's largest open-air prison.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.