TORONTO, Canada

The UN raised alarm Tuesday over the "catastrophic levels” of food insecurity that people in the Gaza Strip are facing, saying it is the "highest percentage of acute food insecurity ever classified."

"The people of Gaza are experiencing catastrophic levels of conflict-induced food insecurity and a high risk of conflict-induced famine," Maurizio Martina, deputy director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said at a UN Security Council session on Gaza.

Stressing that the key findings from the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis are "extremely troubling," Martina said "the entire population of about 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip is estimated to be in crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 and above), the highest percentage of people experiencing such acute food insecurity that the IPC has ever classified."

The UN official further noted that the Israeli government's reinforced blockade has stopped or restricted food, electricity and fuel supplies as well as commercial goods since Oct. 9.

"A critical priority is to restore safe and sustained humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip and to all those in need of lifesaving assistance," Martina said.

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Carl Skau warned over the critical prospects of famine by May this year.

Noting that nearly the entire population of Gaza requires food aid, Skau said that "Gaza is seeing the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world. One child in every six under the age of two is acutely malnourished."

He stressed the need for a "a safe and functioning operating environment for humanitarian staff, the port of Ashdod and the Karni crossing to be open, a working humanitarian notification system, and a stable communications network."

"If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza," he said.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing nearly 30,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Serife Cetin in New York contributed to this story