ANKARA

More than 700 Israeli academics have called on their government to take urgent measures to prevent famine in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents in the north, on the verge of starvation.

According to Haaretz newspaper, 730 Israeli academics signed a petition demanding “urgent measures” to prevent starvation in Gaza.

The signatories said they “cannot stand opposite to the humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes in the last few weeks in the Gaza Strip.”

They warned that mass deaths in Gaza would turn into an “indelible stain” on Israel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Sunday that hunger has spread all across the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s ongoing offensive on the enclave.

“The situation in the north is tragic, where aid via land is denied despite repeated calls,” UNRWA said.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most 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.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala