The World Food Programme (WFP) says it only has enough food supplies in the Gaza Strip to keep public kitchens and bakeries open for less than two weeks, after Israel imposed a blockade barring the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies.
The Israeli blockade over the weekend is aimed at pressuring Hamas to accept an alternative ceasefire arrangement six weeks into their fragile truce, which Hamas has rejected.
Palestinians said prices spiked as people rushed to markets to stock up on supplies after Israel announced the tightening of its blockade. After more than 16 months of war, Gaza’s population is entirely dependent on trucked-in food and other aid. Most are displaced from their homes, and many need shelter.
The blockade has also sent humanitarian groups into overdrive trying to distribute dwindling stocks to the most vulnerable.
This comes after South Africa on Wednesday denounced Israel's restriction of aid into war-ravaged Gaza since the weekend, saying it amounted to using starvation as a weapon of war.
"Preventing food from entering Gaza is a continuation of Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war as part of the ongoing campaign of what the ICJ ruled to be plausible genocide against the Palestinian people," the South African foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to Pretoria's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.