The latest warnings from UN relief agency for Palestinians UNRWA and the UN World Food Programme, WFP, highlighted the threat of starvation and disease in heavily built-up areas, where tens of thousands of people have fled intense bombing campaigns in the enclave's north and centre.
"Everyone in Gaza is hungry! Skipping meals is the norm, and each day is a desperate search for sustenance," WFP said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. "People often go the entire day and night without eating. Adults go hungry so children can eat."
Well over a million people are now seeking safety in the already overcrowded southern city of Rafah, according to UNRWA, with hundreds of thousands sleeping in the open with inadequate clothing or materials to keep out the cold.
Undernourished children are at particular risk, while "half of Gaza's population is starving" UN humanitarians have warned, in line with the latest food insecurity assessment
Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency WHO warned of an "imminent risk" of communicable disease outbreaks.
Since mid-October, there have been 179,000 cases of acute respiratory infection, 136,400 cases of diarrhoea among under fives, 55,400 cases of scabies and lice and 4,600 cases of jaundice, it reported.
