UNITED NATIONS, August 22. /TASS/. The spread of famine in the Gaza Strip is a man-made catastrophe and its unpunished persistence must be halted, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
"This [famine in Gaza] is not a mystery — it is a man-made disaster," the UN press service quoted him as saying.
According to Guterres, Israel has "unequivocal obligations under international law - including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies for the population."
"We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity," the UN secretary general added, calling on the parties to the conflict in Gaza to immediately cease fire, release all hostages, and ensure full, unrestricted humanitarian access to the Palestinian enclave.
Earlier on Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-supported mechanism for monitoring food security, officially classified the food security situation in the northern Gaza region as famine for the first time.
On August 21, the enclave's press service reported that only around 2,000 humanitarian trucks have arrived in the Gaza Strip, or less than 15% of the volume required by the local population over the past three and a half weeks. According to the press service, over the past 25 days, at least 15,000 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were expected in Gaza, and only 2,187 trucks were permitted to enter the enclave.