Israel is restricting far more convoys carrying food aid into Gaza — where famine is looming — than convoys carrying other kinds of humanitarian relief, the UN has said according to Al Jazeera.

A spokesperson for the United Nations’ humanitarian agency pointed to statistics from March showing it is much more difficult to get clearance for delivering food than other aid in the Palestinian territory.

“Food convoys that should be going particularly to the north, where 70 per cent of people face famine conditions, are […] three times more likely to be denied than any other humanitarian convoys with other kinds of material,” Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva.

While Israel complains about UN distribution, “half of the convoys that we were trying to send to the north with food [in March] were denied by the very same Israeli authorities”, said Laerke.

“The obligation is on the warring parties, and in particular […] on Israel as the occupying power of Gaza, to facilitate and ensure humanitarian access does not stop at the border.”