Israel is making it “virtually impossible for aid agencies to reach trapped, starved civilians” in Gaza, increasing the risk of famine in the besieged enclave, aid group Oxfam said in a statement, Al Jazeera reports.

It said aid groups were struggling to collect aid delivered through Karem Abu Salem, the only crossing that remains open, due to “long delays in Israeli approval” and “extremely dangerous” conditions on the Gaza side of the crossing.

“When hunger claims many more lives, nobody will be able to deny the horrifying impact of Israel’s deliberate, illegal and cruel obstruction of aid,” said Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa director, Sally Abi Khalil.

“By the time a famine is declared, it will be too late,” she added.