Philippe Lazarrini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), has warned that every day that passed without the entry of vital humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip brings the besieged territory closer “to an acute hunger crisis”, Al Jazeera says.

In a post on X, Lazarrini highlighted that no food, medicine, water or fuel had entered Gaza in the past three weeks, saying this was “a tight siege longer than what was in place in the first phase of the war”.

“The people of Gaza depend on imports via Israel for their survival,” he added.

“Banning aid is a collective punishment on Gaza.”

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