The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that Israel’s blocking of aid supplies reaching Gaza has deprived the territory’s population of the “necessities for human survival”, Al Jazeera reports.

In its latest situation assessment, OCHA had this stark message: “The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023.”

According to OCHA, aid operations have stalled in the territory due to a combination of Israel’s expanding military operations, blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies for more than 50 days, Israel’s killing of aid workers and attacks on their premises, as well as severe restrictions on movement in the enclave.

The situation was described by an OCHA official as the “deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life” in Gaza.