Famine in the Gaza Strip is almost inevitable, the United Nations said.

The UN and other humanitarian actors have not yet declared a state of famine in Gaza, despite worsening conditions in the Palestinian territory since the conflict started on October 7.

However, “once a famine is declared, it is too late for too many people”, said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

“We don’t want to get to that situation and we need things to change before that,” he told a briefing in Geneva, AFP reports.

“We have to look at what more and more voices, more and more loudly, are saying about the food security situation acros the Gaza Strip, in particular in the north,” said Laerke.

“If something doesn’t change, a famine is almost inevitable on the current trends.”