The WHO warned of dire shortages of medicines, food, shelter and fuel in Gaza, especially in the north, demanding that Israel allow in more aid and facilitate humanitarian operations.

According to AFP, the World Health Organisation described a “catastrophic” situation on the ground.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that when the bombardment in Gaza started more than a year ago, almost all of those displaced by the conflict sheltered in public buildings or with family members.

“Now, 90 per cent are living in tents,” he told a press conference at the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.

“This leaves them vulnerable to respiratory and other diseases, (while) cold weather, rain and flooding are expected to exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition,” he said.

The situation was particularly dire in the blockaded north, where a UN-backed assessment this month said famine looms.

The WHO and its partners this week conducted a three-day mission to the north, visiting more than a dozen health facilities.

Tedros said the team had seen “high number of trauma patients and increasing number of patients with chronic diseases needing treatment”.

“There are critical shortages of essential medicines.” The WHO is “doing everything we can — everything Israel allows us to do — to deliver health services and supplies”, he added.