The UN’s World Food Programme warned that the disaster unfolding in Gaza was reminiscent of famines seen in Ethiopia and Biafra, Nigeria in the 20th century, AFP reports.

“This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century,” WFP emergency director Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Rome, insisting that “we need urgent action now”.