The people of Gaza are face to face with starvation as water and food are "practically non-existent". In a statement on Thursday (16 Nov. 2023), Executive Director of the WFP, Cindy McCain warned.

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"With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation," she said, adding that the amount of food coming into Gaza is "woefully inadequate" like bread which is now "scarce or non-existent". She further stressed the impossibility of being able to "meet current hunger needs with one operational border crossing".

WFP’s Spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa, Abeer Etefa, highlighted at a virtual UN’s news conference that this is evident already, as there are "cases of dehydration and malnutrition, which is increasing rapidly and by the day", adding: "With only 10 percent of necessity food supplies and drink in Gaza since the beginning of this conflict, we’re now facing a massive food gap".

UN’s expert: Israel must stop using water as ‘weapon of war’

Israel "must stop using water as a weapon of war" and allow clean water and fuel into Gaza to activate the water supply network before it is "too late," a UN’s expert said on Friday.

"Every hour that passes with Israel preventing the provision of safe drinking water in the Gaza strip, in brazen breach of international law, puts Gazans at risk of dying of thirst and diseases related to the lack of safe drinking water," Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, said in a statement.

"I want to remind Israel that consciously preventing supplies needed for safe water from entering the Gaza Strip violates both international humanitarian and human rights law," Arrojo-Agudo said, adding that the impact on public health and hygiene will be "unimaginable."

It could result in more civilian deaths than the already colossal death toll from the bombardment of Gaza, he warned.