At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – one quarter of the population – are one step away from famine, a senior UN aid official has told the Security Council, warning that widespread famine could be “almost inevitable” without action.

“Very little will be possible while hostilities continue and while there is a risk that they will spread into the overcrowded areas in the south of Gaza. We therefore reiterate our call for a ceasefire,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, co-ordination director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

One in six children under age two in northern Gaza suffers from acute malnutrition and wasting and practically all the 2.3 million people in the Palestinian enclave rely on “woefully inadequate” food aid to survive, he told the 15-member Security Council.

Rajasingham said the UN and aid groups face “overwhelming obstacles just to get a bare minimum of supplies into Gaza.”

The obstacles include crossing closures, restrictions on movement and communication, onerous vetting procedures, unrest, damaged roads and unexploded ordnance, he said.

The US urged its ally Israel to keep border crossings open for humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and to facilitate opening of more crossings, Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the Security Council.

“Simply put, Israel must do more,” he said. “We continue to call on Israel to improve deconfliction procedures to ensure aid can move safely and securely.”

The World Food Programme “is ready to swiftly expand and scale up our operations if there is a ceasefire agreement,” WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told the Security Council.

“But in the meantime, the risk of famine is being fuelled by the inability to bring critical food supplies into Gaza in sufficient quantities, and the almost impossible operating conditions faced by our staff on the ground,” Skau said.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza has since killed around 30,000 Palestinians, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza “is a collective punishment for the Palestinian civilian people,” Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the Security Council.

“Our silence grants a license to kill and to starve the Palestinian population.”

– AAP