'Catastrophic levels of hunger across Gaza,' says Unrwa chief

There are "catastrophic levels of hunger" across the Gaza Strip resulting from "human action," Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said on Monday.

"In the last nine months, we have witnessed unprecedented failures of humanity in a territory marked by decades of violence," Lazzarini told the UN agency's advisory commission.

"Children are dying of malnutrition and dehydration, while food and clean water wait in trucks."

Israeli forces have in recent weeks tightened their eight-month siege of the Gaza Strip, blocking the delivery of life-saving food and medical items. 

They have also increased attacks on aid and service workers.

The Israeli policy has worsened the starvation crisis, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, where four children died of malnutrition over the past week.

"The breakdown of civil order has resulted in rampant looting and smuggling that impede the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid," Lazzarini said. 

"Gazans are clinging to life, displaced repeatedly across a ravaged territory."