Unrwa director says Israel has blocked food shipment for 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said a food shipment for 1.1 million Palestinians is stuck in an Israeli port due to restrictions from Israeli authorities as thousands of Palestinians face imminent hunger. 

Unrwa's director Philippe Lazarini told the Associated Press that a convoy of food donated by Turkey had been sitting for weeks in the Israeli port cit of Ashdod. 

Lazarini said Israeli contractors who work with Unrwa received a call from Israeli custom authorities and ordered "them not to process any Unrwa goods".

The aid agency for Palestinians later released an update that "1,049 containers of rice, flour, chickpeas, sugar and cooking oil are stuck as families in Gaza face hunger and starvation".

Lazarini's concerns come after the World Food Programme warned on Friday that Gaza could be plunged into famine in a few months.