The United Nations has sounded the alarm over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying that it is "unlike anything we have seen in this century."

Over two million Palestinians have been starving as they look for clean water and other basic necessities. Gaza's health ministry said that the death toll has surpassed 60,000 as global pressure mounted on Israel to allow more aid into the area.

According to the UN's World Food Programme, the crisis in Gaza is similar to the famines in Ethiopia and Biafra, Nigeria.

• Chilling map pinpoints 10 safest nations to flee to in event of nuclear WW3
• King Charles shuts down William in five-word rage over Prince Harry return

"This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century. We need urgent action now," Ross Smith, the emergency director at WFP, told reporters in Geneva.

The Biafra famine was a result of the Nigerian Civil War, where the blockade of aid into the region cost at least a million deaths and led to the 1977 amendments to the Geneva Conventions, prohibiting starvation as a mode of warfare. Ethiopia, too, was hit by a deadly widespread famine from 1983 to 1985, which left nearly 1.2 million people dead.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global malnutrition monitor, has issued a statement, saying, "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths."

"Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City," the IPC added.

DON'T MISS:

• Putin rails against 'satanism' and bans fictitious group in 'holy war' [STRANGE]
• Russia nuclear bomber intercepted by US warplanes as WW3 fears explode [LATEST]
• UN aid chief issues dire 'make or break' warning over Gaza starvation crisis [WARNING]

They also warned that the aid trickling in via airdrops in Gaza will not be enough to avert the "humanitarian catastrophe" pervading the Palestinians and "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access into Gaza is of utmost necessity.

"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," they said.

A formal famine declaration is rare and requires data the kind of data that the lack of access to Gaza and mobility within has largely denied. The IPC has only declared famine a few times - in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of Sudan's western Darfur region last year.

Ahead of the IPC alert, the International Rescue Committee said that Gaza should be "flooded with aid."

"IRC staff and our Palestinian partners are exhausted, delivering nutrition, health, and water and sanitation — all while facing the same hunger and relentless threats to their lives and that of their families. They are not just witnesses to this crisis; they are living it," they said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 60,034 Palestinians were killed and 145,870 injured by the Israeli military since Oct. 7, 2023.

In the last 24 hours, at least 113 Palestinians were killed and 637 injured, despite Israel's selective ceasefire in certain parts of the Gaza Strip.

"A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them until now," the statement added.