"We need urgent action now," said Ross Smith, director of emergency preparedness and response at the UN World Food Programme (WFP) this week, as he told the press in Rome that the hunger and starvation currently underway in Gaza were "unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century."

"Worst-case scenario of famine unfolding in the Gaza Strip," read an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The UN's hunger monitoring initiative has concluded that mounting evidence shows that "widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths."

It added: "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."

Most of the more than 2 million inhabitants of the already densely populated Gaza Strip, which has a total area of 365 square kilometers (141 square miles), are currently living in extremely overcrowded refugee camps in an even more limited space because the Israeli army has declared large parts of the strip militarized zones.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declared there was "no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza."

Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza. Dozens of Palestinian journalists have been killed.

Since the weekend, members of the international community have been trying to find ways of alleviating the acute misery in Gaza. On Sunday, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates parachuted 25 tons of aid into Gaza. Germany and France also announced airdrop missions.

"This work may only make a small contribution to humanitarian aid, but it sends an........

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