The “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting “widespread death” without immediate action.

The alert, still short of a formal famine declaration, follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths after nearly 22 months of war.

The international pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops of supplies. The United Nations and Palestinians on the ground say little has changed, and desperate crowds continue to overwhelm and unload delivery trucks before they can reach their destinations.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have “dramatically worsened” the situation, including “increasingly stringent blockades” by Israel.

The UN-backed IPC has issued several similar warnings during the war in Gaza, including one in May, which Israel dismissed as “flawed.”

Israel said in response at the time that “even according to the IPC’s own analysis,” there was no famine in Gaza, and noted that previous IPC projections about impending famine have “repeatedly failed to materialize.”

???? #GazaStrip Alert

The worst-case scenario of #Famine is rapidly unfolding in the #GazaStrip amid relentless conflict, displacements, and extremely limited humanitarian access.

???? Read more: https://t.co/mPlpJRtLda@TheIPCinfo #FoodInsecurity #Malnutrition pic.twitter.com/B0b3d9Ramd

— The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification........

© The Times of Israel