Situation in Gaza 'increasingly desperate and chaotic': UN food agency

The situation in the Gaza Strip is "increasingly desperate and chaotic," a UN food agency official said Thursday.

"When it comes to the food security situation -- we managed to do during the seven-day pause -- a survey, and what we found there was that half of the population are starving," Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) Carl Skau told reporters in New York after a recent visit to Gaza.

The grim reality is also that nine out of 10 people are not eating enough and are not eating every day, said Skau. They do not know "where the next meal is going to come from."

The humanitarian operation is "really on the brink of collapse," he stressed, and said it is not possible to deliver in an orderly fashion under the conditions. "What we really need is to step up the volumes," he added.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 18,787 Palestinians have since been killed and 50,897 injured in the Israeli onslaught, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while 135 hostages are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.