UN’s Lazzarini warns 1.6 million people in Gaza are hungry as Israel blocks aid The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has warned that Gaza remains trapped in a “man-made hunger crisis”, despite limited improvements since a ceasefire began in October. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), said on Friday that a new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) showed how fragile recent gains have been. While Gaza Governorate is no longer formally classified as being in famine, Lazzarini said 1.6 million people across the territory continue to face “high levels of acute food insecurity”. “#Gaza remains in a man-made hunger crisis,” Lazzarini wrote on X, adding that the situation could rapidly deteriorate without sustained access for humanitarian aid. He stressed that the crisis could only be brought to an end if supplies were allowed into Gaza “at scale” and humanitarian organisations were able to operate freely. According to Lazzarini, Unrwa currently has food parcels for 1.1 million people and flour sufficient for Gaza’s entire population ready to enter the enclave, but these supplies remain blocked from delivery.