Doha: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warned that the number of people facing catastrophic hunger in Gaza could exceed more than half a million this month, fearing the number could exceed to 640,000 by the end of the month.

According to Qatar News Agency, in a press conference, Fletcher stressed that the current famine is preventable and predictable. He noted the UN and its partners are capable of saving lives on a large scale in the Strip if they are allowed to do so, as they did during the ceasefire earlier this year.

He explained that the plan to end the famine in Gaza is simple: "a ceasefire, hundreds of trucks a day, full access, safe routes, end the bureaucratic delays, restore power and water, and allow commercial traffic. None of that ' none of that ' is complicated."

Fletcher said the crisis in Gaza is occurring amid "the rules of war being corroded day by day," adding, "We've heard Israeli ministers talking openly about flattening Gaza and forcing people out permanently, bombing food aid, and so on."