[Video transcript]
Signs of starvation are not hard to find in Gaza.
Here in Rafah, crowds jostle for what little food is available.
The despair is evident.
(Displaced Person)
"This war brought an unbearable level of humiliation. We struggle so much just to provide lunch. Life has become so expensive it’s unbearable. We do not eat, drink or sleep properly. And nothing is available."
A United-Nations-backed report says more than 90 percent of people in Gaza are facing crisis levels of hunger.
A critical situation amid Israel's relentless bombardment in response to the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
UN agencies say Gazans are getting just 10 percent of the food deliveries they would usually receive.
People struggle to find water, medicine and fuel.
(Arif Husain, Chief Economist, World Food Program)
"What is happening in Gaza is unprecedented. Both in terms of its scale but also how quickly it has happened. You know, in the world right now, there are about 130,000 people who are in catastrophic levels of hunger, meaning they are starving. In Gaza, more than half a million. That is four times more. And that is what makes this totally unprecedented."
Israel did briefly allow aid through its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza this week.
But an Israeli airstrike that hit the Palestinian side forced UN staff to stop its pick-ups there.
(Arif Husain, Chief Economist, World Food Program)
"We can still avoid this famine. But we need to make sure that people have food, people have water, they have shelter, they have sanitation. And for all of those things to happen, we need border crossings open so these commodities can come in."
The growing desperation for food also means that the limited supplies that do make it into Gaza are often seized upon before being handed out.
And the UN says it's not just access to aid that is vital, but also its safe distribution across the strip.
Without it, they warn, the risk of famine in Gaza is increasing every day.