GEVENA, Thursday, June 27, 2024 (WAFA) - The UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said the food security assessment in Gaza is showing an astonishingly cruel situation, calling on crossing points to be opened.

Griffiths commented on the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, saying that it is showing an "astonishingly cruel situation" in Gaza.

IPC report indicated that 96% of the population faces extreme levels of hunger in the Gaza Strip, while nearly half a million people are in catastrophic conditions.

The figures "still show an astonishingly cruel situation," he said and continued: "What's interesting about that is it's less than were at risk of famine."

He noted that the half-million figure is still "intolerable and outrageous," but added that it is "less" than expected one million at risk of famine because aid came in at some level of scale during the month of April.

"This is a story about aid working, which is why we restate that we want all those crossing points opened; we want safety and security for our convoys; we want deconfliction which we can rely on; and we want aid workers and health institutions not being victims of the war," he urged.

"And ideally, we still want a cease-fire, without which people will not be safe," he said.

K.T