UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has renewed his call for greater humanitarian access in Gaza, as the Palestinian enclave faces yet another deadly escalation. 

Speaking on Thursday ahead of a Security Council meeting in New York, he said that Israel, as the occupying power, has obligations to protect civilians, to facilitate far greater humanitarian access and meet their essential needs.

The systematic dismantling of systems that provide food, water and healthcare, Guterres said, “are the result of deliberate decisions that defy basic humanity”.

The famine declaration has increased international pressure on Israel, which has been waging a genocidal war on Palestine’s Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Israel now says it plans to seize Gaza City, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drags his feet on a recent ceasefire proposal that Hamas has accepted.

The global hunger watchdog, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, has declared famine in Gaza. But Israel rejects the declaration, and on Wednesday it asked IPC to formally retract its verdict.

Aid groups say food and other supplies that Israel is letting into Gaza are not enough after 22 months of fighting, the blockade of aid earlier this year and the collapse of food production in Gaza.

Also on Thursday, Cindy McCain, the World Food Programme's executive director, said it was “very evident” during her visit to Gaza this week that there isn't enough food in the Palestinian territory.

The world’s leading authority on food crises said last week that Gaza’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

“I personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza," she said.

"It is real, and it is happening now”.

Israel is now preparing to invade Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge.