Gaza City, June 18 (RHC)-- The Gaza media office decries the use of starvation as a tool by the United States and Israel to achieve their political goals in Gaza despite the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged  Palestinian territory.

The press office said in a statement on Monday that Tel Aviv and Washington are “deliberately aggravating the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.  “We condemn the inhumane crime of starvation used by the occupation and the American administration in a gruesome manner to achieve political goals.”

Some 2.4 million Palestinians are living under extremely harsh circumstances, especially in Gaza’s north where famine has taken hold of the area, it said.  According to the statement, thousands of sick and wounded people have no access to food or medicine amid a continuation of the border closures.

"The situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly catastrophic and difficult, with the humanitarian crisis significantly worsening, especially for children, the sick, and the wounded who lack food and treatment."

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement over the weekend that more than 50,000 children in Gaza require immediate medical treatment for acute malnutrition.

At least 14,000 Palestinian children have reportedly been killed in Gaza during months-long Israeli aggression.   The agency warned that “with continued restrictions to humanitarian access, people in Gaza continue to face desperate levels of hunger.  “UNRWA teams work tirelessly to reach families with aid, but the situation is catastrophic.”

Israel has severely restricted the delivery of humanitarian aid, medicine, and food supplies to millions in Gaza since it launched its bloodiest-ever military campaign against the besieged Palestinian territory last October.

Human rights groups have repeatedly warned the regime against using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.  The media office called on "the international community and all free countries to condemn this heinous crime.”