United Nations, March 12 (RHC)-- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has warned of the “tragic” situation in the northern Gaza Strip, calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged territory with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

The United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) made the warning in a post on X on Sunday, as the Israeli regime continues to deny UN aid agencies the ability to deliver aid in the northern part of Gaza despite repeated calls.  “Ramadan is approaching.  The death toll continues to rise,” the UNRWA said, stressing the need for humanitarian access across Gaza and an immediate ceasefire to save lives.

The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.  The United Nations has already warned that child deaths will “rapidly increase” in Gaza if humanitarian aid deliveries do not immediately increase.

UNRWA has also warned about more child deaths in the Gaza Strip amid a widespread lack of food and access to safe water and medical services.

Meanwhile, an infant and a young woman have died from severe malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 people are facing famine as Israel blocks safe delivery of aid.  The Gaza Health Ministry announced in a statement on Saturday that a two-month-old female infant has died of malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra also said starvation and dehydration has killed a 20-year-old woman at Al-Shifa Hospital, where three more young people already died of the same cause last Friday.

UNICEF has warned many more children in Gaza will die unless there is direct intervention to provide assistance.  These new victims increased the number of known starvation deaths to 25 in Gaza, he added.

Qudra also said that “the increase in death from malnourishment and dehydration confirms that the famine in northern Gaza has reached deadly levels.”

Israel waged its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 30,960 Palestinians and injured 72,524 others.  The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.