Juliette Touma, from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, says Gaza has “become a hellhole” over the last couple of weeks.
Speaking to BBC Newsday, she called for the siege on Gaza to be lifted as civilians needed humanitarian supplies immediately.
“Time is running out. It has been almost two weeks. Two very long weeks UNRWA has not been able to bring in any supplies into Gaza,” she said.
Touma added that “the clock is ticking” and that she did not know when the Rafah border crossing would open.
When asked what would be done to ensure aid didn’t fall into hands of Hamas, she said that UNRWA had “strict scrutiny and monitoring systems in place”, as the organisation’s 13,000 staff only gave aid to people who need it – “we’ve been doing this for decades”.
