World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that preventing immediate access to food and essential supplies in the Gaza Strip is causing "further deaths and a slide into famine."

In a post on the X platform, Ghebreyesus said: "We don't have to wait for a famine declaration in Gaza to know that people are already suffering from hunger, disease, and death, while food and medicine are just minutes away from the border."

He pointed to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released Monday, which stated that 470,000 Palestinians in Gaza are facing "catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5)," and the entire population is suffering from severe food insecurity.

The report also noted that approximately 71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers are expected to require urgent treatment for severe malnutrition.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) consists of five stages, starting with "No Problem," which represents the minimum level of food insecurity; then "Stress," "Crisis," "Emergency," and finally "Disaster or Famine," in which the population completely lacks access to food and other basic needs.

Ghebreyesus said the report shows that "without immediate access to food and essential supplies, the situation will continue to deteriorate, causing more deaths and a slide into famine," calling for "an immediate end to the aid blockade and a ceasefire."