Hungry children scouring rubbish heaps for food in Gaza, UN says

Children in Gaza are searching through mountains of rubbish for food scraps and fuel, a spokeswoman for the UN Emergency Relief Office in Gaza City said on Friday, as she called for an end to Israel's blockade on aid supplies to the territory.

Olga Cherevko, speaking by video to reporters in Geneva, described devastating conditions in the coastal strip, where burning plastic is generating dangerous smoke and malnourished children can be seen on the streets.

In their desperation, people are increasingly attacking trucks that are suspected of carrying water or food, she said.

"The international community has a choice – to keep scrolling through the grisly images of Gaza being suffocated and starved or muster the courage and the moral fibre to make decisions that would break this merciless blockade," Cherevko said.

Israel has not allowed food, medicine or other essential goods into the Gaza Strip for two months, saying it wants to put pressure on the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group to release the remaining Israeli hostages.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that people can barely survive, with food and medical supplies running out at the organization's field hospital. It said water pipes have been broken and trucks for sewage disposal have been destroyed.

As the occupying power, Israel is obliged to meet the basic needs of the population in Gaza, the ICRC said.