Gaza’s Government Media Office has accused Israel and the US of “purposefully” worsening famine-like conditions in Gaza by “withholding humanitarian aid as a tool for political pressure”.

In a statement, the media office said they are “deliberately aggravating the humanitarian situation” in Gaza to achieve political goals, Al Jazeera reported. 

About 2.4 million Palestinians are living under harsh conditions, especially in Gaza’s north where famine has taken hold, the media office said.

Tens of thousands of sick and wounded people have no access to food or medicine, it added.

Israel has closed almost all of its crossings into Gaza and has severely restricted aid deliveries through the one crossing that has been sporadically open.

In February, a UN expert accused Israel of intentionally starving Palestinians.

“Intentionally depriving people of food is clearly a war crime,” Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told the Guardian.