- Israel is stopping food, fuel, and medicine from entering Gaza after announcing a "complete siege."
- An NGO said the move may "lead people to going hungry, thirsty, and ultimately towards dying."
Following Israel's announcement of a "complete siege" of Gaza, fears are mounting over an impending humanitarian crisis in the territory.
Hamas' surprise attack on Saturday, which Israel said has led to the deaths of at least 1,200 Israelis, prompted Israel to declare war on the group and increase airstrikes on Gaza. Palestinian authorities say at least 950 Palestinians have been killed so far.
Even before Hamas' attack, Israel controlled most of the Occupied Palestinian Territory 's food, water, and power. The UN's special rapporteur described the city as an "open-air prison."
And conditions in the territory now look set to get even worse.
Israel's defense minister reportedly said on Monday that Gaza will get "no electricity, no food, no fuel," adding that "everything is closed."
Israel has since stopped food, fuel, and medicines from entering the territory, The Associated Press reported.
Ivan Karakashian, the head of advocacy in Jerusalem for the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council, condemned Hamas' attack but told Insider that Israel's announcement amounted to "a policy of starving" Gaza's roughly 2.2 million population.
Karakashian, speaking to Insider from Jerusalem on Tuesday, said the organization had 52 staff in Gaza, who report depleted stores of basic goods, and that his group believed the siege would create a "humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza's besieged civilians."
Around 80% of the city's population depended on humanitarian assistance even before the weekend's events, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Food could run out by Saturday, Karakashian said, adding that water capacity had been reduced to 40%. The siege will "quite literally starve the population and lead people to going hungry, thirsty, and ultimately towards dying."
One Gaza resident told Insider he fled his home after a warning from Israel, and doesn't know where his family can stay or get food and water.
Karakashian also said that almost half of Gaza's population was under 18, "and cutting off these essentials would represent a grave breach of international humanitarian law."
The head of the Gaza Energy Authority said Wednesday that Gaza's only power plant will stop at 2 p.m. local time due to a lack of fuel.
Without that power, hospitals will also struggle to treat patients, Karakashian said.
UN Secretary General António Guterres, who condemned Hamas' attacks, said he was "deeply distressed" by Israel's siege announcement. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities; now it will only deteriorate exponentially."
Israel has told people to move from some areas before attacks, but those in the city — one of the world's most densely populated areas — say it is so small and tightly packed that there is nowhere safe to go.
Israel and its neighbor Egypt also control movement from the city, stopping almost everyone from leaving.
Humanitarian workers in Gaza say there are few safe areas, while the UNRWA said that 175,500 people were sheltering in 88 of its schools in Gaza as of Wednesday, adding that these numbers were continuing to increase.
Karakashian said nowhere in Gaza provides proper safety.
"Residents don't know where to go to get to feel safe and secure as Israel widens its bombardment of large areas," he said.
Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli security official and former general, said causing a humanitarian disaster could be justified to "completely eliminate the threat of Hamas."
"The only way we can achieve this is by using all the aggressive measures that we have — including, if needed, to create a terrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza," he said, per France 24.
Karakashian called for humanitarian pauses and humanitarian corridors to get aid to civilians. "But right now, it doesn't seem that there's much interest in negotiating such terms."