Food will run out in days under Israel's total blockade of Gaza, humanitarian experts warn

Humanitarian organizations on Tuesday called for international aid for Gaza as Israel imposes a further blockade on the impoverished territory. While experts condemned the Hamas attacks on Israelis as "abhorrent," they also warned that a complete siege on the territory will lead to disastrous shortages of food, water and electricity for millions of civilians.

Representatives from the United Nations to refugee councils have said the latest Israeli siege would be another example of international law being broken by those on both sides of the conflict, which has left hundreds dead and thousands more injured since Saturday.

"It's going to affect everything," Michael Lynk, former United Nations special rapporteur for the situation of human rights and the Palestinian territory, said of a total blockade.

"Gaza is a perpetual case of humanitarian disaster. But this is not earthquakes that are occurring or typhoons that are occurring. This is human-made disasters."

Experts say a total siege on Gaza will affect access to food, water, electricity, medical supplies and sewage treatment for the territory's 2.3 million residents. The United Nations has said such a blockade would violate international humanitarian law — but without resolve from the international community to enforce those laws, experts said civilians will be the ones bearing the consequences.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that authorities would fully cut off supplies to Gaza after Hamas militants launched a stunning attack on Israel Saturday.

Civilians have paid the price for the violence on both sides of the conflict since the attack.

Hamas's assault resulted in more than 1,000 Israelis dead and about 150 civilians and soldiers taken hostage, with Hamas threatening to execute some of them if Israel's airstrikes on Gaza continued without warning.

At least 900 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the war so far, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said Tuesday, with entire districts in Gaza flattened.

Thousands of people have been wounded on both sides.

The movement of people and goods — including food and water — has been controlled under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel withdrew its military forces from the territory under international pressure in 2005 but has said it needed to maintain the blockade to protect Israelis from Hamas.

"Israel controls everything that goes in and out of the Gaza Strip," said Lynk, who visited Gaza periodically while he worked for the UN in Jerusalem.

He said food would run out "very quickly" under a total blockade, leading to "the beginnings of starvation within a couple of days." He said two-thirds of the Palestinian population in Gaza would also be affected by the loss of potable water.

Lynk said the siege would also affect sewage treatment, leading to raw sewage in the streets of Gaza that could spread disease.