More than 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' in Gaza

Their statement warned of "record rates of acute malnutrition."

LONDON, JERUSALEM and GAZA -- In a joint statement, 115 organizations described the dire food shortage in Gaza as "mass starvation," as the "Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza."

The organizations warned that some aid workers are now joining food lines in Gaza, saying they are "risking being shot just to feed their families." Repeated deadly shootings around aid distribution centers have killed hundreds, according to the United Nations.

The World Health Organization said it is "determined to remain in the Gaza Strip" and called for the protection of WHO and UN agency personnel.

"90% of Gaza's population face difficulty accessing water," the director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a press conference Wednesday.

Ten Palestinians died due to famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, according to a statement from Gaza Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run territory on Wednesday. More than 70 children have died from malnutrition in Gaza since the beginning of the year, according to the WHO.

While a total number of 111 people died to hunger since the beginning of the war, 25 of them, including at least four children, have died just in the past 48 hours, the ministry said. Many supplies are now totally depleted, according to aid organizations.

The joint statement accused the Israeli government of implementing "restrictions, delays, and fragmentation" with a total siege of the Gaza Strip, resulting in "chaos, starvation, and death" of Palestinians.

Citing reports from doctors, the statement warned of "record rates of acute malnutrition," saying they are being seen particularly among children and older people. An aid worker providing psychosocial support is quoted in part saying: “Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food."

Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and Oxfam International were among the international aid groups that signed the statement.

Israeli Government Spokesman, David Mencer pushed back, saying "there is no famine" in Gaza, in an online briefing Wednesday.

Mencer blamed Hamas and called the food crisis in Gaza "a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas."

"Suffering exists because Hamas has made it so," Mencer added.

Mencer said that more than 4,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza from Saturday to Tuesday, containing materials such as baby food, flour and high-calorie nutrition for children.

Mencer said 2 million meals were distributed to Gazans on Monday and that 87 million meals have been distributed since the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution system began in late May.

The Israeli spokesman said Hamas had "stepped-up efforts to prevent" the distribution of food in Gaza and accused Hamas of "deliberately" placing Gazans "at risk of hunger" by disrupting distribution sites.

According to the United Nations, at least 875 people have been killed by Israeli gunfire in recent weeks near aid distribution sites in Gaza while trying to get food.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.