GAZA — The United Nations' emergency relief coordinator has urged Israel to lift its blockade of aid into Gaza, saying the halting of humanitarian aid amounts to "cruel collective punishment."

The UN said thousands of Palestinians had breached a humanitarian field office in Gaza late on Wednesday looking for aid.

They took medicine and damaged vehicles in the melee but caused no injuries to staff.

Israel has blocked any humanitarian aid from entering the territory since the end of a ceasefire in March, throwing Gaza into what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war.

Israel has said the blockade and its renewed military campaign are intended to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds.

Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said that while the hostages should be released and should never have been taken in the first place, international law mandates that Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip," he said in a statement.

"Blocking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical support. It strips them of dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has described severe shortages of food, water and medicine in Gaza as medical services collapse and charity kitchens shut down because of a lack of supplies.

Hospitals have reported that cases of malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women are rising sharply and most newborns are now being born underweight.

Fletcher stressed that "the humanitarian movement is independent, impartial and neutral. We believe that all civilians are equally worthy of protection."

He said that a recent proposal by Israeli authorities regarding ways to distribute aid "does not meet the minimum bar for principled humanitarian support."

Israel has proposed taking over aid distribution in Gaza or using private companies for the distribution.

The United Kingdom joined calls for aid to be allowed into Gaza.

"The healthcare system in Gaza is near collapse," the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office posted on X.

"Aid supplies must be allowed in, medical workers protected, and the sick and wounded allowed to temporarily leave Gaza for treatment."

UN says 3,000 aid trucks waiting outside Gaza

The United Nations says that more than 3,000 aid trucks with lifesaving supplies are backed up at the border outside Gaza.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that the Israeli blockade means their trucks can't reach the one million children whose lives are in danger without them.

The agency also said that about 660,000 Palestinian children are out of school because of the ongoing war.

UNRWA said in an X post that "the crossings must reopen, and the siege must be lifted."

UN food stockpiles have run out and aid groups say thousands of Palestinian children are malnourished.

The war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

Hamas took 251 people as hostages, and is currently holding 59, of whom 24 are believed to be alive.

A subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed 52,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

The Israeli military says 850 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war. — Euronews