Gaza: The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over a potentially deadly hunger crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where the Director-General warned Wednesday that famine has become another killer threatening civilians amid harrowing conditions in the coastal enclave.

According to Qatar News Agency, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in Geneva that the 2.1 million people trapped in the war zone in Gaza are facing another killer on top of bombs and bullets: hunger. He added that WHO is witnessing a daily increase in deaths linked to malnutrition.

Dr. Tedros noted that since Jul. 17, acute malnutrition treatment centers have been overwhelmed and lack sufficient supplies for emergency nutrition. He reported that WHO has documented the deaths of 21 children under the age of five due to malnutrition this year.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), around one in three people in Gaza go several days without eating. More than 100 humanitarian and rights organizations issued a joint appeal today demanding unrestricted access to those suffering from hunger in Gaza.