After over three weeks of “non-stop bombardments” by Israeli troops, the UN agency for Palestine refugees said that the death toll in the Gaza Strip is on the rise and that there is a severe lack of food and medical supplies.

On the social networking site X, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), posted a distress appeal “from UNRWA staff in Gaza… Our staff are reporting that they cannot find food, water or medical care.”

“Bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble, while missions to remove bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are being denied,” Lazzarini said.

“On behalf of our staff in northern Gaza, I call for an immediate truce, even if only for a few hours, to allow safe humanitarian passage for families who wish to leave the area and reach safer places,” he said.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Lazzarini said that he believes this is the very minimum needed to protect the lives of defenseless bystanders.

While allowing the “secure evacuation” of people from the battle zone via approved routes, Israel Defense Forces stated in a statement on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers are still engaged in combat in the Jabalia region of northern Gaza.

Thousands of people have been evacuated as a consequence. Among the civilians, dozens of terrorists were taken into custody,” it said.

For the seventeenth consecutive day, the Israeli army has maintained its ground operation in the Jabalia camp, the biggest Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

According to the army, the goal of its operation in Jabalia and the surrounding area is to stop Hamas members from reassembling and launching new operations.

In retaliation for a Hamas rampage into the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths and 250 hostage-takings, Israel has been waging a massive attack against Hamas in Gaza.

The Gaza-based health officials claimed in a statement on Tuesday that 42,718 Palestinians had been killed in the current Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip.