Some IDF officials have "privately concluded that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks," the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The US news outlet's report was based on communicating with three Israeli defense officials "familiar with conditions in the enclave," who spoke on condition of anonymity.
IDF officers monitoring humanitarian conditions in Gaza warned their commanders that many areas in the enclave will run out of enough food to "meet minimum daily nutritional needs," the New York Times claimed.
The officers reportedly said that "immediate steps were needed to ensure that the system to supply aid could be reinstated fast enough to prevent starvation" as it "takes time to scale up humanitarian deliveries."
"The military leadership has acknowledged the severity of the situation and is exploring ways to restart aid deliveries while circumventing Hamas," the New York Times reported, according to the three defense officials.
'Urgency of the humanitarian situation in Gaza'
This report exposes a "gulf between Israel’s public stance on the aid blockade and its private deliberations," the New York Times wrote, adding that "It reveals that parts of the Israeli security establishment have reached the same conclusions as leading aid groups. They have warned for months of the dangers posed by the blockade."
It also "highlights the urgency of the humanitarian situation in Gaza," the report continued.
"Most bakeries have shut, charity kitchens are closing, and the United Nations’s World Food Program, which distributes aid and coordinates shipments, says it has run out of food stocks," it alleged.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed initiative that monitors malnutrition, warned of an imminent famine in Gaza, the New York Times cited in their report.
The IDF and Defense Ministry declined to respond to the comments, the New York Times said.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein told the New York Times that he was "unable to share details from internal discussions, but that the ministry was in contact with “all the relevant agencies on an ongoing daily basis” and closely monitors the situation in Gaza."