Israel is facing growing international pressure as aid distribution efforts in Gaza devolved into chaos during the first days of a controversial new mechanism backed by the United States and Israel.

Israel is blocking all but a trickle of humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, with almost no ready-to-eat food entering what its spokesperson described as "the hungriest place on earth".

Gaza’s entire population faces starvation, UN warns, with aid deliveries branded a ‘drip-feed’ amid dire crisis.