TEL AVIV, Israel — The “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert Tuesday, predicting “widespread death” without immediate action.

The “worst-case scenario of famine” is currently taking place in the Gaza Strip, according to an alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a United Nations-backed initiative.

The Gaza Strip is experiencing famine conditions, a group of global food-insecurity experts said, the most dire assessment of the enclave’s deepening hunger crisis since the war began.“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,

Over 250 lorries carrying aid entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military, three days after it began increasing the flow of supplies into the embattled Palestinian territory amid an outcry over reports of imminent famine.

The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas appeared to be in doubt.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 34 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza said, a day after Israel eased aid restrictions due to a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel on Sunday announced a pause in military operations in certain areas for 10 hours daily to improve aid flow.