One in three people are going without food for days, the U.N. said, as global outrage grows over Israel’s restrictions on aid to Gaza.

T he announcement was an admission of failure. On July 26th the Israel Defence Forces ( IDF) said that it would parachute food into Gaza and implement daily “humanitarian pauses” in parts of the still depopulated areas of the devastated strip, allowing international aid organisations to bring in convoys.

Gaza's population is facing the “worst-case scenario of famine" and “widespread death” will occur without immediate action, the leading international authority on food crises has warned.