Gaza is currently facing a severe food crisis, with 1.84 million residents suffering from acute malnutrition, a number that has surged to ten times its pre-war levels, as highlighted in a new report.

“The recent increase in conflict raises alarm that this worst-case situation could soon occur,” stated a report released by the International Food Security Phase Classification initiative on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration warned it might halt arms shipments to Israel if aid delivery into the besieged coastal area didn’t improve.

The report indicates that the entire population of Gaza has been categorized as being at level four, experiencing a food emergency, from September to the current month. Furthermore, it is anticipated that in the upcoming months, the number of people facing food catastrophe—classified as level five, the most severe—will likely triple.

Since the onset of the conflict over a year ago, on October 7, when Hamas militants breached the Israeli border and killed 1,200 Israelis, aid workers and U.N. officials have reiterated warnings about a widespread famine in Gaza. Israel’s response has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths and has plunged the area into a humanitarian crisis.

“Famine is already present—outright famine—in the northern regions, and it is spreading to the south,” remarked Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program, in May. The U.N. first indicated famine was “imminent” in certain areas of Gaza as early as mid-March.

The approaching winter season may also bring colder weather, increasing the chance of disease spread, particularly as clean water becomes scarce, the IPC report stated.

According to the report, the conflict has already devastated 70% of Gaza’s agricultural land, disrupted jobs, and ruined food systems. Humanitarian efforts have been severely hindered, and public health services, as well as water and sanitation systems, have collapsed.

Nearly two million individuals have been displaced, most residing in overcrowded temporary shelters that have an alarming density of about 24,800 individuals per square mile, as per the report.

This past Tuesday, the World Health Organization initiated a vaccination program aimed at immunizing tens of thousands of children in Gaza after the ongoing conflict obstructed vaccine access and led to an outbreak of polio in the area.

While Israel’s military and Hamas had arranged breaks in the fighting to support the vaccination efforts, a recent Israeli airstrike on Monday evening targeted a refugee tent camp near al Aqsa Hospital, resulting in four deaths and numerous injuries, many of whom were children. Graphic footage from the aftermath showed a person struggling in flames.

The Biden administration promptly condemned the airstrike the following day. “We have conveyed our concerns to the Israeli government,” stated Sean Savett, a representative from the National Security Council.

In a letter to Israeli officials that same day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin cautioned Israel that it needed to enhance the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza to avoid jeopardizing military support.

“We are reaching out to express our grave concerns about the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza and urge your government to take immediate and effective measures this month to change this dire situation,” they stated.