TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — 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.

Gaza is at "grave risk" of famine, the United Nations warned Tuesday, with cases of acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths spreading throughout the Palestinian territory. Aid groups continued calling for a ceasefire,

A U.N.-backed group’s finding is the most dire assessment of the enclave’s deepening hunger crisis since the war began.