According to figures released by that agency, only three of the 101 requests submitted to deliver food in the northern governorate were granted by the Israeli authorities.

This week, a joint convoy of nine UN trucks successfully reached the town of Beit Hanoun, a community cut off from aid for more than 75 days.

Images taken by UN personnel showed desperate residents quickly leaving shelters to retrieve bottled water, flour and canned food.

In response, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher warned that the near-total siege of the northern region is raising the spectre of famine.

The situation in the extremely overcrowded south of Gaza is creating horrendous living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter approaches, he said.

Along with severe constraints on the entry of food aid, the tightening siege has left some 15,000 people without access to food, water, electricity or health care, the agency said.

As a result, Fletcher added, Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world to deliver aid, in a year in which more humanitarian workers have died than in any other year on record.

As of early December, UN agencies estimated that between 65,000 and 75,000 civilians remained isolated in the north of the coastal enclave in increasingly difficult survival conditions.

More than 44,000 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict more than 14 months ago, while more than 105,000 have been injured, according to official figures.

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