Famine is "playing out" in the Gaza Strip, a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday as international criticism of Israel intensifies over rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave.

The people of Gaza are now in the grip of famine, UN-backed food security experts said on Tuesday, with unrelenting conflict, mass displacement and the near-total collapse of essential services pushing the war-battered enclave to a deadly tipping point.

Israeli gunfire and airstrikes killed more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, including some who were waiting overnight for aid, according to local health officials, continuing a pattern that has drawn international criticism as the country’s “drip-feeding of aid” into the enclave continues to claim lives.

Israel said Monday that more than 120 truckloads of food aid were distributed by the U.N. and aid agencies in the Gaza Strip, French news agency AFP reported. Both aid groups and people with family in Gaza described the situation as the worst it has ever been.

A long-term steady supply of aid is needed to counter the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, U.N. agencies said on Monday after mounting pressure prompted Israel to ease restrictions in the Palestinian enclave.

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

Israeli airstrike on Gaza City apartment killed woman, her four children shortly after Israeli military said it would begin limited pause on attacks

The new trickle of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza is not enough to stave off famine, aid groups have warned, as a new round of "tactical pauses" were set to take place Monday