The United Nations has warned of devastating consequences for civilians in Gaza as Israeli forces intensified air strikes on the besieged enclave.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that "Israeli forces have stepped up their attacks over the past 24 hours, with devastating consequences for civilians.

On average, this meant an air strike every eight or nine minutes."

He said UN teams monitoring population movement "counted about 16,500 displaced people from Northern Gaza to the south" on Thursday alone.

Dujarric added that aid workers remain stationed along displacement routes to provide psychosocial first aid, refer people to specialised services when needed, and educate new arrivals on the risks of unexploded ordnance.

Despite these efforts, he said hundreds of thousands of people remain in Gaza City amid widespread insecurity and rely heavily on humanitarian assistance, with many critical services forced to close or relocate.

On Israel’s blockade on humanitarian access, Dujarric reported that on Thursday, "out of 15 movements that we tried to coordinate with Israeli authorities to support people in different parts of Gaza, only seven were fully facilitated."

He stressed that OCHA has urged Israel to "fully facilitate humanitarian operations, including unimpeded movements of aid into and across the Gaza Strip."

Turning to the occupied West Bank, Dujarric said more than 3,000 Palestinians — half of them children — have been displaced by illegal Israeli settler attacks and Israeli access restrictions since October 2023.

The UN has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian cost of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 65,400 people since October 2023, according to the territory’s health ministry, figures the UN considers reliable.