News - Middle East: The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a "nightmare" for mothers and babies, with doctors reporting small and sickly newborns, stillbirths and women undergoing C-sections without adequate anesthesia, a UN official said Friday.

"Doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies,"  Allen said after visiting hospitals still providing maternity services in the north of Gaza, where the need is especially great.

He confirmed that more neonatal deaths are reported, caused in part by malnutrition, dehydration and complications.

The numbers of complicated deliveries are roughly twice - with mothers stressed, fearful, underfed and exhausted - and caregivers lacking necessary supplies.

The United Nations has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza, a quarter of the population, are on the brink of famine.

A spokesman for the Civil Defense in Gaza has urged the UN and human right groups to stop such massacres, stressing that aid must enter Gaza by land to avoid more casualties.

Israel unleashed its war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed over 31,000 Palestinians and injured more than 73,000 others.