United Nations agencies and officials warned on Thursday of increasing risks of famine, despair, and social unrest in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

They also condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians who were seeking aid and called for an end to the conflict, according to the United Nations website.

Meanwhile, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, issued a statement on Gaza on Thursday, saying that the Secretary-General is horrified by the tragic human losses resulting from the conflict in Gaza.

The statement said, "The Secretary-General condemns the incident that took place today (Thursday) in northern Gaza, where reports indicated that more than 100 people were killed or injured while seeking life-saving aid. Desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent assistance, including those in the besieged north, which the United Nations has not been able to reach with aid for over a week."

The Israeli army opened fire on a crowd of people waiting for humanitarian aid near Gaza City on Thursday, killing at least 104 people.

On the same day, the health ministry run by Hamas said that more than 30,000 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip since Israel started its war on Gaza in October last year.

At the same time, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Thursday that Gaza is on the brink of famine, quoting local medical authorities in Gaza stating that six infants have died from malnutrition and dehydration.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted in its latest reports "that the risk of starving to death in Gaza is increasing, disproportionately affecting children and pregnant women, exacerbated by inadequate water, sanitation, and health services, power and fuel outages, and the destruction of food production and agriculture."

The latest report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Thursday revealed that as of February 7, all 2.2 million inhabitants of Gaza face high levels of acute food insecurity, with more than 50% at an emergency level, and at least one in four facing catastrophic conditions.

FAO stated that the food supply chain in Gaza is severely disrupted, with reports indicating that 97% of groundwater is unfit for human consumption.

Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a statement on Thursday, "Life is draining from Gaza at a terrifying speed."