The United Nations on Friday cautioned that reversing the famine gripping the Gaza Strip will take considerable time, urging the immediate reopening of all crossing points into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory to allow the rapid delivery of food and humanitarian aid.

“It’s going to take some time to scale back the famine,” said Abeer Etefa, spokeswoman for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), during a media briefing in Geneva, according to AFP.

Etefa said the WFP currently has five distribution points operating inside Gaza but aims to expand that number to 145 in order to “flood Gaza with food” and meet the urgent needs of the population.

The UN agency has repeatedly called for unrestricted access to deliver life-saving supplies, warning that continued limitations on entry routes and security risks have severely hampered relief efforts amid the ongoing conflict.

Humanitarian organizations say hundreds of thousands of Gazans are facing extreme hunger after months of blockade and bombardment, with infrastructure destruction further impeding the delivery of aid.

WFP officials stressed that full access through all border crossings is essential to restore basic food security and prevent the situation from deteriorating further.