The United Nations has criticised Israel’s decision to stop all food, water, electricity and fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in Geneva on Tuesday that it was forbidden under international humanitarian law to deprive people of what they needed to survive.

“The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

“Any restrictions on the movement of people and goods to implement a siege must be justified by military necessity or may otherwise amount to collective punishment,” said Türk.

Israel said it was imposing a “complete siege” on the Palestinian territory in response to the large-scale Hamas attack that left around 900 people dead in the country.

Several hundreds of people have been killed in Gaza in retaliatory strikes by the Israeli air force.