Israel is facing growing international pressure as aid distribution efforts in Gaza devolved into chaos during the first days of a controversial new mechanism backed by the United States and Israel.

Israel is blocking all but a trickle of humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, with almost no ready-to-eat food entering what its spokesperson described as "the hungriest place on earth".

Following a nearly three-month Israeli blockade on food going into Gaza, a new and contentious Israeli-backed aid distribution system has been unveiled in the territory. Critics, including the United Nations,