Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza may amount to the war crime of deliberate starvation, the UN has said, as the White House called for unimpeded access for aid to the coastal strip. Amid mounting and catastrophic hunger in parts of Gaza, and official UN figures for hunger levels that are the worst seen under the current classification system, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid may amount to "starvation as a method of war". "The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime," Turk said. UN says Israeli restrictions on Gaza food aid may constitute a war crime