Amnesty International has accused Israel of carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the Gaza Strip.

In a report published on Monday, the human rights group said Israel was "systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life", citing testimonies of starved people. 

The combination of widespread starvation and disease in the besieged enclave is not a byproduct of military operations, it added, but rather the outcome of Israeli plans designed to bring about the "physical destruction" of Palestinians, Middle East Eye reported. 

"The testimonies we have collected are far more than accounts of suffering, they are a searing indictment of an international system that has granted Israel a license to torment Palestinians with near-total impunity for decades," said Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns at Amnesty International.

"The impact of Israel's blockade and its ongoing genocide on civilians, particularly on children, people with disabilities, those with chronic illnesses, older people and pregnant and breastfeeding women is catastrophic," Rosas added.

The latest report is based on testimonies collected in recent weeks with starved displaced civilians, Amnesty said. 

The interviews across three different displacement camps in Gaza City revealed that none of them consumed any eggs, fish, meat, tomatoes, or cucumbers for at least a month. 

"This widespread scarcity of fresh and nutritious food is a result of both Israel's suffocating blockade and its systematic destruction of food production sources, including large swathes of agricultural land, poultry and other livestock farms, during military operations, through shelling, bombardment or destruction by manually laid explosive," the report said.

It added that Israel's policies have been "particularly devastating" for pregnant and breastfeeding women, with many speaking of the difficulty in securing basic necessities needed for their survival - such as food and water.