UN investigators have been gathering evidence from the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, confirmed the head of a Commission of Inquiry to Reuters on Tuesday.
The commission's chairman Paulo Pinheiro stated his team had been in contact with residents of Madaya, where a convoy arrived on Monday, delivering much needed aid to the town’s 40,000 trapped civilians.
The residents "have provided detailed information on shortages of food, water, qualified physicians, and medicine,” said Mr Pinheiro. “This has led to acute malnutrition and deaths among vulnerable groups in the town."
"Siege tactics, by their nature, target the civilian population by subjecting them to starvation, denial of basic essential services and medicines," he added.
"Such methods of warfare are prohibited under international humanitarian law and violate core human rights obligations with regard to the rights to adequate food, health and the right to life, not to mention the special duty of care owed to the well-being of children."
His comments come as Western diplomats criticised the siege, which was seen Syrian government forces block aid from reaching the town.
Matthew Rycroft, Britain's UN ambassador, said "wilfully impeding relief supply and access can constitute a violation of international humanitarian law".
See more from Reuters here.