Gaza is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster with at least 100,000 women and children suffering from acute malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
As hunger and famine reach unprecedented levels in the besieged enclave, Israeli attacks on residential areas have continued unabated over the past three days.
The severe lack of food and water has taken a devastating toll on the Palestinian population, particularly women, children and the elderly.
According to the WFP, one-third of Gaza’s population has gone without food for several consecutive days due to Israel’s ongoing blockade.
“The hunger crisis in Gaza has reached new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row,” said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response.
The agency estimates that a quarter of Gaza’s population is facing famine-like conditions, with 100,000 women and children suffering from severe malnutrition.
Since March 2, Israel has sealed all crossings into Gaza, cutting off the entry of food, medicine and vital humanitarian aid.
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Gaza’s Health Ministry has blamed Israel’s deliberate starvation policy for the recent deaths of 86 Palestinians- 76 of them children- due to hunger and malnutrition.
In just the past 48 hours, medical sources say 15 more people—including four children—have died of starvation-related causes.
Killed while queuing for food
Reports from Gaza have confirmed a significant number of Palestinians have been shot and killed while attempting to access aid from the Israel-U.S. run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
According to the UN Human Rights Office, between May 27 and July 21, Israeli forces killed 1,054 Palestinians who were trying to get food. Of the deceased, 766 were killed near GHF distribution sites and 288 near UN convoys or other relief points.
“We see a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food. This is carnage,” said Jonathan Whittall of the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office in Gaza and the West Bank.
“It appears to be the erasure of Palestinian life in Gaza,” he added, describing the situation as “weaponised hunger” and “a death sentence for people just trying to survive.”
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also condemned Israel’s system of aid delivery in Gaza, calling it “inhumane, dangerous, and depriving Gazans of human dignity… a grotesque spectacle, wreaking a terrible human cost.”
Mounting international calls to end the war
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements about a potential ceasefire, Israel’s far-right regime has shown little appetite for ending the war.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke called the ongoing assault on Gaza “indefensible.”
Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned: “We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicine are minutes away across the border.”
In a joint statement issued yesterday, 28 countries and the EU Commissioner declared: “The war in Gaza must end now. The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.”
They condemned the “drip-feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.”
The statement also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.
For a ceasefire deal to progress, Hamas is reportedly demanding a total cessation of hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed sending a senior Israeli delegation to Doha to negotiate the remaining terms of the proposed ceasefire.
