Gaza’s Catastrophic Hunger Crisis Deepens as Child Deaths Soar, UN Warns of ‘Mass Starvation’
Gaza’s Catastrophic Hunger Crisis Deepens as Child Deaths Soar, UN Warns of ‘Mass Starvation’
Hospitals across Gaza are overwhelmed with critically malnourished children, as a severe and rapidly escalating hunger crisis grips the region. Heartbreaking scenes of skeletal infants, some weighing as little as 4kg at seven months old, underscore a humanitarian catastrophe that health officials and international bodies warn is spiraling into ‘mass starvation’.
In just three days this week, public health officials recorded 43 deaths directly attributable to hunger, bringing the total reported fatalities from starvation in Gaza to 111. Dr. Musab Farwana, a pediatrician in Gaza City, describes a desperate struggle to save lives amidst severe shortages of food, water, and basic medical supplies. Many children are suffering from prolonged malnutrition, making them highly vulnerable to other diseases and often leading to preventable deaths, such as a recent case where a child died due to the unavailability of intravenous potassium.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated on Wednesday that a ‘large proportion’ of Gaza’s population is starving, unequivocally calling it ‘man-made’. Aid groups, including MSF, Save the Children, and Oxfam, issued a joint warning this week, highlighting that their own colleagues are wasting away. The journalists’ union at AFP also reported that for the first time in its history, the agency risks losing a colleague to starvation.
Despite claims of preventing a crisis, the Israeli government’s policies, including a total siege imposed from March 2nd (partially lifted May 19th), have severely choked off food shipments. The minimal aid allowed in since early March is far below the starvation rations needed for Gaza’s 2.1 million population. Reports from July 22nd indicate that the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), operating for 58 days, has brought in food sufficient for less than two weeks, even if equally distributed.
The situation forces desperate families to risk their lives at militarized distribution points, which Palestinians describe as ‘death traps’ due to the hundreds killed trying to access food. Soaring prices, with flour selling for over 30 times its market rate, have made even meager supplies unattainable for most. Families like the Khalidis are resorting to extreme measures, silencing hunger with water, and sending mothers to brave dangerous aid queues, highlighting the profound and immediate need for unrestricted humanitarian access to prevent further loss of life.
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