As indicators of humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip continue to intensify, reports of deaths due to hunger and malnutrition are mounting, revealing one of the most harrowing violations of human rights. On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the deaths of five Palestinians, including two children, within 24 hours as a result of severe malnutrition and famine gripping the besieged territory.
This brings the total number of victims of hunger and malnutrition to 263, including 112 children, a toll that starkly reflects the scale of the catastrophe facing civilians under an Israeli-imposed blockade.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a direct consequence of a comprehensive siege, deliberate closure of crossings, and the denial of adequate food and medical aid. As a result, children and the most vulnerable bear the heaviest burden. Field data now shows that one in five children under the age of five suffers from acute malnutrition.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had previously warned that malnutrition among children under five had doubled between March and June due to the ongoing blockade.
The World Health Organization also confirmed that malnutrition rates in Gaza have reached alarming levels, stating that the deliberate obstruction of aid and its delayed delivery have cost many lives. Approximately one in every five children under five in Gaza City now suffers from acute malnutrition.
These conditions reflect a systematic policy by the Israeli occupation, employing starvation as a weapon of collective punishment, a flagrant violation of international law, which strictly prohibits the use of hunger against civilians as a method of warfare. Famine is no longer a threat; it is a grim reality claiming lives and endangering hundreds of thousands more.
Since 7 October 2023, Israeli occupation has continued its genocidal war on Gaza, resulting in at least 61,944 deaths and 155,886 injuries, most of them children and women, along with over 9,000 missing persons and hundreds of thousands displaced. With the continued denial of humanitarian aid, the famine death toll has risen to 258, including 110 children, a compounded crime combining direct killing with deliberate starvation.
What is unfolding in Gaza is not merely a humanitarian disaster, it is a full-scale genocide occurring in full view of the world, as childhood is buried under the rubble and hunger. It is a scene that condemns the conscience of humanity.
