The Gaza Strip has recorded five more deaths in the past 24 hours, including a child, as a result of famine and widespread malnutrition caused by the suffocating blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation. According to local medical sources, the total number of deaths due to hunger and malnutrition has now reached 404, including 141 children.
Since the announcement of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a total of 126 famine-related deaths have been documented, including 26 children. Hospitals in Gaza continue to receive new cases of malnutrition daily.
Estimates indicate that around 900,000 children in Gaza are suffering from hunger, with approximately 70,000 having entered the stage of acute malnutrition.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) previously warned that rates of malnutrition among children under five had doubled between March and June of this year, due to the ongoing blockade and the systematic starvation policies employed by the occupation.
This comes amid the harrowing toll of the ongoing assault since 7 October 2023, which has resulted in over 64,605 deaths and 163,319 injuries—most of them women and children—along with hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. Famine continues to claim lives, adding another layer to the deepening humanitarian catastrophe.
On the ground, the evidence overwhelmingly points to a full-fledged crime of genocide. The weapon of war is no longer limited to bombing alone; it now includes a deliberate starvation policy that strikes at the core of the right to life and human dignity.
Under international humanitarian law, depriving civilian populations of food and medical care constitutes a war crime and a component of genocide. What is unfolding in Gaza is therefore both a moral and legal tragedy that demands immediate international intervention to halt the occupation’s grave violations.
