The number of victims of the famine forcibly imposed on the Gaza Strip has reached alarming levels, following the announcement on the morning of Sunday, 27 July 2025, of the death of ten-year-old girl Nour Abu Salma at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat Camp, due to severe malnutrition and ongoing hunger.
Nour’s death adds to the growing list of children who have lost their lives as a result of starvation caused by the deliberate denial of food. The number of children who have died from hunger has now reached 86, while the overall death toll due to hunger in the Gaza Strip has risen to 128, according to local medical sources.
These figures reflect the devastating impact of the comprehensive blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, which has included a total ban on the entry of food and medicine since March 2025. This blockade has blatantly violated all international instruments and binding legal decisions.
Health conditions in Gaza have deteriorated to catastrophic levels. Dozens of children suffering from acute malnutrition are being transferred daily to hospitals, many of which are no longer capable of providing the minimum level of care, due to the blockade and the deliberate destruction of health infrastructure.
Approximately 900,000 children in Gaza are currently living below the hunger threshold, with around 70,000 of them in a state of severe malnutrition. These figures point to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as the use of starvation as a method of warfare constitutes a form of collective killing, and meets the legal definition of genocide under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The death of Nour Abu Salma, alongside dozens of other children before her, despite the global availability of food, exposes the deliberate intent behind the Israeli occupation’s prevention of aid entry, and reveals the criminal and premeditated nature of this manufactured famine.
This cannot be separated from the broader targeting of civilian life in Gaza, particularly children, as part of the comprehensive war policy adopted by the occupation. This policy is backed by international powers, primarily the United States, and aligns with the use of starvation, siege, forced displacement, and targeted bombardment as tools of war and control.
The prevention of aid, the obstruction of relief, and the starvation of children in Gaza constitute a flagrant violation of international treaties, including Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which obliges the occupying power to provide food and medical supplies to the civilian population. The deliberate denial of these essentials amounts to genocide by starvation.
Given the worsening and escalating situation, the silence of the international community is no longer neutral; it is effectively complicity in one of the most horrific crimes of modern times.
