With the suffocating blockade and the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation, the food crisis in the Gaza Strip is escalating to catastrophic levels that directly threaten the lives of the population.
On Sunday, medical sources reported the death of seven Palestinians in the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, raising the total number of victims since the beginning of the crisis to 339, including 124 children.
Since the declaration of famine classification in Gaza on 22 August, an additional 61 deaths have been recorded, including nine children, caused by acute hunger. These figures reflect the fragility of the humanitarian situation and the deepening catastrophe under the occupation’s policy of blocking access to essential aid, leaving civilians in immediate danger.
According to the international food insecurity classification, more than half a million people in Gaza are now facing conditions that meet the criteria for Phase 5 famine, characterised by extreme hunger, death, destitution, and critical levels of acute malnutrition.
Another 1.07 million people — representing 54% of the population — are in Phase 4, defined as “emergency” acute food insecurity, while around 396,000 face Phase 3, classified as “crisis.”
This situation represents a stark example of slow genocide practiced by the occupation against Gaza’s residents. Depriving the population of food and obstructing humanitarian aid has become a systematic method to impose suffering and death by starvation on unarmed civilians, in blatant violation of international law and human rights conventions protecting civilians in conflict zones.
Children, women, and the elderly are the most affected, with statistics showing high levels of mortality and malnutrition among them. This underscores that the crisis is not merely a temporary food emergency but rather a deliberate policy aimed at breaking Palestinian society and subjugating it through siege and hunger.
The continued failure of the international community to act beyond issuing statements, while ignoring the urgent need for concrete measures to protect civilians, only deepens the suffering of Gaza’s population and leaves them easy prey to hunger and death. It is clear that the current situation requires urgent and decisive action to stop these crimes before the crisis turns into an uncontrollable humanitarian disaster.
