In a scene that summarises the scale of the escalating humanitarian catastrophe, around 112 children in Gaza enter the cycle of malnutrition every single day. This is a result of the suffocating blockade and the starvation policy imposed by the Israeli occupation on the population for many months.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned of the grave danger facing children, noting that cases of acute malnutrition have risen by 180% between February and June. This alarming increase reflects the accelerating collapse of the humanitarian and health situation in the besieged Strip.
UNICEF added that those who “survive” this stage of malnutrition remain at risk, as tens of thousands of children in Gaza continue to suffer varying degrees of hunger and food deprivation, threatening their lives and futures directly.
The crisis has also extended to pregnant women suffering from severe malnutrition, resulting in dangerous complications during childbirth, while newborn babies arrive in critical health conditions from their first moments of life.
Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli occupation has continued its genocidal war on Gaza through systematic killing, destruction, enforced starvation, and mass forced displacement, in blatant violation of international conventions and binding orders of the International Court of Justice to halt crimes against civilians.
According to the latest statistics, more than 61,897 people have been killed and 155,660 others injured, the majority of them women and children. Over 9,000 remain missing under the rubble, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced. Starvation alone has claimed 251 lives so far, including 108 children.
International humanitarian law unequivocally prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war against civilians, categorising it as a war crime. Given the vast scale of violations and the widening scope of victims, these practices are closer to genocide — a deliberate campaign that directly targets children and patients by depriving them of food and medicine.
The continuation of the blockade and the prevention of food and medical aid represents a deliberate “engineering of death” that seeks to dismantle Gaza’s social fabric and destroy the lives of more than 2.4 million people.
What is happening in Gaza today cannot be described as anything but a massacre unfolding live before the world. Ending the blockade and ensuring the entry of aid are not political options, but binding legal obligations under international law — responsibilities that lie squarely on the shoulders of the international community.
