Palestinians Cry for Help as Starvation Deepens in Gaza

Palestinians in Gaza are calling for urgent international intervention as starvation tightens its grip on the besieged enclave. 

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported nine new deaths from malnutrition within 24 hours on Friday, bringing the death toll from hunger-related causes to at least 122 since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023. At least 83 of those are children.

We urgently demand an immediate end to the famine, the opening of all crossings, and the entry of infant formula now, along with 500 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks daily,

Health officials held Israel, the United States, and several European governments responsible for what they described as a historic crime and genocide enabled by global indifference.

The World Health Organization has echoed these concerns. “Parents tell us their children cry themselves to sleep from hunger,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Food distribution sites have become places of violence.”

According to the United Nations, over a thousand Palestinians have been killed while seeking food since late May. Many of these deaths occurred near sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial new aid body backed by the U.S. and Israel. 

The GHF replaced the UN's previous aid system in Gaza but has faced sharp criticism for failing to meet humanitarian needs.

Currently, all 2.1 million people in Gaza are considered food insecure, with 900,000 children going hungry. Seventy thousand of them are already showing signs of malnutrition, the Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday.

Before the war, 500 to 600 trucks of aid entered Gaza daily. That number has plummeted to an average of just 28 trucks per day, according to humanitarian agencies. 

Efforts to scale up deliveries have been hampered by security concerns, looting, and the collapse of civil order.

As aid deliveries falter and food supplies dwindle, desperation has spread. Lawlessness is rising, gangs have hijacked aid trucks, and the United Nations has warned that its ability to distribute aid has completely collapsed.

Despite mounting pressure, Israel has continued to impose tight restrictions, and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to present a post-war plan for Gaza’s governance.

With famine looming and more lives at risk daily, Palestinians are urging the international community to act before more children die of hunger in plain sight.