The hunger crisis in Gaza has reached alarming levels, with reports indicating that one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa). Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that conditions have never been this severe, citing the unsettling observation from a colleague that “people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive; they are walking corpses.”
As the international aid community raises urgent concerns about mass starvation, Israel, which oversees the entry of all supplies into Gaza, denies there is a siege, attributing malnutrition cases to Hamas’s actions. However, the UN insists that the flow of aid has been reduced to a mere trickle, calling the current hunger situation in Gaza unprecedented.
Lazzarini reported that over 100 children have reportedly died from hunger, warning that most children being treated by their teams appear emaciated and at grave risk of death without urgent medical intervention. He is imploring Israeli authorities to permit humanitarian groups to deliver unrestricted assistance to the beleaguered population.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also described the circumstances in Gaza as “mass starvation,” explicitly attributing the crisis as a man-made disaster. Aid worker Tahani Shehada shared her plight, noting her baby has never tasted fresh fruit, emphasizing the harsh reality of struggling to find basic food supplies.
Local markets often run out of essential goods, and when available, prices are prohibitively high. Residents, like 40-year-old Hanaa Almadhoun, reveal the desperate measures taken to procure food, including selling valuables to afford basic necessities.
Despite claims of providing humanitarian aid, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, during a visit to troops in Gaza, reiterated that actions are in accordance with international law. Contradicting this, victims and aid workers describe a daily struggle for survival, facing increasing difficulties in performing basic tasks such as cooking or taking showers.
Reports indicate that since early March, aid deliveries from Israel were halted resulting in worsening shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. A new aid framework coordinated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), however, has not alleviated the critical situation, with over 1,000 Paletinian fatalities reported due to the Israeli military’s interventions near aid distribution sites.
Concerns are rising as many individuals, including 19-year-old Najah living in a hospital, express fears of being shot while attempting to reach aid. A healthcare worker, Dr. Aseel, portrayed the dire circumstances in Gaza as not just a potential famine but a reality already in motion.
With heartbreaking sentiments, locals express their relentless struggle against hunger. Abu Alaa, a market vendor, described going to bed hungry each night, stating pleadingly that they feel like the living dead, urging the international community to intervene and provide assistance. Expectant mothers like Walaa Fathi fear for their children's futures amid escalating chaos, hoping against hope that they can bring their babies into a more stable world.
