Gaza Herald – Malnutrition is ravaging Gaza, particularly among children and women, as famine deepens under the ongoing Israeli siege. The death toll from starvation-related causes has surged dramatically since March, when Israel tightened restrictions on Gaza’s crossings, effectively choking off food supplies.
Doctors Without Borders has warned that famine in Gaza has reached “extraordinary levels.” The number of children aged six months to five year, and pregnant or breastfeeding women, suffering from acute malnutrition has quadrupled since May 18.
According to official data, over 100,000 children, including 40,000 infants under the age of one, are at imminent risk of death due to the complete absence of baby formula and nutritional supplements.
The Gaza Government Media Office issued an urgent appeal, stressing the immediate need for 600 aid trucks per day and at least 250,000 cans of baby formula to mitigate the famine. It called for global action to pressure Israel to lift the siege, reopen crossings, and halt what it described as the “slow killing” of Gaza’s population.
Desperation has driven mothers to feed their babies only water for days. Hospitals, meanwhile, are overwhelmed by a surge in cases of acute and life-threatening malnutrition.
At Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, medical staff confirmed that Muhammad Ibrahim Adas, an infant, died due to severe malnutrition and the total absence of baby formula, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported six new deaths in the past 24 hours, including two children, from famine-related causes. This brings the total death toll from malnutrition to 133, among them 87 children.
The deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid have pushed Gaza to the brink. Rates of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM), which tracks children aged 6–59 months suffering from acute malnutrition, have tripled since June, making Gaza the worst-hit region globally.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged urgent international action ahead of the upcoming Palestinian statehood conference in New York.
“Every day, we are watching the unspeakable tragedy in Gaza and the West Bank with horror and frustration,” Türk said in a video statement. “I urge governments to seize this moment to take concrete action and use every means of leverage to force Israel to end the carnage permanently.”
He warned starkly: “Countries that fail to use their leverage may be complicit in international crimes.”
