GazaHerald – Gaza hospitals reported two new deaths caused by famine and malnutrition on Friday, including a 10-year-old child, raising the death toll from starvation to 413 Palestinians, among them 143 children.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza confirmed the death of 10-year-old Amna Maarouf, who succumbed to malnutrition. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said hospitals recorded seven new deaths in the past 24 hours, including another child.
Since the International Committee of the Red Cross declared famine in Gaza, 135 Palestinians have died of hunger-related causes, among them 28 children.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that civilians remain “trapped with nowhere safe to go,” facing increasingly dire food insecurity.
The agency stressed on its X platform: “We are the largest and most important humanitarian organization in Gaza, and yet we are being targeted.”
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described the crisis as a “failure of humanity,” adding, “Inaction and indifference in this situation could amount to complicity in the crime.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that the overall death toll from Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023, has reached 64,756 Palestinians, with 164,059 injured. Many remain trapped under rubble or on the streets, inaccessible to rescuers.
Israel has kept all crossings into Gaza closed since March 2, cutting off food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, despite thousands of aid trucks waiting at its borders. On rare occasions, small amounts of aid are permitted in, but authorities in Gaza say most are looted by gangs “protected by Israel,” leaving civilians to starve.
