Over 100 aid agencies say Gaza at risk of mass starvation after 10 more deaths reported in a day

Indian Express

23-07-2025

More than 100 international aid agencies are warning that Gaza is on the brink of mass starvation, with doctors reporting record levels of acute malnutrition, children dying of hunger, and humanitarian workers joining food lines.
In a joint statement, 109 organisations including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Oxfam, and Save the Children said their staff are now 'wasting away' alongside the people they are trying to help.
'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,' the statement read. 'With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.'
The warnings come as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry reported 10 more deaths from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since Sunday to 43. The UN says people are collapsing from hunger in the streets, while hospitals are overwhelmed with cases of starvation. Children tell aid workers they want to go to heaven 'because at least heaven has food.'
Dr Ahmad al-Farra, head of paediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said his unit had no food for three days. 'We were afraid we would reach this critical point — and now we have,' he told the BBC. Some children, he said, died from starvation; others were too weak to absorb nutrients even if food was available.
The World Health Organization estimates nearly 1,00,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need immediate treatment.
Israel, which controls access to Gaza, has denied responsibility for the shortages. It imposed a total blockade in March, then resumed military operations two weeks later. Though the blockade has been partially eased, the situation has only worsened.
Since May 27, the UN says more than 1,050 Palestinians have been killed trying to access food, including 766 near four aid sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US and protected by American private security firms. Another 288 have died near UN and other aid convoys.
Most of Gaza's population has now been displaced and is crammed into just 12 per cent of the territory — areas not covered by Israeli evacuation orders or controlled by the military. Only 28 aid lorries are entering Gaza per day on average.
'Tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched' both outside and inside Gaza, the organisations said, because aid workers are blocked from accessing or distributing them.
Israel says it is facilitating aid and released footage showing hundreds of lorries waiting at the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. It blames the UN for not collecting supplies, citing 'collection bottlenecks' as the main problem.
Over the past two months, according to Israel's Cogat agency, 4,500 aid lorries have entered Gaza, including 2,500 tonnes of baby food.
But the UN says it is unable to collect the aid due to a lack of Israeli authorisation, badly damaged roads, fuel shortages, and criminal looting.
A major concern is that Palestinians are being shot at while trying to collect supplies. 'Despite repeated assurances that troops would not engage or be present,' civilians continue to come under fire, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
The aid agencies are calling on governments to take immediate and decisive action: to demand a permanent ceasefire, lift all restrictions, open land crossings, restore a UN-led distribution system, and stop the transfer of weapons. 'We cannot continue to hope that current arrangements will work,' they said.
On Monday, foreign ministers of the UK and 27 other countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Israel's foreign ministry dismissed the statement as 'disconnected from reality.'