Gaza faces 'man-made' mass starvation due to Israeli aid blockade, World Health Organization says
Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference that the population of Gaza is "facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets - starvation".
The WHO said a "deadly surge" in malnutrition has caused the deaths of at least 21 children in 2025, but stressed this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
Centres for treating malnutrition are full of patients but do not have sufficient supplies for emergency feeding, it added.
In July alone, 5,100 children have so far been admitted to malnutrition programmes, said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian territories. Some 800 of those children were severely emaciated, he said.
Mr Ghebreyesus said: "I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear."
"This is because of [the] blockade," he continued, adding that 95% of households in Gaza are also facing severe water shortages.
He said the UN and its humanitarian partners were unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days between March and May, while an aid blockade was in place, and that the resumption of deliveries has been insufficient.
There is no famine in Gaza, says Israel
An Israeli government spokesperson told Sky News the food shortages have "been engineered by Hamas", before stating: "There is no famine in Gaza."
Speaking on the News Hour with Mark Austin, David Mencer continued: "There is a famine of the truth and Israel will not stop telling it."
He said aid is "flowing" into the enclave but Hamas "loots the trucks [and] deliberately endangers its own people". The fighters deny stealing food.
Mr Mencer said Israel has allowed more than 4,400 aid trucks to enter Gaza since it lifted the blockade in May, adding that more than 700 are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the United Nations.
That is an average of around 70 trucks a day, which is the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says is needed.
"The problem is not Israel," he said. "The problem is Hamas."
Supplies in Gaza 'totally depleted'
The comments came after more than 100 aid and rights groups warned of mass starvation in Gaza on Wednesday morning - saying supplies have become "totally depleted".
Large amounts of food, clean water and medical supplies are sitting untouched just outside Gaza, but the groups blamed Israel for its "restrictions", which they say is creating "chaos, starvation, and death".
The situation has become so bad, aid agencies warned they were seeing even their own colleagues "waste away before their eyes".
Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, has denied it is responsible for shortages of food and other supplies.
In a statement signed by 111 organisations, the groups said: "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.
"With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.
"The government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death."
The groups called for governments to demand the lifting of all restrictions and for the restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response".
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which backed the statement and is one of the largest independent aid organisations in Gaza, said it has no more supplies to distribute and some of its staff are starving - and accused Israel of paralysing its work.
"Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council, told the Reuters news agency.
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United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said "starvation is knocking on every door" in the Palestinian territory, describing the situation as a "horror show".
Officials in the Hamas-run strip said at least 101 people are known to have died of malnutrition during the conflict in Gaza, including 80 children, most of them in recent weeks.
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Some food stocks in Gaza have run out since Israel cut off all supplies in March and then lifted the blockade in May with new measures it said were needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
Israel's Foreign Ministry has accused the organisations of "echoing Hamas propaganda".
The UK and several other countries have condemned the current aid delivery model, which is backed by the Israeli and American governments.
Gaza deteriorating by the day - but what will be done?
Analysis by Lisa Holland, in Jerusalem
The urgency of the call for action by aid and human rights groups screams out from the words in the letter.
It feels like the situation is deteriorating by the day – the letter comes hours after the United Nations secretary-general described aid distribution and food shortages in Gaza as a "horror show".
There is certainly momentum in the demands for a ceasefire and for aid supplies backed up in neighbouring countries to be allowed into Gaza.
But will it have any impact?
Israel acknowledges there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching Gaza.
But the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – now in charge of almost all aid distribution in Gaza – has fiercely hit back about its handling of the situation.
However, Israel has given no public sign that it plans to do anything to alleviate the plight of hungry Gazans any time soon – instead shifting blame to the door of the UN.
The UN used to run most aid distribution, but Israel stopped that in May claiming aid was falling into the hands of the militant group Hamas.
So if there's – as yet – no sign of the aid chain being unblocked, what of the calls in the letter for a ceasefire?
People say watch for movement by Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.
He is currently in Europe and if he goes on to Doha, where indirect talks are taking place between Hamas and Israel, that could signal some sort of progress towards a ceasefire.
It has reportedly resulted in Israeli troops firing on Palestinian civilians in search of food on multiple occasions.
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