LIVE: Israel's starvation policy leaves 122 dead in Gaza, mostly children
At least 52 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn on Friday, Al Jazeera Arabic's correspondent in the territory reports, and casualties continue to mount.
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Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Photos: Gaza's worsening starvation crisis
Published On 27 Jul 2025 27 Jul 2025 The hunger that has been building among Gaza's more than two million Palestinians has passed a tipping point and is accelerating deaths, aid workers and health staff say. Not only Palestinian children – usually the most vulnerable – are falling victim to Israel's blockade since March, but also adults. The United Nations' World Food Programme says nearly 100,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition, and almost a third of people in Gaza are 'not eating for days'. Medical workers say they have run out of many key treatments and medicines. The World Health Organization reports a sharp rise in malnutrition and disease, with a large proportion of Gaza's residents now starving. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says a quarter of all young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished, blaming Israel's 'deliberate use of starvation as a weapon'.
Al Jazeera
20 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli attacks, forced starvation kill more than 70 Palestinians in Gaza
The Israeli military has killed dozens of people in Gaza as the starvation crisis in the territory deepens amid an international outcry with more Palestinians dying of malnutrition. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks killed at least 71 people across Gaza on Saturday, including 42 desperately seeking aid. The Health Ministry in Gaza also said hospitals have recorded five more fatalities due to hunger caused by the Israeli blockade of the enclave, bringing the total death toll from malnutrition to 127 since the war began. The victims include 85 children. With anger across the world mounting over the crisis, Israel announced late on Saturday that it will implement a pause to its assault 'in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors to enable the distribution of aid supply' on Sunday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not specify which specific areas would see a 'humanitarian pause'. The ministry also again blamed the United Nations for failing to distribute assistance in Gaza. A claim that has been rejected by both the UN and multiple aid and rights groups. UN officials have pointedly said that Israeli talking point is false, stressing that they have not received the necessary permits to safely distribute aid in the besieged enclave. Airdrops' effect is 'equivalent to none' The Israeli military also said it carried out airdrops of international aid over Gaza. The United Arab Emirates, which has close economic and diplomatic ties with Israel, also said it will begin airdropping aid into Gaza 'immediately'. But humanitarian experts have been warning since last year that airdrops are dangerous to people on the ground and cannot serve as a substitute to safe land routes to distribute food and medical supplies. Earlier on Saturday, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), called airdrops an expensive, inefficient 'distraction' that would 'not reverse the deepening starvation'. Lazzarini called for Israel to 'lift the siege, open the gates [and] guarantee safe movements [and] dignified access to people in need'. Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud raised questions over the newly announced Israeli steps. He said the airdrops' effect is 'equivalent to none'. 'We're talking about only seven pallets of aid filled with flour and other basic necessities. That's almost the load of one truck, or half of a truck, coming from the crossings into the Gaza Strip,' Mahmoud said. He cited eyewitnesses that the airdrops took place near a restricted military area in northern Gaza, making retrieving them in the dark especially difficult. Equally, Israel's plan to allow for so-called 'humanitarian pauses' in Gaza starting on Sunday will also have no major effect on the starvation crisis, Mahmoud said. 'Again, this is not a solution. When we talk about passing the tipping point of this enforced starvation and according to medical sources we spoke to earlier today, they confirmed that at this point we're going to see mass scale starvation mortality,' he said. As starvation spreads, Israel has pressed on with its daily bombardment of Gaza. At least six people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent camp in al-Mawasi near Khan Younis on Saturday. The area designated as a safe-area by Israel has come under constant deadly attack by its forces, Meanwhile, the Civil Defence agency in Gaza says none of its vehicles will be able to offer lifesaving services soon due to disrepair and lack of fuel, calling on the international community to act. 'We stress the need for an urgent intervention to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to allow fuel and repair parts for vehicles to enter,' the Civil Defence said in a statement. While some Western countries have made strongly-worded statements against Israel's policies in Gaza, advocates have been calling for real consequences to ensure accountability and deter further Israeli abuses. Punitive sanctions against Israel have been raised as possibilities. Handala ship intercepted Shortly after making its airdrops announcement, the Israeli military raided a ship by international activists carrying baby formula, food and medical supplies to Gaza. A livestream showed Israeli soldiers boarding and intercepting the Handala vessel with 19 activists onboard. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the aid ship, said the vessel was violently seized in international waters. 'The unarmed boat was carrying life-saving supplies when it was boarded by Israeli forces, its passengers abducted, and its cargo seized,' the coalition said in a statement. 'The interception occurred in international waters outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, in violation of international maritime law.' #handala has been intercepted by the israeli occupation forces — Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) July 26, 2025 It is not clear what will happen to the advocates. Last month, Israel intercepted the Madleen aid ship and towed it to an Israeli boat before detaining the activists, interrogating them and deporting them. Ann Wright, a member of the Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee, called for the protection of the international activists by their home countries. 'Protect innocent international people who are merely accompanying a small amount of aid – medical and food – as a symbol of the international outrage at what Israel is doing,' Wright told Al Jazeera. The Gaza Government Media Office called the interception of Handala a crime of piracy. 'This blatant aggression represents a major violation of international law and the rules of maritime navigation, and it shows once more that the [Israeli] occupation acts like a bully outside the authority of the law,' the office said in a statement.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
In Gaza, water kills too
In Gaza, we see death in every aspect of life. Death has become an inseparable companion, lingering in the streets, the skies, and even in our homes. It is no longer a shock – it is a grim daily reality which we have been forced to adapt to. There are many ways to die in Gaza, although one does not have the luxury to choose. You may be killed in a bombing, or be struck by a sniper's bullet as you try to collect food to stave off hunger, or starvation itself may claim your life. The Health Ministry says 116 people have died because of malnutrition, many of them babies and children. In Gaza, the simplest, most basic necessity can also be lethal. Water is one of them. Every aspect of it can be dangerous: providing it, seeking it, drinking it, swimming in it. Since the start of the genocide, the Israeli army has relentlessly targeted Gaza's water infrastructure. More than 85 percent of Gaza's water and sanitation structures are inoperable – including pipelines, wells, and treatment facilities. Israel has blocked the entry of water-related materials to the Strip, making repairs difficult. It has also targeted the warehouse of the water utility authority, destroying equipment and spare parts. Worst of all, workers trying to make repairs or operate water infrastructure have been directly targeted and killed. Working in the water sector has now become a deadly job. Most recently, on July 21, the Israeli occupation forces attacked a desalination plant in the Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing five people at the site. This was one of the few functioning water stations in the city. The destruction of the water infrastructure in Gaza has forced us to go out in search of water on a daily basis. There are some war entrepreneurs who charge exorbitant amounts of money for delivering water to homes; the vast majority of people cannot afford such services. So Palestinians are forced to walk long distances and wait in long queues, plastic jugs in hand, to fetch a daily ration of water. The wait under the scorching sun is not just exhausting, but it can also turn deadly. On July 13, 11 Palestinians – seven of them children – were killed and dozens more injured when an Israeli missile struck civilians as they queued to get water from water trucks in Nuseirat refugee camp, not far from my own home. Sometimes, water trucks are not available, so people are forced to drink water that is unfit for human consumption from local wells. It is contaminated with bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants and can trigger outbreaks of waterborne diseases. I myself felt victim to one. Months ago, after drinking from a local well, I contracted hepatitis A. My skin and the whites of my eyes turned a haunting shade of yellow. Waves of nausea left me unable to eat, and a persistent fever made every breath feel difficult. But the worst was the searing pain in my abdomen – a constant, twisting ache as if my insides were being wrung out by invisible hands. For weeks, I was bedridden, my body weak, my mind consumed with fear. A visit to a clinic brought me no relief – just a prescription for a painkiller and a 'salamtek' (get well). I had to fight the infection on my own. I survived, but others are not so lucky. Hepatitis, like other infectious waterborne diseases running amok in Gaza, kills. Amid the unbearable summer heat, one would think that at least the water of the sea could bring Palestinians some relief, but that too is deadly. In recent weeks, the Israeli military has declared Gaza's entire coastline a prohibited zone, effectively banning Palestinians from swimming, fishing, or even approaching the water. Anyone who gets near the sea is shot at. Even before the ban, the Israeli army was attacking Palestinians who would try to get into the sea to fish and alleviate their families' hunger. As of December 2024, some 200 fishermen had been killed, according to the UN; many more have died since then. While we are banned from the only place that used to bring us relief from the heat, just a few kilometres north, Israelis freely enjoy the same Mediterranean waves, sunbathing and swimming in peace. They also enjoy long showers and the privilege of running water. They use the luxurious 247 litres (65 gallons) per day per person. According to the World Health Organization, a person needs 100 litres (26 gallons) of water per day to cover their basic needs. People in Gaza now get between two and nine litres (0.5 – 2.3 gallons) per day. The struggle for water is just one of the many battles Palestinians in Gaza fight daily. There is no food to feed one's starving family, no electricity to power fans, and no medicine to treat the diseases that plague us. Every aspect of life here is a test of endurance. There is, quite literally, nothing to ease the weight of these brutal circumstances – no relief, no respite, not even the smallest comfort. I still can't comprehend how, in the 21st century, a world of more than 7 billion people, where global leaders talk about prosperity, dignity and rule of law, we are still deprived of the most basic human necessities. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch openly declared that Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to a 'genocide,' and it based this conclusion on establishing Israel's 'water deprivation as a deliberate act'. It pointed out that 'thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have died as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, and disease as of August 2024'. It has been a year since then. Countless people have died because of Israel's weaponisation of water – numbers that are not included in the official death toll because the health authorities simply lack the capacity to track them. The truth is out in the open. It is broadcast on international media. It is visible on social media. And yet, the world remains idle, refusing to take action and stop Israel. To this world, I want to say: Your silence echoes louder than the bombs that fall on us every day. You must act now, or go down in history with your complicity in the slaughter and starvation of the Palestinian people. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
