Mass Starvation In Gaza: How The War Is Breeding A Humanitarian Time Bomb
As of July, around 1.4 million Gazans are facing food emergency. Over 90% of children under five are facing food insecurity, while 30% are malnourished
In the fog of war, it is easy for numbers to blur into headlines and disappear into political debates. But in Gaza, one figure now stands apart — over 1 million people are on the brink of starvation. This year, amidst relentless bombardments, aid blockades, and institutional collapse, mass starvation has emerged as the most devastating and silent weapon of this war.
This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a generational catastrophe — one that could scar Palestinian children and families for decades to come. As international agencies issue warnings of famine and malnutrition deepens across every demographic, Gaza is increasingly being described not just as a warzone, but as a hunger trap.
What Do The Numbers Say?
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released in July 2025, around 1.4 million Gazans are now in IPC Phase 4 or 5 — meaning they are facing emergency or catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Of that number, nearly 495,000 people are in IPC Phase 5 — facing famine-like conditions, with death from hunger and disease now an immediate threat.
Children are paying the highest price. UNICEF reports that more than 90% of children under five in northern Gaza are suffering from acute food insecurity, with at least 30% acutely malnourished. Clinics in Rafah and Deir al-Balah report severely underweight infants being brought in daily, many unable to even cry — too weak to protest their own hunger.
These are not just abstract statistics. In March 2025, Yazan al-Kafarneh, a 10-year-old boy from Beit Hanoun, died from malnutrition—his emaciated body a grim emblem of Gaza's silent war. He was one of dozens of children confirmed to have died of hunger this year alone.
By July, local health authorities estimated over 875 people, including at least 178 children, had succumbed to starvation or related complications.
How Did This Happen?
Starvation in Gaza is not accidental — it is the direct result of war policies that have devastated infrastructure, agriculture, and supply chains.
Since the Israel-Hamas conflict reignited in October 2023, and particularly after the ground invasion in early 2024, Gaza's economy, farmland, and food distribution systems have been systematically destroyed.
UN agencies report that:
More than 70% of Gaza's farmland is now unusable due to bombardment, bulldozing, or contamination.
All 11 flour mills and most bakeries have been damaged or shuttered due to lack of fuel, wheat, or equipment.
Electricity and water networks have collapsed, rendering food storage and preparation impossible in many areas.
Nearly 90% of Gaza's population (over 2 million people) have been displaced, pushing food access to the brink.
Moreover, the near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, especially after the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings in early 2025, has made it nearly impossible to get basic food and medical supplies into Gaza. Where once 500-600 trucks entered daily, current figures show just 50-70 aid trucks are permitted per day, a fraction of what is needed.
Israel claims that aid is being restricted to prevent supplies from reaching Hamas fighters. But aid groups argue that the policies are indiscriminate and disproportionate, amounting to collective punishment of civilians.
A Deliberate Famine?
The question increasingly being asked in international circles is: Is this a war crime in motion?
Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has described the situation as a 'state-led starvation campaign." He argues that Gaza is witnessing one of the fastest descents into famine in modern history, not due to natural disaster or agricultural collapse, but because food is being 'systematically denied."
The UN Human Rights Council and major NGOs like Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières have echoed these concerns, calling for independent investigations into whether Israel's tactics violate international humanitarian law. While famine has yet to be officially declared—due in part to limited data collection in conflict zones—the signs are unmistakable.
What It Means For Gaza's Children
Beyond immediate mortality, the long-term effects of this mass starvation could devastate an entire generation.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in their early years face lifelong cognitive delays, stunted growth, weakened immunity, and higher risks of chronic disease. For pregnant women, malnutrition leads to miscarriages, stillbirths, and developmental complications in newborns.
Gaza's education system, already fragile, is now nearly non-functional. Over 80% of schools have been destroyed or repurposed into shelters, and many teachers have fled or been killed. Nearly 600,000 students are out of school — and those who remain struggle to learn while hungry.
Without adequate nutrition, healthcare, or education, Gaza's next generation faces not just a future of uncertainty, but one of systemic disadvantage. Even if the war ended tomorrow, rebuilding minds and bodies would take years, possibly decades.
Can The Situation Be Reversed?
In theory, yes. Famine is not inevitable — it is preventable. But doing so requires urgent political will and coordinated global action. Key steps include:
Opening Humanitarian Corridors: Allowing full access to Gaza through multiple border crossings, not just for food but for fuel, water, medical supplies, and sanitation equipment.
Rebuilding Infrastructure: Restoration of bakeries, mills, hospitals, and storage facilities must be prioritized to resume basic services.
Unconditional Food Delivery: Aid must reach all parts of Gaza, including northern regions currently cut off from supplies.
Medical Support: Emergency nutrition clinics for children and mothers must be scaled up dramatically, along with vaccination drives and trauma counseling.
Ceasefire and Stability: Without security guarantees, aid workers and civilians remain at constant risk.
Some international agencies are stepping up. The World Food Programme has appealed for $400 million in urgent funding. UNICEF has deployed emergency nutrition teams to the south. But these efforts are insufficient without guaranteed, safe access.
The Cost Of Inaction
Allowing this crisis to deepen not only violates moral obligations, it creates long-term geopolitical risks. Mass starvation breeds resentment, trauma, and instability. It seeds hatred in young minds who grow up knowing only hunger, loss, and war.
A famine in Gaza will not stay in Gaza. It will ripple across the region, affecting peace processes, refugee flows, and global perceptions of justice.
Thus, the starvation in Gaza is not just collateral damage—it is a conscious by-product of conflict strategy and geopolitical neglect. The world must now choose whether to look away or act.
As aid trickles in, as children with sunken cheeks cry too softly to be heard, one thing is clear: Gaza's famine is not just a humanitarian failure—it is a moral indictment of our times.
Unless the world intervenes decisively and immediately, the hunger of today will become the generational trauma of tomorrow.
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Shilpy Bisht
Shilpy Bisht, Deputy News Editor at News18, writes and edits national, world and business stories. She started off as a print journalist, and then transitioned to online, in her 12 years of experience. Her prev...Read More
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July 30, 2025, 14:50 IST
News explainers Mass Starvation In Gaza: How The War Is Breeding A Humanitarian Time Bomb
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