Skip to content

Children's fatalities at a Gazan hospital due to malnutrition and starvation recorded at 21

In the Gaza Strip, the head of its largest hospital reported that a tragic occurrence of 21 child deaths has transpired over the past three days, a result of malnutrition and starvation within the Palestinian territory.

Children perish due to malnutrition and starvation, according to a Gaza hospital reporting the...
Children perish due to malnutrition and starvation, according to a Gaza hospital reporting the demise of 21 minors.

Children's fatalities at a Gazan hospital due to malnutrition and starvation recorded at 21

The ongoing **hunger crisis** in the Gaza Strip continues to escalate, with over 21 children reportedly dying from starvation and malnutrition in the past three days alone. This dire situation is primarily caused by an **Israeli blockade** that has been in place since March 2, 2025, severely restricting the entry of food, fuel, medicine, and other essential supplies into the territory.

The blockade, combined with the destruction and denial of access to Gaza’s agricultural and food production infrastructure, has led to acute shortages, widespread malnutrition, and starvation among more than two million residents, including vulnerable groups such as 600,000 malnourished individuals and 60,000 pregnant women.

Aid delivery remains critically insufficient and dangerous. Despite occasional entry of humanitarian supplies under the control of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), most aid convoys—including hundreds of trucks carrying food—remain stuck at border points awaiting Israeli permits. Fuel and cooking gas, essential for electricity and food preparation, have not been allowed into Gaza since the blockade began.

The militarized and restrictive aid distribution system operated by Israel and the GHF has been criticized for ineffectiveness, endangering civilians, and effectively being part of a strategy that some international organizations and human rights groups have characterized as collective punishment or even genocidal due to the deliberate starvation tactics.

The current death toll from hunger and malnutrition is alarming. Hospital officials report that more than a dozen additional children and adults have died from hunger in the preceding 24 hours, with many others admitted to hospitals in severe exhaustion due to lack of food. Malnutrition symptoms reported include dehydration, anemia, dramatic wasting, and extreme fatigue. Gaza hospitals are overwhelmed and unable to adequately treat hunger-related conditions due to shortages of food, medicine, and fuel required for medical equipment.

The crisis is unfolding as part of the aftermath of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, creating a protracted emergency with devastating humanitarian consequences for the people of Gaza. The territory's inhabitants are experiencing the worst shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.

The Roman Catholic church's most senior cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, spent three days in Gaza after an Israeli strike on the territory's only Catholic church last Thursday which killed three people. Israeli forces expanded ground operations in Deir el-Balah following intense shelling of the area in central Gaza on Monday.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, stated that new cases of malnutrition and starvation are arriving at Gaza's remaining functioning hospitals "every moment." Nearly 88 percent of the entire Gaza Strip is either under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones, forcing the population of 2.4 million into an ever-shrinking space.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described Gaza as a "horror show" with a "level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times." The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, accused Israeli troops of entering its staff residence and mistreating male staff members.

Residents of Gaza are frequently killed as they try to collect humanitarian aid at distribution points. Israel has imposed a full blockade on Gaza, allowing nothing in until trucks were permitted to enter at a trickle in late May. Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began its operations in late May.

The Israeli military stated that its troops responded to gunfire in the Deir al-Balah area, while the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reports that most of the deaths due to Israeli attacks on aid distribution areas have occurred near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's sites. Raed Bakr, a resident of Gaza, experienced a tent explosion at about 1:40 am on Tuesday, which resulted in the death of his family.

This crisis demands urgent attention and action from the international community to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza and ensure their basic human rights to food, medicine, and a safe living environment.

  1. The residents of Gaza, struggling with acute shortages caused by the Israeli blockade, could benefit from accessible information on diet and nutrition for health-and-wellness purposes, as they strive to maintain their wellbeing amidst limited resources.
  2. As the perilous situation in the Gaza Strip worsens, it becomes increasingly important for international organizations specializing in science and health research to examine the long-term effects of chronic malnutrition and starvation on the epaper health outcomes of the territory's residents, particularly vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and malnourished individuals.

Read also:

    Latest