Gaza's residents are on the brink of disaster: food stocks have run dry, clean water is scarce, and medical supplies are in short supply. According to the World Health Organization, this crisis is not a natural calamity but a man-made disaster\u00151mass starvation resulting from an ongoing blockade.
"I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press briefing, pointing to tightened restrictions that have choked off aid for months.
The numbers are stark. Since March, when a full Israeli blockade was imposed amid conflict with Hamas, Gaza's population of 2.2 million has faced severe shortages. Aid deliveries were halted entirely for nearly 80 days, and while restrictions eased in May, the flow of food, water, and medical supplies remains far below what's needed.
Surging Hunger Deaths
Health authorities in Gaza report 111 deaths from starvation since the conflict began, including at least 10 more overnight as hunger spreads. The WHO documents at least 21 child deaths from malnutrition this year, though the real toll is likely higher as centers treating malnourished patients overflow.
Roughly 10% of Gaza's population is now suffering from moderate or severe malnutrition, with pregnant women accounting for up to 20% of those cases. In July alone, 5,100 children entered malnutrition programs, including 800 who were severely emaciated, the WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, reported.
A Call for Action
International aid agencies have warned that the hunger crisis will deepen unless aid corridors are opened and deliveries scaled up. Israel maintains that restrictions are necessary to prevent supplies from reaching militants, but humanitarian groups say more must be done to avert further loss of life.
As the world watches, Gaza's call for relief has become an urgent plea: without swift and sustained action, the situation may slip irreversibly from crisis to catastrophe.
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WHO says Gaza facing man-made 'mass starvation' as hunger deaths surge
cgtn.com
