A six-week-old infant and three other children have died of starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, with malnutrition and starvation now killing Palestinians faster than at any point in the 21-month war.
The infant died at a hospital ward in northern Gaza, the health officials said, naming him as Yousef al-Safadi. A teenager, 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. The other two were not named.
Palestinian health officials say at least 101 people have died of hunger during the conflict, including 80 children, with most of them in recent weeks. In the past 24 hours, there have been 15 reported deaths.
Israel controls all aid supplies into the war-ravaged enclave, where most of the population has been displaced multiple times and faces acute shortages of basic necessities.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion.
“No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry,” UNRWA commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
Israel has launched an offensive on the Gaza humanitarian hub of Deir al-Balah, saying it believes Hamas is hiding hostages there. The move comes as 25 countries, including Canada, called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of aid.
Israel’s military said that it “views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance” and works to facilitate its entry in co-ordination with the international community.
It has denied accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and has accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing food, an allegation Hamas denies.
Food and medicine shortages
Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women. Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anemia, he said.
“Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can’t provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages.”
Baby formula is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors and residents.
Israel says its assault on Gaza aims to destroy Hamas, which waged the deadliest attack in Israel’s history on Oct. 7, 2023, killing at least 1,200 Israelis including civilians, by its tallies.
Israeli bombs and gunfire have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza since then, according to local health authorities.
Tank shelling killed another 16 people living in tents in Gaza City on Tuesday, as Israeli troops launched attacks across the strip, health officials said. The Israeli military said it wasn’t aware of any incident or artillery in the area at that time.
The Health Ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours.
Finding food has become a deadly task
Daily food gathering has become a deadly task for Gazans, with UNRWA estimating that more than 1,000 people have died while trying to receive food aid since May.
On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses.
“We haven’t eaten for five days,” said Mohammed Jundia. “Famine is killing people.”
Israeli military statistics showed on Tuesday that an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza’s population.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday that Canada will ‘fully reject any attempt to separate, to change the demographic or territorial make up’ of occupied Palestinian territories.
Twenty-five Western countries, which have backed Israel’s war against Hamas, issued a statement on Monday condemning Israel over the “inhuman killing” of civilians in Gaza, but there was no indication that further action would be taken against Israel.
The European Union remains divided over how hard a line to take, with Germany refraining from signing the statement.
In Britain, Foreign Minister David Lammy told Sky News that London would wait to see what happened in the coming weeks and would consider other acts “if we do not see the ceasefire that we want to see.”
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a 60-day truce and hostage deal, although there has been no sign of breakthrough.
Israeli troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.
Deir Al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there. The main group representing hostages’ families said it was “shocked and alarmed” by the incursion and demanded answers from Israeli leaders.
Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks.
WHO says compound raided, staff detained
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel raided its main staff residence in Deir Al-Balah and detained staff members, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward the coast.
“Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint,” the UN health agency said in a statement. It said two staff and two family members were detained, with three later released and one still being held.
The WHO said its main warehouse in the city, which is in the evacuation zone, was damaged by an explosion and a fire, hurting the agency’s ability to help hospitals and emergency medical teams. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier said two UN guesthouses in Deir Al-Balah were damaged by shrapnel. He said the cause was still being investigated but that heavy Israeli airstrikes had been reported in the area.
Local and international staff will continue to work there, he said.
The military declined to say if it had ordered the evacuation of aid groups based in the city, saying only that it maintains continuous contact with them and facilitates their relocation when necessary.
