Thousands of children in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition and widespread famine could arrive within a week, the UN and humanitarian groups warned on Friday, marking two months since Israel imposed a total siege on the devastated enclave.
Charities say they have depleted reserves of food, while soup kitchens and bakeries have been forced to close, with reports of fights over dwindling supplies.
Unicef, the UN’s agency for children, reported that 9,000 children in Gaza have required treatment for acute malnutrition, also known as wasting, a condition that can be life-threatening. Many more cases are believed to be undiagnosed with victims unable to access treatment.
“For two months, children in the Gaza Strip have faced relentless bombardments while being deprived of essential goods, services and life-saving care,” said Unicef executive director Catherine Russell. “With each passing day of the aid blockade, they face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death – nothing can justify this.”
UN workers in Gaza reported violence as desperate Palestinians fought over access to a water truck on Friday.
Save the Children reported that all of its food warehouses for Gaza are empty as a result of the siege at a joint press conference of humanitarian groups to mark two months of the siege.
An Oxfam spokesperson said the organisation had delivered its last food parcel on 20 April after hundreds of its trucks packed with aid were blocked at the enclave’s borders.
Amjad Shawa, head of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network (PNGO), told reporters “Gaza (has become) the biggest graveyard for children” as he warned that famine will hit the enclave in “five days”.
“We are counting minutes and seconds,” he said. “In a few days, if these crossings will not be open, I’m warning that we will witness thousands, thousands of casualties of children (and) elders.”
Gavin Kelleher, humanitarian access manager at the Norwegian Refugee Council, described “rocketing acute malnutrition” among the population of Gaza.
Palestinians receive hot meals distributed by charity organisations in Khan Yunis, Gaza (Photo: Doaa Albaz/Getty)The British Foreign Office reiterated a call for Israel to end the siege yesterday, stating: “The healthcare system in Gaza is near collapse. Aid supplies must be allowed.”
The UK, France, and Germany signed a joint statement last week calling the siege “intolerable,” adding that “Israel is bound under international law to allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid.”
UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher condemned Israel’s blockade as “cruel collective punishment” of the Palestinian population, claiming its aim was to halt “efforts to save survivors of their military offensive”.
Cogat, the Israeli body responsible for overseeing aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, declined to comment on the aid groups’ claims.
Israel has said the blockade, which gives it control of Gaza’s borders and is also enforced by Egypt, is essential to protecting Israeli citizens from Hamas.
Israel began its blockade in Gaza on 2 March, one day after the first phase of a ceasefire deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US expired.
The move was designed to pressure Hamas, the group that governs Gaza, into agreeing to a plan for a ceasefire extension proposed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, which reportedly involved the release of all living and dead hostages.
Israel’s blockade began on 2 March after the first phase of the ceasefire agreement expired (Photo: Dawoud Abo Alkas/Getty)On 18 March, Israel resumed its bombardment of Gaza that has since killed almost 2,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose data has been deemed reliable by the UN.
The Israeli military is planning to resume deliveries of aid over concerns of a “humanitarian crisis,” Israeli media reported citing official sources.
Plans reported by the Times of Israel would see a radical overhaul of how aid is distributed to ensure Hamas does not benefit.
The wholesale distribution and warehousing of aid will be scrapped, with international organisations and private security contractors handing out boxes of supplies directly to citizens instead, the newspaper reported.
Each family will have a designated representative tasked with delivering aid to them after “several rounds of inspection.” The deliveries would include enough food to last each family several days.
‘Children cannot dream on an empty stomach’
“This is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a slow, calculated suffocation of over two million lives,” said Ahmad Abu Riziq, founder of the Gaza Great Minds Foundation, which runs classes for children in “tent schools” and demolished buildings.
“For the past two months, since the imposition of a full Israeli blockade on Gaza, we have been living under unbearable conditions.
“Our shelves are empty, and our people are hungry. Families are surviving on a single meal a day, often made of little more than flour and water.”
Reflecting on the impact the blockade has had on the children Mr Abu Riziq teaches, he said he sees “firsthand how this blockade is robbing our youth of their future.
“Our students – bright, resilient, and full of potential – are now physically and mentally exhausted.
“Many come to class without having eaten properly for days. Their concentration is fading, their energy is gone, and their hopes are dimming.
“A child cannot dream, let alone study, on an empty stomach. This blockade is not only cutting off supplies; it’s cutting off our dreams, our education, and our ability to build a better tomorrow.”
Gaza residents described the blockade as ‘slow, calculated suffocation of over two million lives’ (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Getty)Ammar Kaskeen, an aid worker in Gaza, told The i Paper that he has witnessed people collapsing as a result of starvation and dehydration, while others’ faces have turned pale due to the lack of essentials.
“Fuel is scarce, food is unavailable, meat meat is completely nonexistent and vegetables are unaffordable due to astronomical prices that defy belief,” said Mr Kaskeen, who works for International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA).
“The cost of fuel has increased 50-fold [and] vegetables cost 20 to 30 times more than before.”
He added: “Starvation is spreading across Gaza. People’s faces are pale, many are collapsing due to starvation and dehydration and lack of access to protein and essential nutrients.
“The next phase is death by starvation. We will die if the crossings are not reopened and the blockade is not lifted. We will have martyrs of imposed starvation.”
Two Palestinian girls with serious health conditions arrived in the UK for private medical treatment on Thursday, marking the first instance in which Gazan children were granted temporary visas since October 2023.
Ghena, five, and Rama, 12, both suffer from pre-existing conditions which require specialist treatment not available in Gaza due to the destruction of the enclave’s healthcare system.
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In Gaza, we are seeing the normalisation of evil
Read MoreA ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists to Gaza was bombed by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta, its organisers said on Friday.
“At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship came under direct attack in international waters,” Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement posted on X.
“The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull.”
The group said it had planned to sail to Gaza with people including climate activist Greta Thunberg on board with the aim of challenging “Israel’s illegal siege and blockade”.
The Maltese government said all people on board the ship were “confirmed safe”, adding that a fire on the vessel was “brought under control overnight”.
The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the attack.
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