Nearly 200 Palestinians—at least 96 of them children—have now died from hunger and malnutrition due to Israel’s forced starvation in Gaza.
As people scramble to survive, risking their lives to catch food from dangerous airdrops, deaths due to famine and malnutrition have reached 197 in the occupied territories, according to Gaza health authorities.
This comes as leaked Israeli government transcripts, published by Channel 13, reveal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intentionally blocked humanitarian relief to force Hamas’ surrender.
The transcripts show that Netanyahu overruled Israeli defence officials who urged him to advance the next phase of a ceasefire agreement that would have secured the release of Israeli captives. Instead, he chose to break the truce in March and escalate the suffering in Gaza.
On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that acute malnutrition among Gaza’s children has reached record levels.
Children acutely malnourished
In July alone, nearly 12,000 children under five were found to be acutely malnourished, out of 136,000 screened. More than 2,500 children are suffering from the most severe and life-threatening form.
At least 40 people required hospitalisation —an increasingly difficult task as Gaza’s healthcare system has been decimated by Israeli attacks and siege.
The situation is worsening fast. Between June and July, 18% of all acutely malnourished children were classified with severe acute malnutrition—up from 12% between March and May.
Meanwhile, access to food, medicine, and other critical aid remains strangled. Humanitarian agencies report sharp declines in the delivery of vital nutrition supplies for children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.
Overall, since the Israeli announcement of the tactical pause to allow safe passages for convoys, OCHA says that realities on the ground remain largely the same. “Aid that has entered remains by far insufficient and UN convoys continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid,” it said.
