Thousands of babies in Gaza could die within the next 48 hours if humanitarian aid remains blocked at the border, according to a dire warning issued Tuesday by the United Nations’ top humanitarian official. As Gaza endures a near-total blockade on food and supplies imposed by Israel since March, health experts and international leaders say the territory is facing a man-made famine with catastrophic consequences for its youngest and most vulnerable residents.
“There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them,” Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in an interview with the BBC.
Fletcher’s comments come as international outrage mounts over the severe restriction of humanitarian aid entering the besieged Gaza Strip. He pushed back against claims often made by Israeli officials that food aid could be diverted to Hamas, stating unequivocally: “This is not food that Hamas is going to steal. We run the risk of looting, we run the risk of being hit as part of the Israeli military offensive, we run all sorts of risks trying to get that baby food to those mothers who cannot feed their children right now because they’re malnourished.”
Despite the Israeli government’s announcement that five aid trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Monday, Fletcher dismissed the gesture as wholly inadequate. “Let’s be clear, those five trucks are just sat on the other side of the border right now, they’ve not reached the communities they need to reach,” he said.
The UN reports that thousands of aid trucks, many carrying baby formula and essential nutrition supplies, are currently waiting at Gaza’s border. Though Israel said it had cleared 100 trucks for entry on Tuesday, the actual number reaching civilians has remained far lower, with continued bureaucratic and military delays.
The discrepancy between clearance and access is not new. On Monday, Fletcher noted that although Israel had approved nine trucks for entry, only five were ultimately allowed in. The resulting backlog has worsened the conditions in Gaza, where starvation has taken hold after more than two months of a total aid blockade imposed on March 2.
The humanitarian emergency is now at a critical juncture. According to the World Food Program, 14,000 children in Gaza are suffering from severe acute malnutrition—a life-threatening condition that causes extreme weight loss and a skeletal appearance. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification projects that nearly 71,000 children in Gaza are expected to experience acute malnutrition over the next year due to the continued blockade.
Conditions on the ground have rapidly deteriorated as the UN and its partner agencies have exhausted their food stores. Community kitchens across Gaza have shut down in recent weeks. Palestinians report that the hunger has eclipsed even the terror of the bombings. One journalist described children so hungry they are “drawing pictures of food in the sand.”
The World Health Organization has also raised alarms. Its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday: “Two million people are starving in the Gaza Strip while tonnes of food is blocked at the border.”
A UN statement released the same day read: “Everyone in Gaza is hungry. Without immediate action, nearly a quarter of the population could be pushed into famine. Food aid must be allowed into Gaza now to prevent a catastrophe.”
Even as the humanitarian situation worsens, the Israeli military has intensified its assault across the territory. On Tuesday, Israel ordered residents of Khan Younis to “evacuate immediately” in preparation for what it called an “unprecedented attack.” Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that Israeli strikes had killed at least 44 people in the previous 24 hours. Al Jazeera reported that one of the airstrikes hit a pharmaceutical laboratory. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the past week alone, many of them women and children.
The worsening crisis has provoked a wave of international condemnation. On Monday, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada issued a joint statement denouncing what they described as Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza and warning of joint diplomatic measures if the situation does not improve. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded defiantly, urging those nations to “follow Donald Trump’s example” instead of criticizing his government.
Israel’s partial and heavily restricted allowance of aid has been met with skepticism from humanitarian organizations and advocates. One critic described the limited access as “a PR stunt by Netanyahu’s genocidal government.”
As the hours pass and food trucks remain motionless just beyond reach, the window to prevent a large-scale tragedy continues to close.
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