At least 29 children and elderly people have died of starvation in Gaza over just two days, Palestinian officials reported Thursday, as the humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave deepens under Israel’s continued bombardment and blockade. Since March 2, more than 300 Palestinians have died from malnutrition and lack of medical access, according to the Gaza Government Media Office (GMO), which warned of a deliberate policy of deprivation constituting “a clear and complete crime amounting to genocide.”
Among the dead are 26 dialysis-dependent patients and hundreds of unborn children. “Officials also reported 300 miscarriages during the same period,” as Gaza’s hospitals—most of which have been damaged or destroyed—struggle to function under what observers call a systematic assault on healthcare infrastructure.
The GMO expressed “grave concern and condemnation of the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a result of the occupation’s continued implementation of a systematic starvation policy and preventing the entry of food [and] medical supplies in addition to fuel for 80 consecutive days, in a clear and complete crime amounting to genocide.”
“This is accompanied by a complete closure of all crossings, in flagrant violation of all international laws and norms, and in full view of the international community,” the statement added.
The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented 26 starvation deaths in just 24 hours, including nine children. Project HOPE, one of the last international medical organizations operating inside Gaza, warned that extreme hunger is now widespread among pregnant and lactating women. “Malnutrition among children, pregnant, and lactating women has surged amid the almost three-month aid blockade, with some clinics reporting up to 42 percent of pregnant women and 34 percent of lactating mothers being diagnosed as malnourished,” the group told The Guardian.
“The number of malnutrition cases has skyrocketed,” said Ghadeer, a Project HOPE nurse in Gaza. “Two months ago, malnutrition cases did not exceed 50 cases per day. Now, we’re seeing about 200 cases per day. Many of the children we see haven’t eaten real food in weeks—only the nutritional biscuits we distribute. They’re losing weight, becoming withdrawn, and getting sick more easily. We are doing everything we can, but we’re seeing the consequences of extreme hunger in an entire generation. Without more food and aid coming in, I fear for their future.”
The small number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza under mounting international pressure—90 on Thursday—represents only a fraction of the 500–600 trucks a day needed to meet basic humanitarian needs. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), still reeling from the deaths of its personnel in a March attack, said this level of aid is not enough to prevent chaos and violence: allowing so few trucks in, they warned, is an “invitation for killing” by desperate mobs.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders continue. On Thursday alone, 52 people were killed in bombings, pushing the cumulative death toll from 593 days of military operations to at least 53,762, with more than 122,000 wounded and over 14,000 missing and feared buried beneath rubble, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have now been displaced, many of them multiple times.
The violence has drawn widespread accusations of war crimes. “History will not forget U.S. complicity in enabling this horrific humanitarian disaster,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), renewing calls to end American military aid to Israel. In Gaza, 16,500 children have been killed since October 2023, including 916 infants, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
In Israel, former general and ex-lawmaker Yair Golan condemned his government’s campaign: “A sane state does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set goals for itself like the expulsion of a population.”
American educator and popular children’s video creator Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, also spoke out, holding her child and showing a photo of five-month-old Suwar Ashur, a Palestinian baby suffering from severe malnutrition. “Please look at her,” she said in a viral video. “Please, please look at her. Just please look at her eyes for one minute.”
“If you just look at her, and if you just think about a baby you love, think about a baby you care so much for, there’s no way that we all don’t know that you can’t kill 15,000 kids, and you can’t be about to let 14,000 kids starve,” Accurso added. “Whatever is keeping you from standing up for these kids, who don’t have food and medical care and who have had amputations without anesthesia, whatever is keeping you from saying it, it’s not greater than your humanity.”
While international courts investigate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that his country will not back down until its goal of total control over Gaza is achieved. In a Wednesday press conference, he said: “I am ready to end the war on clear terms that will ensure Israel’s security—all the hostages returned home, Hamas lays down its weapons, its leadership is overthrown, Gaza is completely demilitarized and the Trump plan is implemented.”
This “Trump plan,” which envisions the full removal of Palestinians from Gaza to make way for a luxury destination called the “Riviera of the Middle East,” has been widely condemned by legal scholars and human rights experts. Critics say it constitutes forced displacement, a crime under international law. Netanyahu has called the proposal “brilliant” and “revolutionary.”
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have collapsed, with Hamas accusing Netanyahu of intentionally sabotaging negotiations. “Netanyahu’s statements are yet another way of sabotaging any negotiations over a ceasefire agreement and guaranteeing that there will be no captive exchange,” Hamas officials said.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes, including extermination and starvation. South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, citing the deliberate targeting of civilians and use of hunger as a weapon.
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