Danger looms of fatal food shortage in Gaza, warns WHO
The Gaza Strip is currently grappling with a severe malnutrition crisis, affecting over a quarter of its population, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). Eyewitnesses report violence and chaos in the distribution of aid packages, as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns of a deadly hunger crisis in the region.
The Israeli government denies the existence of a "famine" in Gaza but acknowledges the presence of hunger. However, the blockade continues to prevent the entry of basic essentials, medicine, and humanitarian aid, severely limiting supplies of food, clean water, and medical resources. This blockade, intensified during the Gaza War, has led to widespread scarcity of essential items like flour, sugar, protein, and carbohydrates.
The destruction of infrastructure, including bakeries, mills, food stores, water treatment facilities, and hospitals, has made both food production and distribution nearly impossible. Over 1,600 trucks with UN aid were approved from mid-May to mid-July, but this is not enough to meet the basic needs.
The malnutrition crisis is entrenched, with children, pregnant women, and the elderly at greatest risk. Infant and child malnutrition has surged, with UNICEF and UN agencies reporting rates of acute malnutrition among children increasing tenfold since before the war. In hospitals, doctors report children so weak they sometimes collapse in their sleep from malnutrition.
Gaza’s remaining medical facilities are operating beyond capacity, struggling with both war injuries and chronic malnutrition cases. Field hospitals and remaining clinics report being overwhelmed, with increasing numbers of severely malnourished children requiring emergency nutrition and care.
The nearly two-year conflict has displaced much of the population, further disrupting family and community support networks, and compounding the difficulty in accessing food and medical care. The malnutrition crisis is not only a health emergency but also raises serious concerns about violations of international humanitarian law, with allegations from groups like Amnesty International that Israel’s actions constitute the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
The UN denies not picking up trucks already in the Gaza Strip and bringing them to the people. Over 100 international aid organizations called for access to the people in need in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli government spokesman stated that between July 19 and 22, more than 4,400 trucks with aid had entered the Gaza Strip. However, Israel's government spokesman accuses Hamas of preventing the distribution of aid, seizing aid trucks, and selling them at high prices.
The health authority controlled by Hamas in the Gaza Strip reported ten deaths from hunger in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 111 deaths. At least 21 children under the age of five have died from malnutrition in Gaza since the beginning of the year, according to the WHO. Six-year-old Adam often wakes up crying from hunger at night, as stated by his mother Sama Abu Dawud. Mohammed Dschudi has lost about 30 kilograms since the beginning of the Gaza War and now feels dizzy all the time.
The malnutrition crisis in Gaza is unprecedented in its speed, severity, and scope, with both immediate and long-term consequences for its population. The crisis persists as long as the blockade and conflict continue, with no sign of meaningful improvement in the foreseeable future. Over 1,000 people have died trying to get food, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Thousands marched in Tel Aviv to protest the Gaza war, displaying photos of children from the Gaza Strip who are said to have died from hunger.
| **Cause** | **Consequence** | |------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | Blockade/closed crossings | Severe shortages of food, water, medicine | | Infrastructure destruction | No local food production or distribution | | Displacement/access restrictions | Aid cannot reach most vulnerable, medical care interrupted| | Ongoing conflict | Health systems collapsed, life expectancy plummeted |
- The severe malnutrition crisis in Gaza, affecting a quarter of its population, is exacerbated by the continued blockade, which hinders the entry of essentials like food, clean water, and medical resources.
- The health-and-wellness situation in Gaza is worsened by the lack of resources, as the blockade has led to widespread scarcity of nutrients like flour, sugar, protein, and carbohydrates.
- In the realm of mental-health, the ongoing violence and chaos in Gaza, including the distribution of aid and the destruction of infrastructure, is taking a heavy toll on the mental well-being of its population, particularly children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
- The ongoing conflict and blockade in Gaza has resulted in a general-news story that is gaining international attention, with thousands protesting in Tel Aviv over the Gaza war and the resulting malnutrition crisis.
- As a consequence of the conflict, war-and-conflicts and crime-and-justice issues arise, with allegations that Israel's actions may constitute the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and reports of aid trucks being seized and sold at high prices, hindering the distribution of much-needed supplies to the affected population.
