Doctors and local health authorities in Gaza have reported a wave of deaths from starvation and malnutrition across the enclave after months of Israeli restrictions on the entry of most food and humanitarian supplies.
Gaza’s health ministry on Wednesday recorded 10 deaths due to starvation in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have starved to death to 111, most of them in recent weeks amid a wave of hunger in the Palestinian enclave.
More than 100 aid agencies warned on Wednesday of mass starvation in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the free flow of UN and international aid.
Governments must “take decisive action [and] pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition,” the agencies stated.
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The joint appeal of 111 agencies said: “As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before our eyes.”
The agencies issued their statement in advance of the arrival on Thursday in Rome of US envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss a ceasefire with Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and a senior Qatari envoy.
The US state department added there is “a strong hope that we will come forward with another ceasefire as well as a humanitarian corridor for aid to flow”.
If sufficient progress is made, Mr Witkoff will travel on to Doha toward the end of the week to secure a deal, Axios reported, citing a US and an Israeli source.
International pressure on Israel has been growing recently. On Tuesday, 28 foreign ministers – including Ireland, UK, Canada and Japan – demanded that Israel end the war now, as Gazans’ suffering has “reached new depths”.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a social media post that “all options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges” to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The agencies stated that “massacres at food distribution sites are occurring almost daily” at hubs established by the US-Israel Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operations two months ago.
As of July 13th, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians were killed while seeking food.
Oxfam, Save the Children, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders (MSF) and the Norwegian Refugee Council were among the agencies behind the statement.
It said “tons of food, water, medical supplies, shelter times and fuel” remain in warehouses outside and inside Gaza but aid agencies have been “blocked from accessing or delivering them”.
An aid worker dealing with trauma inflicted by chaos and deprivation said: “Children tell their parents they want to die, because at least heaven has food.”
Distributions by 28 trucks a day fail to meet the urgent needs of 2.3 million Gazans, “many of whom have gone weeks without assistance”, the agencies stated. “Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration.”
The agencies said Palestinians are “trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions. It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage.”
The Israeli government press spokesman has not replied to a request for comment on the aid agencies’ statement. Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies it is responsible for shortages of food.
Gaza authorities estimate that Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in air strikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023.
For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger.
Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
