Gaza hunger: 96 children among the dead

Shafaq News – Gaza

Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed, on Thursday, four additional deaths from famine and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 197, including 96 children.

The ministry renewed its appeal for international intervention, cautioning that extreme shortages of food, clean water, and medicine are accelerating the crisis.

Since early March, border crossings have remained largely closed, cutting off essential supplies to Gaza’s 2.4 million residents. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that child malnutrition rates doubled between March and June as food and medicine disappeared from markets.

The World Health Organization added that nearly 20% of children in Gaza City are acutely malnourished, warning that the blockade continues to paralyze the healthcare system and fuel preventable deaths.

Humanitarian agencies have described the situation as “one of Gaza’s worst disasters.” According to the Health Ministry, 61,258 Palestinians have been killed and 152,045 injured since the start of Israeli military operations on October 7, 2023—many of them women and children.

In the past 24 hours alone, Israeli airstrikes killed 100 people and wounded 603 others. The ministry also documented casualties among those seeking aid, with at least 1,706 killed and more than 12,030 injured.