Gaza starvation toll rises to 455 as Israel targets emergency crews
Shafaq News – Gaza
Two Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Wednesday, raising the malnutrition-related toll to 455, among them 151 children.
Since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared famine in Gaza, 177 such deaths have been recorded, including 36 children, the ministry added.
Read more: Gaza's spiral: Famine and conflict lead to irreversible collapse
In a separate update, it warned that breast cancer care has collapsed for the second straight year as the destruction of healthcare centers and ongoing conflict cut off access to screening, diagnostics, and treatment, noting that patients diagnosed before and during the war remain without follow-up care or essential medications, radiotherapy is entirely unavailable, and border closures prevent travel abroad for treatment, while malnutrition and drug shortages have worsened outcomes.
Read more: A Chorus of outcry: NGOs decry Israel's actions as Gaza faces unprecedented suffering
These developments unfolded as Israeli airstrikes continued across Gaza, killing at least 23 Palestinians, according to medical sources cited by Palestinian media.
The deadliest strike reportedly hit al-Falah School in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighborhood, where displaced families had taken shelter, with civil defense teams working to extract survivors and recover bodies.
Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal confirmed the death of first responder Mundher Raed al-Dahshan and injuries to seven others, two in critical condition. He accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting emergency crews, pointing out that responders wore uniforms and operated clearly marked vehicles, and documented 27 direct attacks on rescue teams and 11 strikes on civil defense facilities since the war began.
"سلم على أخوك وعلى أمك وعمك"شاهد| لحظة وداع مؤثرة للشهيد منذر الدهشان من والده مدير الدفاع المدني في غزة. pic.twitter.com/KzF5AoxHd4
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 1, 2025
“This attack is designed to cripple humanitarian response in Gaza City,” Basal declared, urging international institutions to act immediately to protect emergency personnel.
Other strikes, according to Palestinian outlets, hit Khan Younis and several additional areas across the enclave.
عاجل| طيران الاحتلال يشن غارة جديدة على مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/FwXnyUY7vH
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 1, 2025
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign has killed 66,097 Palestinians and injured 168,536, the Gaza-run Health Ministry reported.
