Gaza at Breaking Point: War, Blockade, and a Famine Crisis Unfolding

Descent into Famine: How Gaza Reached This Point

🔥 War and Siege

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the resulting Israeli military campaign, Gaza has endured intensified siege conditions. Since 2 March 2025, Israel has enforced a total blockade, halting all import of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies ■

This blockade has choked vital supply lines, collapsing Gaza’s ability to feed itself. Daily aid truck entries plummeted from 500–600 to just 28 per day, despite a population of over 2.1 million

🍽 Collapse of Food Systems

Agricultural devastation is staggering: 75% of cropland and orchards burned or destroyed, and over two-thirds of irrigation wells rendered unusable. Livestock numbers dropped by over 96%, eliminating local food sources like milk or eggs.

Without bakeries, farms, or fishing, Gazans now rely on virtually nothing—many forage among debris just to find scraps of sustenance .

🚱 Health and Infrastructure Collapse

Fuel shortages have shut down hospitals, water treatment plants, and desalination units. Emergency power is now minimal or nonexistent, crippling essential services like ambulances and sanitation .

Healthcare facilities are overwhelmed; wards run out of basic medicine, and medical staff are providing surgery under candlelight or without anaesthesia .

Human Toll: Hunger, Disease, Death

👶 Children Suffering Most

Over 70,000 children aged 6 months to five years face acute malnutrition; more than 50,000 show severe cases .
Nearly 900,000 children are food insecure; half may soon require nutritional intervention .
In recent weeks alone, dozens of child deaths due to hunger and disease have been recorded, including emergency cases at community kitchens or hospitals .

👴 Elderly and Pregnant Women Desperate

Pregnant and breastfeeding women are at heightened risk: over 18,000 expected to require urgent treatment in coming months to avoid permanent health damage .

Adults and the elderly are also facing fatal malnutrition; Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports hundreds of hunger-related deaths over recent months.

🚨 Aid-Seekers Attacked

Aid seekers are under fire. In recent incidents, 33 Palestinians were killed while approaching distribution sites for food aid, according to medical and eyewitness reports. Others were shot at checkpoints, causing crowd panic and fatalities .

Humanitarian Collapse Deliberately Engineered

International watchdogs argue that the famine unfolding in Gaza is not accidental but deliberately engineered. ActionAid, WHO, Human Rights Watch, and Mercy Corps warn of systemic obstruction of humanitarian aid as a tactic of warfare.

More than 110 humanitarian organisations have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon, a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and potential war crime under the ICC statute .

Local Perspectives and Testimonies

Gaza residents like Ahmed Ajour, a 21-year-old from Nuseirat, report facing military fire, looters, and chaos around aid centers—describing them as "death traps" due to overcrowding and violence .
A mother in Shati camp, holding her emaciated toddler, described surviving on only dry pasta shells after days without bread.
With nearly 60,000 dead, including 175 by starvation alone, Gazans express frustration over international statements that many see as symbolic and ineffective .

International Response: Demands, Delays, Diplomacy

🌍 Global Demand for Action

UN agencies, including UNRWA, WFP, UNICEF, WHO, andMercy Corps, urgently call for unhindered humanitarian corridor access, fuel entry, and ceasefire enforcement .

A collective open letter from 120 humanitarian groups demands an international diplomatic-humanitarian convoy to break the siege and enable direct aid to civilians in Gaza .

⚠️ Warnings from Experts

The IPC classification, supported by WHO, has confirmed Gaza is now in Phase 5—imminent famine. Even without a formal declaration, experts stress that starvation is already killing people daily .

Health analysts warn that half of Gaza’s children aged 6 months to 5 years—140,000 young children—may suffer acute malnutrition by August if conditions persist .

🕊 Calls vs. Implementation

Despite diplomatic pressure, only a fraction of promised aid has entered Gaza. Reports cite only 70–120 aid trucks per day, far below the 500–600 needed daily to meet basic needs .

Meanwhile, Israel’s temporary schemes, such as limited air drops or 10-hour day pauses in military operations, have failed to prevent thousands of deaths or restore basic services.

Geopolitical Implications

🔺 Regional Destabilization

Many fear that the famine in Gaza could spark broader destabilization across the region. Continued starvation could increase radicalisation and deepen conflict, drawing in neighboring countries and complicating diplomatic relations .

🕳 Legal and Moral Accountability

International law prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. Human rights organisations assert that Gaza’s starvation is a war crime under the Rome Statute, and they are calling for ICC investigation and accountability .

World Health Organization, UN reports, and independent NGOs stress that this is a preventable catastrophe—one that continues due to blocked aid and system disruption, not lack of awareness .

Pathways to Relief: What Can Be Done

✅ Key Steps Urgently Needed:

Immediate full humanitarian access — open all crossings and allow sustained land-based aid entry.
Fuel deliveries prioritized — to restore hospital, water, sanitation, and aid operations.
Reinstatement of neutral distribution systems, such as UNRWA-based channels.
Tenured ceasefire and safe corridors, safeguarded for aid workers and civilians.
Expanded child nutrition and medical support, with rapid deployment of mobile clinics and therapeutic feeding centers.
Accountability and oversight, including independent monitoring and investigation of aid obstruction.

⚖️ Why It Matters

Delays or limited aid will mean:

Millions more deaths by starvation and disease, particularly among children and elderly.
Long-term developmental impacts, such as stunting and cognitive impairment in surviving children.
Entrenchment of displacement, broken social fabric, and potential generational trauma.
Erosion of international humanitarian credibility, if famine continues unchecked under global scrutiny.

Gaza today stands on the brink of famine — not due to natural disaster, but a calculated humanitarian collapse. The evidence is dire: nearly 100,000 children severely malnourished, half the population on the brink of death, vital infrastructure collapsed, and yet aid is held at the border.

The world’s moral imperative is clear: Gaza's citizens are dying now—not tomorrow. Without decisive, immediate action, this orchestrated starvation will claim thousands more lives and leave enduring scars across a generation. The call now is urgent: open the gates, save lives, and fulfill international humanitarian promise.