Gaza – SABA
The death of children from hunger in Gaza is no longer a metaphor—it has become a deadly reality, the result of genocide and starvation policies imposed by the Israeli enemy on more than a million starving children in the besieged Strip.
Due to the brutal starvation strategy employed by the Israeli occupation, Gaza’s children—whose bodies have wasted away from hunger—are facing the threat of slow and painful death.
The Palestinian Information Center continues to document the suffering of Gaza’s children under siege and amid the destruction inflicted by the Israeli occupation. Among these is an image of a malnourished Palestinian girl sleeping under a tattered blanket at a shelter school in northern Gaza.
The girl’s mother has nothing to feed her but crumbs of dry bread. She has no words to soothe her child’s hunger-induced crying—only the silence of a mother who is starving herself.
The World Food Programme has recorded over 1,700 child deaths since January 2024 due to hunger and lack of medical care.
According to UN statistics, 90% of children in Gaza suffer from severe food shortages. Some 82% go to bed hungry every night, while 34% of children under five years old are experiencing acute malnutrition.
Malnutrition is visible in their skeletal frames, sunken eyes, and hair loss. More tragically, it manifests in the deteriorating mental and psychological health of children whose only crime is being the target of a brutal, inhuman Israeli war machine.
Infant mortality has surged alarmingly due to the absence of baby formula and the inability of mothers to breastfeed—both direct consequences of Israel’s starvation campaign.
In another catastrophic figure, the death rate of children under five has risen by 45% compared to last year.
While 68% of Gazan families survive on one meal or less per day, many forgo their own portions to give what little they have to their starving children.
The psychological trauma inflicted by the Israeli occupation on children is no less severe than the physical suffering from hunger.
According to UN reports, thousands of children are now suffering from severe psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress—conditions made worse by the near-total absence of support or mental health services.
Starvation in Gaza is not a natural disaster—it is a crime of genocide, perpetrated by a monstrous enemy, enabled by American partnership, Western complicity, and global silence.
Israeli forces have been killing hungry children seeking food in front of aid distribution centers. These killings are being carried out in concert with the United States, just as other civilians seeking assistance have been targeted.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has uncovered shocking testimonies from boys who were arrested by Israeli forces while attempting to collect food aid at what they described as “death traps” operated jointly with Washington.
Amid this ongoing starvation and genocidal campaign targeting Gaza’s children, only faint humanitarian voices are being heard—voices that do not begin to match the scale of the crime. These voices call for immediate action: to open humanitarian corridors, fund nutrition programs, and provide infant formula and dietary supplements.
A UN report revealed that among 14,750 malnourished children in Gaza, 3,288 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health on Tuesday, the total death toll from starvation and malnutrition has risen to 188—94 of them children.
Palestinians in Gaza are enduring an unprecedented wave of hunger since Israel closed all border crossings in early March and imposed harsh restrictions on the entry of food, aid, fuel, and medicine.
As time passes, Gaza’s residents have exhausted all food supplies. Shops have been emptied, bread has become nearly impossible to find, and the prices of what little remains have skyrocketed. Starvation has now become not just a cause of death—but one of the most brutal.
Israeli crimes against Palestinians waiting for aid continue daily, particularly since the implementation of the U.S.-Israeli “humanitarian mechanism” managed by the so-called “Gaza Relief Foundation” began on May 27.