{{Short description|Famine during the Gaza war}} {{Protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox famine | name = Gaza Strip famine | native_name = تجويع قطاع غزة | image = Displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah line up to receive food provided by charitable organizations (cropped).jpg | caption = Displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah line up to receive food provided by charitable organizations (August 2024). | country = Palestine | location = Gaza Strip | coordinates = <!----(use {{coord}})----> | period = | total_deaths = 10,000+ (estimated by Alex de Waal )<ref>{{#invoke:Cite|news |last=de Waal |first=Alex |date=2025-08-28 |title=How Many People Have Died of Famine in Gaza? (Updated) |url=https://worldpeacefoundation.org/blog/how-many-people-have-died-of-famine-in-gaza-updated/ |work=World Peace Foundation}}</ref><br>440+ (reported by GHM as of 21 September 2025){{#tag:ref|The total number of deaths from malnutrition and starvation reported by the Gaza Health Ministry was 440 as of 10 September, including 147 children.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web | url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-09-21/ty-article/.premium/gaza-officials-say-75-killed-by-idf-fire-four-died-of-malnutrition-in-past-day/00000199-6d9e-d27b-affd-7f9eab5d0000 | title=Gaza Officials Say 75 Palestinians Killed by IDF Fire, Four Died of Malnutrition in Past Day |first1=Jack |last1=Khoury |first2=Janiv |last2=Kubovich | website=Haaretz | date=21 September 2025 |access-date=22 September 2025}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} | from_disease = | excess_mortality = | theory = | relief = Humanitarian aid | food_situation = | demographics = | consequences = * The International Court of Justice orders Israel to increase aid to Gaza * International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for the use of starvation as a method of warfare.<ref name="ft20241121"/> '''Projections for 16 August – 30 September 2025:'''<ref name="IPC_22_August_2025"/> * Entire population (2.1 million) in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above * 1.14 million in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) * 641,000 people in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophic food insecurity) * Confirmed famine in Gaza governorate | memorial = | causes = Gaza war and genocide (including war, humanitarian aid blockade, destruction of food and water infrastructure, looting, aid site killings) }} {{Gaza blockade}} [[File:Displaced Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip.jpg|thumb|Displaced Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip (June 2024).]]
The population of the Gaza Strip underwent a famine as a result of an Israeli blockade during the Gaza war between 22 August 2025 and 19 December 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-22 |title=Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/22-08-2025-famine-confirmed-for-first-time-in-gaza |access-date=2025-12-21 |website=who.int |language=en}}</ref><ref name="reuters20251219">{{Cite web|title= Gaza no longer in famine after aid access improves, hunger monitor says|url= https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-no-longer-has-famine-says-global-hunger-monitor-2025-12-19/|website=Reuters|date=2025-12-19 |last=Nichols|first=Michelle|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref> The prevention of basic essentials and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza,<ref>{{#invoke:Cite|web |title=U.S. aid official says famine has begun in northern Gaza |first=Jacob |last=Knutson |website=Axios |date=11 April 2024 |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/04/11/us-official-famine-northern-gaza |access-date=24 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412031951/https://www.axios.com/2024/04/11/us-official-famine-northern-gaza |archive-date=12 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|news |title=The Guardian view on famine in Gaza: a human-made catastrophe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/19/the-guardian-view-on-famine-in-gaza-a-human-made-catastrophe |work=The Guardian |date=19 March 2024 |access-date=22 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510144509/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/19/the-guardian-view-on-famine-in-gaza-a-human-made-catastrophe |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="un20240318">{{#invoke:Cite|news |title=Imminent famine in northern Gaza is 'entirely man-made disaster': Guterres |date=18 March 2024 |work=UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147656 |access-date=3 April 2024 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324193007/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147656 |archive-date=24 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as airstrikes that destroyed food infrastructure, such as bakeries, mills, and food stores, caused a widespread scarcity of essential supplies.{{efn|According to B'Tselem, the famine risk is a direct outcome of Israeli policy: "This reality is not a byproduct of war, but a direct result of Israel's declared policy. Residents now depend entirely on food supplies from outside Gaza, as they can no longer produce almost any food themselves. Most cultivated fields have been destroyed, and accessing open areas during the war is dangerous in any case. Bakeries, factories and food warehouses have been bombed or shut down due to lack of basic supplies, fuel and electricity."<ref name="Israel is starving">{{#invoke:cite|press release |title=Israel is starving Gaza |publisher=B'Tselem |date=8 January 2024 |url=https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20240108_israel_is_starving_gaza |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213200043/https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20240108_israel_is_starving_gaza |archive-date=13 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Humanitarian aid was also blocked by protests at borders and ports. Increasing societal breakdown in Gaza, including looting, was also cited as a barrier to the provision of aid.
By August 2025, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projections showed that 100% of the population are experiencing "high levels of acute food insecurity", and 32% were projected to face Phase 5 catastrophic levels by 30 September 2025.<ref name="IPC_22_August_2025">{{#invoke:cite|web |title=GAZA STRIP: Famine confirmed in Gaza Governorate, projected to expand {{pipe}} 1 July – 30 September 2025 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_July_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf |website=Integrated Food Security Phase Classification |date=22 August 2025}}</ref> On 22 August 2025, the IPC said that famine is taking place in one of the five governorates in the Gaza Strip: specifically, the Gaza Governorate which includes Gaza City. The IPC added that, within the next month, famine was likely to also occur in both the Deir al-Balah Governorate and the Khan Yunis Governorate. The IPC had insufficient data on the North Gaza Governorate for a classification but concluded that conditions were likely similar or worse than in the Gaza Governorate.<ref name="IPC_22_August_2025"/><ref name="reuters20250822">{{#invoke:Cite|news |last=Nichols |first=Michelle |date=22 August 2025 |title=Famine has struck Gaza, says global hunger monitor |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/famine-has-struck-gaza-says-global-hunger-monitor-2025-08-22/ |access-date=22 August 2025 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref> Within the next 6 weeks as of 16 August, the number of people in IPC Phase 5 was expected to rise from 500,000 to over 640,000.<ref>{{#invoke:Cite|news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=24 August 2025 |title=Declaration of famine in Gaza lays bare Israel's disregard for humanitarian duty |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/24/gaza-famine-declaration-israel-humanitarian-duty-analysis |access-date=25 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
On 22 October 2025, the International Court of Justice found that Israel is obliged to guarantee sufficient food to Gazans and to allow UNRWA to operate in Gaza.<ref name="ICJ_2025Oct22_obligations_IL"/> On 19 December, the IPC published a report declaring that there is no longer a famine in Gaza after improvements in food delivery following the ceasefire, but warned that the situation remains "highly fragile" with 100,000 still facing "catastrophic conditions", although that number was projected to decline to 1,900 by April 2026.<ref name="reuters20251219"/><ref name="apnews20251219"/> As of January 2026, Gazans have received enough humanitarian aid to meet their basic food needs for the first time since the start of the war.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2026-01-05 |title=Gaza: 100 per cent of basic food needs met for first time since 2023 |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166704 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260114025551/https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166704 |archive-date=2026-01-14 |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=UN News |language=en}}</ref>
== Before the Gaza war == upright 1.2|thumb|Map of the Gaza Strip with Israeli/Egyptian-controlled borders and limited fishing zone as of April 2019.{{Further|Gaza blockade}}
Israel imposed restrictions on movement and goods in the Gaza Strip since the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 14, 2012 |title=Light at the End of Their Tunnels? Hamas and the Arab Uprisings |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Israel%20Palestine/129-light-at-the-end-of-their-tunnels-hamas-and-the-arab-uprisings.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902185323/https://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Israel%20Palestine/129-light-at-the-end-of-their-tunnels-hamas-and-the-arab-uprisings.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2012 |access-date=18 January 2024 |website=International Crisis Group |publisher= |page=38, note 283 |quote=The prime minister is comfortable with limited economic growth in Gaza, particularly as a way to modify Hamas's urge to get into trouble. We still want there to be a discrepancy between economic life in Gaza and the West Bank, but we no longer feel it needs to be so large.}}</ref> After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023 |title=Gaza Up Close |url=https://features.gisha.org/gaza-up-close |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301211430/https://features.gisha.org/gaza-up-close/ |archive-date=1 March 2024 |access-date=18 January 2024 |website=Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement}}</ref>
Rhoda Howard-Hassmann argued in 2016 that "thoroughly planned impoverishment" has been a long-term policy of Israel for the Gaza Strip.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=126}} According to Sara Roy, a leading expert on the Gazan economy,<blockquote>The current desecration of Gaza is the latest stage in a process that has taken increasingly violent forms over time. In the fifty-six years since it occupied the Strip in 1967, Israel has transformed Gaza from a territory politically and economically integrated with Israel and the West Bank into an isolated enclave, from a functional economy to a dysfunctional one, from a productive society to an impoverished one. It has likewise removed Gaza's residents from the sphere of politics, transforming them from a people with a nationalist claim to a population whose majority requires some form of humanitarian aid to sustain themselves.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Sara |author-link=Sara Roy |date=19 December 2023 |title=The Long War on Gaza |url=https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/12/19/the-long-war-on-gaza/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118022351/https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/12/19/the-long-war-on-gaza/ |archive-date=18 January 2024 |access-date=25 March 2024 |website=The New York Review of Books |language=en |issn=0028-7504}}</ref></blockquote>
In the early 2000s, the Gaza Strip witnessed a period of increasing tensions that had a profound impact on its economic and agricultural sectors.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=126}} During this time, a relatively small number of Israeli settlers lived in the Gaza Strip, yet they controlled a significant portion of the territory's valuable resources. Settlers had access to about 25% of the Strip, an area that included 40% of Gaza's arable land, as well as a substantial share of its water resources, limiting the availability of land and water for the Palestinian population.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=125}} After Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinian elections were held in 2006, which Hamas won. In response to the election results, Israel designated the governing party and the Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity", implementing a blockade along with economic sanctions and restrictions.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=39}} As a part of the blockade Israel imposed restrictions on imports of cooking fuel and gas into Gaza. Lists of restrictions were generated based on what Israel defines as 'dual use' goods, items that might be put to military uses threatening Israel's security.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bayoumi |first1=Moustafa |last2=Chalabi |first2=Mona |date=24 June 2024 |title=Toys, spices, sewing machines: the items Israel banned from entering Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/24/gaza-blockade-israel-banned-items |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625112400/https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/24/gaza-blockade-israel-banned-items |archive-date=25 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878}}</ref> These measures are contested internationally and criticized for exacerbating economic and living conditions in Gaza.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Sara M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXAqjgEACAAJ&pg=PA |title=The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development |date=2016 |publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies USA, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-88728-321-5 |language=en |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=11 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311045308/https://books.google.com/books?id=gXAqjgEACAAJ&pg=PA |url-status=live}}</ref>
Prior to the blockade, Gaza's population stood at 1.6 million, serviced by 400 trucks carrying goods into the Strip every day. Under the new policy, according to the Israeli NGO Gisha, Israel proposed to permit only 106 trucks entry to deliver goods.<ref name="Reuters2012">{{Cite news |date=17 October 2012 |title=Israel Gaza blockade study calculated Palestinians' calories |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE89G0NM/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210030858/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE89G0NM/ |archive-date=10 December 2023 |access-date=17 January 2024 |work=Reuters}}</ref> In the following decades, the number of humanitarian trucks permitted to enter Gaza varied, depending on several factors such as the political situation, security issues, agreements between Israel and Palestinian authorities, and interventions by international organizations. To obtain permission to import any commodity into the Strip, proof had to be supplied that they were indispensable, often causing delays and complications in the supply of humanitarian aid.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=57}} Under Netanyahu's second premiership, Israel sporadically allowed more humanitarian aid, but tightened it during conflicts with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.<ref name="Slater2021">{{Cite book |last=Slater |first=Jerome |title=Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917–2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-19-045908-6 |pages=330–332 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190459086.001.0001}}</ref> The blockade was maintained to secure ''de facto'' control over Gaza, along with limited economic assistance and humanitarian aid to prevent Israeli reoccupation.<ref name="Slater2021"/>
Precise calculations were made to determine the minimum calorific requirement to avoid malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and these formed the basis for Israel's determination of the truck numbers for food supplies from 2007 to 2010.<ref name="Reuters2012"/><ref>{{harvnb|Filiu|2014|p=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=12 October 2012 |title=Israel used 'calorie count' to limit Gaza food during blockade, critics claim |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/17/israeli-military-calorie-limit-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025104315/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/17/israeli-military-calorie-limit-gaza |archive-date=25 October 2014 |work=The Guardian |location= |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Devereux|2024|p=9}}: "In 2007, the Israeli Ministry of Health calculated in precise detail a minimum basket of food for the people in Gaza that was sufficient for subsistence without the development of malnutrition. This ration included 140 grams of flour, 70 grams of rice and of potatoes, 232 grams of meat, 279 grams of vegetables, and 40 grams of legumes. Together with allocations for fruit, milk, oil and sugar, the total amounted to 1,886 grams per person per day, significantly less than the average daily food consumption by Israelis. These estimates were used by the Ministry of Defence to calculate the 'Daily humanitarian portion required to enter Gaza Strip', which were applied until 2010."</ref> Dov Weissglas, an advisor to the then Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, explained: "We have to make them much thinner, but not enough to die,"<ref name="Strand2014">{{Cite journal |last=Strand |first=Trude |date=2014 |title=Tightening the Noose: The Institutionalized Impoverishment of Gaza, 2005–2010 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=6–23 |doi=10.1525/jps.2014.43.2.6 |issn=0377-919X |jstor=10.1525/jps.2014.43.2.6}}</ref> the idea being "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."<ref>{{cite news |last=Urquhart |first=Conal |date=16 April 2006 |title=Gaza on brink of implosion as aid cut-off starts to bite |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/16/israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108063641/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/16/israel |archive-date=8 November 2016 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Graham-Harrison |first=Emma |date=31 July 2025 |title=The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/31/the-mathematics-of-starvation-how-israel-caused-a-famine-in-gaza |access-date=11 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The calculation excluded factors such as the collapse of agriculture due to the blockade which dried up access to seed markets.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=127}}{{efn|The complicated procedures for obtaining clearances from Israel at the transit points also caused notable spoilage further reducing the food allowed in. Prospective import goods had to arrive in Israeli trucks, which were unloaded as the goods were transferred to 'neutral' trucks that then were allowed transit to the Gaza side. Once there, the consignments had to be unloaded from the neutral trucks and reloaded on Gazan trucks.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=127}} }}
Diplomatic cables subsequently published by WikiLeaks revealed that Israel had informed the United States in 2008 that, while it would take measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis, it intended to keep Gaza's economy on the "brink of collapse".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7041GH/ |title=Israel said would keep Gaza near collapse: WikiLeaks |work=Reuters |date=5 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423073600/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7041GH/ |archive-date=23 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gazans faced extreme poverty due to the blockade;<ref name="Slater2021"/> in 2020, according to a report by Steven Devereux of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), "more than half the residents of Gaza survived below the poverty line, two-thirds were food insecure, and three-quarters received international aid, either in cash or as food."<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/articles/report/Was_There_a_Famine_in_Gaza_in_2024_/27612471?file=50221878 |title=Was There a Famine in Gaza in 2024? |last=Devereux |first=Stephen |date=5 November 2024 |publisher=Institute of Development Studies |doi=10.19088/ids.2024.042}}</ref>
The Goldstone Report discovered that during the 2008–2009 Gaza War, Israel's invasion had caused deliberate and massive destruction of Gaza's agricultural sector.{{efn|The agricultural sector, including crop farming, fisheries, livestock farming and poultry farming, suffered direct losses worth some US$170 million. Indirect losses have still to be definitively calculated. One business organization estimates that 60 per cent of all agricultural land had been destroyed, 40 per cent directly during the military operations. Moreover, 17 per cent of all orchards, 8.3 per cent of livestock, 2.6 per cent of poultry, 18.1 per cent of hatcheries, 25.6 per cent of beehives, 9.2 per cent of open fields and 13 per cent of groundwater wells were destroyed. Agriculture had already lost a third of its capacity since the start of the second intifada and the frequent Israeli incursions, according to NGO estimates used by UNDP-Gaza ... Some 250 agricultural wells were reportedly destroyed or severely damaged.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|p=127}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict |last=Goldstone |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Goldstone |url=https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/a-hrc-12-48.pdf |website=United Nations Human Rights Council |pages=261–262 |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=25 September 2009 |archive-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123103209/https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Israel also declared 30% of the most arable land in the Strip no-go zones. After 2012, the Red Cross secured an agreement to allow Gazan farmers to cultivate crops of various heights, in areas respectively at 300 metres to 1 kilometre from Israel's fortified border fence. Both cultivators and their rudimentary irrigation devices nonetheless were often exposed to sniping and automated machinegun fire, and crops along the armistice line were, without warning, sprayed with Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.{{sfn|Smith|2019|pp=39–40}} Likewise, Israel placed severe restrictions on fishing within Gaza's waters—the 20 nautical miles agreed to under the Oslo Accords were unilaterally reduced to nine—with fishable areas demarcated with buoys.{{sfn|Filiu|2014|p=56}} In 2009, Israel further reduced this to a 3-nautical-mile limit with the result that 85% of Gaza's fishing water was blocked by Israeli warships.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2016|pp=125–127}} Israeli gunships reportedly fired on local fishermen even within these areas.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=40}}
In August 2023, it was reported that 12,076 truckloads of authorized goods entered Gaza, reflecting a slight improvement in the volume of goods allowed into the territory compared to previous periods. Despite these inflows, the volume of goods remained insufficient, given the 60% increase in population since 2007 and the escalating needs of the Gazan population.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 September 2023 |title=Movement in and out of Gaza: update covering August 2023 |url=http://www.ochaopt.org/content/movement-and-out-gaza-update-covering-august-2023 |access-date=25 March 2024 |website=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – occupied Palestinian territory |language=en |archive-date=4 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404073355/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/movement-and-out-gaza-update-covering-august-2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The humanitarian impact of the blockade is compounded by recurrent hostilities, which not only result in high casualty rates but also further degrade Gaza's already fragile infrastructure. The United Nations and various human rights organizations have repeatedly called for the lifting of the blockade and for increased humanitarian access to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's residents. The situation in 2023, where the region has witnessed the highest number of fatalities since 2005, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 August 2023 |title=Israeli-Palestinian death toll highest since 2005: UN envoy |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1139922 |access-date=25 March 2024 |website=UN News |publisher=United Nations |language=en |archive-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823083925/https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1139922 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== Start of crisis == {{Further|Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)|7 October attacks}} thumb|Four-year-old Palestinian girl who died from malnutrition and lack of treatment (August 2024). {{External media|video1=[https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/11/08/american-nurse-gaza-emily-cali-callahan-intv-ac360-vpx.cnn Emily "Cali" Callahan, an American nurse who worked in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders until early November, describes the humanitarian situation in Gaza to CNN's Anderson Cooper]<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 2023 |title=Gaza: Krankenschwester aus den USA berichtet von »massiven Verbrennungen« bei Kindern |trans-title=Gaza: Nurse from the USA reports "massive burns" among children |language=de |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/gaza-us-krankenschwester-berichtet-von-massiven-verbrennungen-bei-kindern-a-23c08e6d-4a19-4bf5-a67b-f1f7c37b5eff |access-date=10 November 2023 |issn=2195-1349 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109232135/https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/gaza-us-krankenschwester-berichtet-von-massiven-verbrennungen-bei-kindern-a-23c08e6d-4a19-4bf5-a67b-f1f7c37b5eff |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why an American nurse who got out of Gaza says she would go back |date=8 November 2023 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/11/08/american-nurse-gaza-emily-cali-callahan-intv-ac360-vpx.cnn |access-date=10 November 2023 |work=CNN |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110000155/https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/11/08/american-nurse-gaza-emily-cali-callahan-intv-ac360-vpx.cnn |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Following the 7 October attack, Israel announced on 9 October that it was blocking the entry of food and water into Gaza.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jankowicz |first=Mia |date=9 October 2023 |title=Israel announces 'complete siege' of Gaza, cutting its electricity, food, water, and fuel |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009122557/https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |access-date=15 August 2024 |work=Business Insider |language=en-US |oclc=1076392313}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |title=Gaza 'soon without fuel, medicine and food' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67051292 |work=BBC News |date=9 October 2023 |access-date=9 October 2023 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009192127/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67051292 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cnn20231007"/> Because Gaza was already mostly reliant on food aid, the repercussions were felt immediately. On 18 October, Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the WFP, stated that the population of Gaza was at risk of starvation.<ref name="Struggle to Save">{{cite news |last1=Jobain |first1=Najib |last2=Debre |first2=Isabel |last3=Lee |first3=Matthew |title=Gaza's doctors struggle to save hospital blast survivors as Middle East rage grows |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-biden-hospital-d9606e0ead1f8c4e9fd00b602ed14a38 |publisher=Associated Press |date=18 October 2023 |access-date=18 October 2023 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018235405/https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-biden-hospital-d9606e0ead1f8c4e9fd00b602ed14a38 |url-status=live}}</ref> Three days later, the UN released a statement saying food stocks were nearly exhausted.<ref name="UN update on humanitarian needs">{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Usaid |last2=Mohamed |first2=Hamza |last3=Uras |first3=Umut |last4=Ibrahim |first4=Arwa |title=UN update on humanitarian needs after 'limited shipment' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/21/israel-gaza-war-hamas-and-israel-spar-over-hostage-release?update=2427826 |access-date=22 October 2023 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=21 October 2023}}</ref> By 23 October, Cindy McCain, executive director of the UN WFP, stated people were "literally starving to death as we speak".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Srivastava |first1=Mehul |last2=Khaled |first2=Mai |last3=Saleh |first3=Heba |title=Small aid convoy reaches Gaza after Hamas releases two hostages |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5027f41d-90e6-4481-a386-0fde2cdffa63 |work=Financial Times |date=21 October 2023 |access-date=21 October 2023 |archive-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023102739/https://www.ft.com/content/5027f41d-90e6-4481-a386-0fde2cdffa63?accessToken=zwAGCDwkAoXIkc9QJ_QdkOZEgdOjhg_eLN_6Yw.MEQCICgaIc5Sg1yMS27JFvCCdJYztIPIeMY159069_PNvVZgAiA-nF9UY_i119--T9Ym5CtkkKPt5TMV4ELyHa4i_ySNjA&sharetype=gift&token=52a2fe27-e0e1-4d07-9373-9ff85f5b1402 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 27 October, a spokesperson for the WFP stated food and other basic supplies were running out.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stepansky |first1=Joseph |last2=Najjar |first2=Farah |title='Running out': People of Gaza going hungry: UN |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/27/israel-hamas-war-live-israel-bombs-gaza-overnight-more-than-7000-dead?update=2441049 |access-date=27 October 2023 |work=Al Jazeera |date=27 October 2023}}</ref> On 3 November, UN officials stated the average Gazan diet consisted of only two pieces of bread per day,<ref name="Lederer">{{Cite news |last=Lederer |first=Edith |date=4 November 2023 |title=UN official says the average Gazan is living on two pieces of bread a day, and people need water |url=https://apnews.com/article/gaza-humanitarian-un-bread-water-unrwa-fuel-90fcfc40d63f8604d0effa861e793c89 |access-date=4 November 2023 |work=AP News |language=en |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104005903/https://apnews.com/article/gaza-humanitarian-un-bread-water-unrwa-fuel-90fcfc40d63f8604d0effa861e793c89 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ActionAid stated more than half a million Gazans faced death by starvation.<ref name="cbsnews20231108">{{cite news |last1=Reals |first1=Tucker |title=Israel-Hamas war leaves thousands of Palestinians in Gaza facing "death by starvation," aid group warns |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestinians-face-death-by-starvation-aid-group-says/ |work=CBS News |date=8 November 2023 |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111012338/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestinians-face-death-by-starvation-aid-group-says/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On 11 November, Corinne Fleischer, Middle East regional director of the WFP, stated, "hundreds of people are queueing for hours every day to get bread rations at bakeries," as people were being pushed "closer to starvation."<ref>{{cite news |title='Heart-wrenching': UN food agency warns of starvation in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/11/israel-hamas-war-live-pleas-for-help-as-israel-bombards-gaza-hospitals?update=2479888 |work=Al Jazeera |date=11 November 2023 |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121104015/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/11/israel-hamas-war-live-pleas-for-help-as-israel-bombards-gaza-hospitals?update=2479888 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Damage== ===Damage to infrastructure=== {{see also|Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip}}
thumb|Baking bread during Gaza war 23–25
In 2023 and 2024, Israeli airstrikes severely impacted Gaza's food supply, targeting bakeries, agricultural land, and food infrastructure. The damage led to widespread closures and shortages, affecting access to bread, flour, and other food staples. Michael Fakhri, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has stated such actions amount to an Israeli "starvation campaign" waged by destroying Gaza's food system.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Farge |first1=Emma |title=Israel destroying Gaza's food system in 'starvation' tactic, UN expert says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-destroying-gazas-food-system-starvation-tactic-un-expert-says-2024-03-07/ |website=Reuters |date=7 March 2024 |access-date=21 October 2024 |archive-date=13 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113205101/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-destroying-gazas-food-system-starvation-tactic-un-expert-says-2024-03-07/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In October 2023, Israeli airstrikes targeted bakeries and agricultural sites in Gaza. On 18 October, an airstrike destroyed a bakery in the Nuseirat Camp, killing four bakers.<ref name="Struggle to Save"/><ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1714483787810111989 |user=itranslate123 |title=Breaking: Israel has hit one of the last functioning bakeries in the Middle/Southern parts of the Gaza Strip, Nuseirat area. Several reported killed and injured in the massacre. This is where Israel wants people to move to. |first1=Refaat |last1=Alareer |author-link=Refaat Alareer |date=17 October 2023 |access-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250522120228/https://x.com/itranslate123/status/1719701312990830934 |archive-date=22 May 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequent strikes hit other bakeries, and by 24 October, many had closed, with those still open facing long lines.<ref name="Palestinians trapped in Gaza">{{cite news |last1=Jobain |first1=Najib |last2=Kullab |first2=Samya |last3=Nessman |first3=Ravi |title=Palestinians trapped in Gaza find nowhere is safe during Israel's relentless bombing |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-b084e9c453cc99f7bec6f66d7b5913d9 |publisher=Associated Press |date=19 October 2023 |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019205146/https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-b084e9c453cc99f7bec6f66d7b5913d9 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Buying bread a struggle for Gaza residents |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/23/israel-hamas-war-live-hundreds-killed-israeli-strikes-gaza?update=2434362 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=23 October 2023 |access-date=24 October 2023 |archive-date=27 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027204905/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/23/israel-hamas-war-live-hundreds-killed-israeli-strikes-gaza?update=2434362 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 28 October, a fifth of Gaza's bakeries were destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Kaamil |last1=Ahmed |first2=Elena |last2=Morresi |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/28/airstrikes-on-gaza-bakeries-add-to-catastrophic-food-shortages |title=Airstrikes on Gaza bakeries add to 'catastrophic' food shortages |work=The Guardian |date=28 October 2023 |access-date=10 November 2023 |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104161805/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/28/airstrikes-on-gaza-bakeries-add-to-catastrophic-food-shortages |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Tareq S. |last=Haijaj |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/they-let-humanitarian-aid-in-then-they-bombed-it-so-that-gaza-would-starve/ |title=They let humanitarian aid in. Then they bombed it so that Gaza would starve |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026193954/https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/they-let-humanitarian-aid-in-then-they-bombed-it-so-that-gaza-would-starve/ |archive-date=26 October 2023 |work=Mondoweiss |date=26 October 2023}}</ref> In early November, Israel bombed one of Gaza City's last bakeries, and UNOCHA reported over half of Gaza's bakeries had been destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=ElSayed |first1=Youmna |title=Bakery near al-Shifa Hospital hit in Israeli bombardment |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/1/israel-hamas-war-live-anger-grows-over-israeli-attack-on-gaza-refugee-camp?update=2455149 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=1 November 2023 |access-date=1 November 2023 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118053513/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/1/israel-hamas-war-live-anger-grows-over-israeli-attack-on-gaza-refugee-camp?update=2455149 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Eleven bakeries destroyed, only nine remain: UN relief agency |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/2/israel-hamas-war-live-195-killed-120-missing-in-jabalia-strikes?update=2456200 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=2 November 2023 |access-date=2 November 2023 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118053412/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/2/israel-hamas-war-live-195-killed-120-missing-in-jabalia-strikes?update=2456200 |url-status=live}}</ref> By mid-November, no bakeries were operating in northern Gaza, and the last flour mill was bombed.<ref name="cbsnews20231108"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza's last working flour mill hit by strike |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/gazas-last-working-flour-mill-hit-by-strike/2023/11/14/c7f38a40-0f21-456e-8675-1a11e3e206c6_video.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 November 2023 |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127192200/https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/gazas-last-working-flour-mill-hit-by-strike/2023/11/14/c7f38a40-0f21-456e-8675-1a11e3e206c6_video.html |archive-date=27 November 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="hrw20231218">{{cite web |title=Israel: Starvation Used as Weapon of War in Gaza |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza |website=Human Rights Watch |date=18 December 2023 |access-date=5 July 2024 |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219204134/https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza |url-status=live }}</ref> Israeli strikes also damaged fishing ports, warehouses, and farmland, with 22% of farmland destroyed by 12 December.<ref name="Israel is starving"/><ref>{{bulletedlist|{{cite news |title=Just how bad is it in Gaza? |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/01/10/just-how-bad-is-it-in-gaza |newspaper=The Economist |date=10 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111112959/https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/01/10/just-how-bad-is-it-in-gaza |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-date=11 January 2024}}|{{cite news |title=Fishing boats burn after strike hits central Gaza beach |url=https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/11/13/watch-fishing-boats-burn-after-strike-hits-central-gaza-beach |work=Euronews |date=13 November 2023 |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119125237/https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/11/13/watch-fishing-boats-burn-after-strike-hits-central-gaza-beach |url-status=live}}|{{cite web |title=Israeli strike on boats in Gaza port |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es7CmKP7tm0 |website=YouTube | date=10 October 2023 |publisher=AFP News Agency |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116225902/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es7CmKP7tm0 |url-status=live}}|{{harvnb|Maurice|2023}}}}</ref>
In 2024, UNOSAT reported 33% of agricultural land was damaged by February.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #153 |url=https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-153 |website=ReliefWeb |date=15 April 2024 |publisher=UNOCHA |access-date=19 April 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510145220/https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-153 |url-status=live}}</ref> In June, an Israeli missile hit one of Deir al-Balah's two flour mills, also damaging a WFP warehouse.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanitarian Situation Update #176 Gaza Strip |url=https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-situation-update-176-gaza-strip-enarhe |website=OCHA |date=7 June 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=16 June 2024 |archive-date=18 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618235108/https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-situation-update-176-gaza-strip-enarhe |url-status=live }}</ref> By July, bakeries could not open due to fuel shortages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Many bakeries in Gaza cannot open because of fuel shortages |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/many-bakeries-in-gaza-cannot-open-because-of-fuel-shortages/vi-BB1puRrj#details |website=MSN |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=6 July 2024 |access-date=19 July 2024 |archive-date=27 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127045624/https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/many-bakeries-in-gaza-cannot-open-because-of-fuel-shortages/vi-BB1puRrj#details |url-status=live }}</ref> In October, UNOSAT and the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated 67.6% of Gaza's croplands had been damaged, severely impacting Gaza's food production.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Geospatial data shows intensifying damage to cropland |url=https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/gaza-geospatial-data-shows-intensifying-damage-to-cropland/en |website=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |date=3 October 2024 |access-date=6 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003172338/https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/gaza-geospatial-data-shows-intensifying-damage-to-cropland/en |archive-date=3 October 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Damage to the environment === {{Excerpt|Environmental impact of the Gaza war}}
==Emergency and threat of famine== ===Timeline=== thumb|Deaths from the famine per month
====November–December 2023==== Cindy McCain stated on 17 November that civilians faced the immediate possibility of starvation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vinall |first1=Frances |title='Immediate possibility of starvation' in Gaza, World Food Program says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/17/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-palestine/#link-73NFBJXQC5HH5ILUSUDHI47VQM |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 November 2023 |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-date=17 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117125610/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/17/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-palestine/#link-73NFBJXQC5HH5ILUSUDHI47VQM |url-status=live}}</ref> Ten days later, McCain stated Gaza was on the brink of famine,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oshin |first1=Olafimihan |title=Cindy McCain says Gaza 'on the brink of famine' |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/4328169-cindy-mccain-says-gaza-on-the-brink-of-famine/ |work=The Hill |date=26 November 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023 |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127010553/https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/4328169-cindy-mccain-says-gaza-on-the-brink-of-famine/ |url-status=live}}</ref> as begging for food became the "new norm."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Miriam |title=Aid is trickling in, but Gaza still grows hungrier |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/gaza-hunger-food-aid-unwra/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=30 November 2023 |access-date=1 December 2023 |archive-date=1 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201044232/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/gaza-hunger-food-aid-unwra/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 December, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, based on a committee of independent experts, placed almost the entire population of Gaza (93% or 2.08 million) at IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) with 79% in Emergency (IPC Phase 4),<ref>{{cite web |title=FAO expresses deep alarm over acute hunger in the Gaza Strip |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/fao-expresses-deep-alarm-over-acute-hunger-gaza-strip |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |website=ReliefWeb |date=21 December 2023 |access-date=22 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221082908/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/fao-expresses-deep-alarm-over-acute-hunger-gaza-strip |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> and 15% (378,000 people) in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).<ref name="B'tselem">{{cite web |url=https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20240108_israel_is_starving_gaza |title=Israel is starving Gaza |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223153750/https://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20240108_israel_is_starving_gaza |archive-date=23 February 2024 |website=B'tselem |date=8 January 2024}}</ref>
On 7 December, the WFP stated 97% of households had inadequate food consumption and 83% in southern Gaza were surviving through "extreme consumption strategies."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Isaac |first1=Lindsay |title=Gaza experiencing "alarming levels" of hunger, UN agency warns |url=https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-12-07-23/h_6260b65181c72b408eb84611bf2b5441 |work=CNN |date=7 December 2023 |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207165432/https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-12-07-23/h_6260b65181c72b408eb84611bf2b5441 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 10 December, the UN, international aid organizations, and relief workers in Gaza warned of mass starvation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Balousha |first1=Hazem |title=Aid groups warn of starvation in Gaza after U.S. vetoes cease-fire call |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/09/gaza-starvation-israel-war-united-states-veto/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=9 December 2023 |access-date=10 December 2023 |archive-date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104173920/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/09/gaza-starvation-israel-war-united-states-veto/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A representative for Medical Aid for Palestinians stated, "The hunger wars have started."<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeBre |first1=Isabel |title=Bloodshed, fear, hunger, desperation: Palestinians try to survive war's new chapter in southern Gaza |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-war-southern-gaza-humanitarian-conditions-4da8410ab2e849adef8aff18c79b310c |work=Associated Press |date=8 December 2023 |access-date=10 December 2023 |archive-date=9 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209193203/https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-war-southern-gaza-humanitarian-conditions-4da8410ab2e849adef8aff18c79b310c |url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 December, the United Nations estimated nine out of ten residents were not eating food every day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ables |first1=Kelsey |title=A hunger Gazans have 'never, ever' experienced grows in the territory |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/15/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-palestine-updates/#link-ZAYEXAL2CRG2ZMAEJOJHSPWUZM |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15 December 2023 |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215210147/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/15/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-palestine-updates/#link-ZAYEXAL2CRG2ZMAEJOJHSPWUZM |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 20 December, the United Nations stated people in Gaza were experiencing "alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed in Gaza".<ref>{{cite news |title=Netanyahu lamenta la "tragedia" de la muerte de tres rehenes, pero irá "hasta el final" en la guerra |trans-title=Netanyahu regrets the "tragedy" of the death of three hostages, but will go "to the end" in the war |url=https://www.france24.com/es/medio-oriente/20231216-israel-incrementa-los-ataques-en-gaza-a-pesar-de-la-solicitud-de-estados-unidos |work=France24 |date=16 December 2023 |language=es |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216015045/https://www.france24.com/es/medio-oriente/20231216-israel-incrementa-los-ataques-en-gaza-a-pesar-de-la-solicitud-de-estados-unidos |archive-date=16 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jobain |first1=Najib |title=Netanyahu Says Israel 'Committed As Ever' To War After Israel Mistakenly Kills Hostages |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-palestinians-gaza-blackout-hunger-misery_n_657da504e4b0e142c0bdd3fe |work=HuffPost |date=16 December 2023 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221035353/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-palestinians-gaza-blackout-hunger-misery_n_657da504e4b0e142c0bdd3fe |url-status=live}}</ref> On 21 December, the United Nations stated more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were starving.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jobain |first1=Najib |title=UN says more than 1 in 4 people in Gaza are starving because of war |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-21-2023-7d9718b32bf0d308c44c7c9e3c4e0deb?taid=65846a0339b70f0001676d76 |work=Associated Press |date=21 December 2023 |access-date=22 December 2023 |archive-date=22 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222010200/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-12-21-2023-7d9718b32bf0d308c44c7c9e3c4e0deb?taid=65846a0339b70f0001676d76&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter |url-status=live}}</ref> On 22 December, UNICEF warned of the increasingly growing threat of famine in the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement by UNICEF on the risk of famine in the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/statement-unicef-risk-famine-gaza-strip |website=UNICEF |date=22 December 2023 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223030539/https://www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/statement-unicef-risk-famine-gaza-strip |url-status=live}}</ref> On 29 December, Mercy Corps stated half a million people faced "catastrophic hunger and starvation".<ref>{{cite news |title=International aid group warns of famine, disease spreading among Palestinians in Gaza |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/international-aid-group-warns-of-famine-disease-spreading-among-palestinians-in-gaza/ |work=The Times of Israel |agency=Associated Press |date=29 December 2023 |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229105420/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/international-aid-group-warns-of-famine-disease-spreading-among-palestinians-in-gaza/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable floatright" |+ IPC analysis of hunger in the Gaza Strip ! rowspan="2" |Time period ! colspan="2" | Phase 5: "Catastrophe"
or "Famine" ! colspan="2" |Phase 4: "Emergency" ! colspan="2" |Phase 3: "Crisis" ! colspan="2" |Phase 1 or 2 |- !Pop. !% !Pop. !% !Pop. !% !Pop. !% |- |24 Nov – 7 Dec 2023<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Dec2023Feb2024.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124001005/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Dec2023Feb2024.pdf|url-status=live|title=The Gaza Strip – IPC Special Brief|date=January 2024|archive-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> |377,283 |17% |938,547 |42% |765,990 |34% |144,725 |7% |- |15 Feb – 15 Mar 2024<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 March 2024 |title=IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, 15 February – 15 July 2024 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Feb_July2024_Special_Brief.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318110718/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Feb_July2024_Special_Brief.pdf |archive-date=18 March 2024}}</ref> |676,636 |30% |875,618 |39% |577,963 |26% |96,327 |5% |- |1 May – 15 Jun 2024<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 July 2024 |title=IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, May – September 2024 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Jun_Sept2024_Special_Brief.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715221056/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Jun_Sept2024_Special_Brief.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2024}}</ref> |342,719 |15% |642,864 |29% |1,148,301 |51% |117,573 |5% |- |1 Sep – 31 Oct 2024<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 November 2024 |title=IPC Global Initiative – Special Brief |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Sept2024_Aug2025_Special_Brief.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715221056/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Jun_Sept2024_Special_Brief.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2024 |access-date=24 June 2025 |website=ipcinfo.org}}</ref> |132,987 |6% |663,721 |31% |1,044,353 |49% |299,557 |14% |- |1 Apr – 10 May 2025<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2025 |title=Gaza Strip: Acute Food Insecurity Situation for 1 April – 10 May 2025 and Projection for 11 May – 30 September 2025 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159596/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250512142129/https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159596/ |archive-date=12 May 2025 |access-date=24 July 2025 |website=ipcinfo.org}}</ref> |244,000 |12% |925,000 |44% |775,000 |37% |156,000 |7% |}
====January 2024==== By 1 January 2024 90% of Palestinians in Gaza regularly went without food.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stack |first1=Liam |last2=Gupta |first2=Gaya |last3=Abu Bakr |first3=Bashir |name-list-style=and |date=January 2024 |title=Half of Gazans Are at Risk of Starving, U.N. Warns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-hunger.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103002505/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-hunger.html |archive-date=3 January 2024 |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The IDF alleged Hamas stole humanitarian aid;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bydb7zgit |title=IDF releases video of Hamas stealing aid from Gazans |newspaper=Ynet News |date=9 December 2023 |first=Einav |last=Halabi |access-date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216050440/https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bydb7zgit |archive-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> killed people seeking humanitarian aid;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-781286 |title=Gazans to IDF: Hamas steals UNRWA food, kills civilians who ask for aid |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=8 January 2024 |access-date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220172840/https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-781286 |archive-date=20 February 2024}}</ref> and keeps its own supply reserves.<ref name="TI">{{cite news |date=28 October 2023 |title=Arab, Western officials agree Hamas is keeping Gaza food, fuel for itself – NY Times |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-western-officials-agree-hamas-keeping-gaza-food-fuel-for-itself-ny-times/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119203851/https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-western-officials-agree-hamas-keeping-gaza-food-fuel-for-itself-ny-times/ |archive-date=19 January 2024 |access-date=19 January 2024 |newspaper=Times of Israel |issn=0040-7909 |oclc=1076401854}}</ref> The US and the UN both denied Israeli claims that Hamas looting plays a significant role in the lack of aid, with a senior US official stating that "the Israeli government has not brought to the attention of the US government... any specific evidence of Hamas theft or diversion of assistance provided via the U.N. and its agencies. Full stop."<ref name="DeYoung Hudson 2024 g056">{{cite news |last1=DeYoung |first1=Karen |author-link=Karen DeYoung |last2=Hudson |first2=John |date=15 January 2024 |title=Despite U.S. pressure on Israel, casualty count in Gaza remains high |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/14/israel-gaza-low-intensity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213225316/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/14/israel-gaza-low-intensity/ |archive-date=13 February 2024 |access-date=19 January 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
On 3 January 2024, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the WFP, stated 80% of all people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger were in the Gaza Strip, stating, "In my life, I've never seen anything like this in terms of severity".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chotiner |first1=Isaac |title=Gaza Is Starving |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/gaza-is-starving |magazine=The New Yorker |date=3 January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 |archive-date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104000711/https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/gaza-is-starving |url-status=live}}</ref> Food prices rose in Gaza as food stocks were "running low".<ref>{{cite web |title=Action Against Hunger calls for permanent ceasefire in Gaza |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/action-against-hunger-calls-permanent-ceasefire-gaza |website=ReliefWeb |date=2 December 2023 |publisher=Action Against Hunger |access-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221083235/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/action-against-hunger-calls-permanent-ceasefire-gaza |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>
The United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths stated on 5 January 2024, "People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded."<ref>{{cite web |title=World News in Brief: Gaza relief 'an impossible mission', COVID spreading fast again, food prices fall |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145327 |website=UN News |date=5 January 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=5 January 2024 |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105202255/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145327 |url-status=live}}</ref> Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises and international law, stated, "The rigor, scale and speed of the destruction of the structures necessary for survival, and enforcement of the siege, surpasses any other case of man-made famine in the last 75 years."<ref name="Looming Starvation in Gaza">{{cite news |last1=Nolen |first1=Stephanie |author-link=Stephanie Nolen |date=11 January 2024 |title=Looming Starvation in Gaza Shows Resurgence of Civilian Sieges in Warfare |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/health/gaza-israel-hunger-starvation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113173728/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/health/gaza-israel-hunger-starvation.html |archive-date=13 January 2024 |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> António Guterres stated, "The long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Guterres |first1=António |author-link=António Guterres |date=15 January 2024 |title=Secretary-General's statement to the press on the Middle East |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2024-01-15/secretary-generals-statement-the-press-the-middle-east |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221083636/https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2024-01-15/secretary-generals-statement-the-press-the-middle-east |archive-date=21 February 2024 |access-date=16 January 2024 |website=United Nations |quote="The long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza – along with disease, malnutrition and other health threats."}}</ref>
On 16 January 2024, UNOCHA reported 378,000 people in Gaza were in IPC Phase 5, or catastrophic levels of hunger.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #94 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-94 |website=ReliefWeb |date=17 January 2024 |publisher=UNOCHA |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221084153/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-94-enarhe |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="ohchr20240116">{{cite web |date=16 January 2024 |title=Over one hundred days into the war, Israel destroying Gaza's food system and weaponizing food, say UN human rights experts |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/01/over-one-hundred-days-war-israel-destroying-gazas-food-system-and |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220174854/https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/01/over-one-hundred-days-war-israel-destroying-gazas-food-system-and |archive-date=20 February 2024 |access-date=24 January 2024 |website=OHCHR |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> It reported all 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip were facing acute food insecurity – the highest proportion of a population experiencing starvation in recorded history.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Regan |first1=Helen |title=Hundreds of thousands are starving in Gaza as famine arrives at 'incredible speed,' UN aid chief warns |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/16/middleeast/gaza-famine-starvation-un-israel-war-intl-hnk/index.html# |work=CNN |date=16 January 2024 |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217202736/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/16/middleeast/gaza-famine-starvation-un-israel-war-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> The Famine Review Committee (FRC) which compiled the Gaza data on famine in terms of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 1 December 2023, forecast that the total population will be at Phase 3 by 7 February and that 25% or 500,000 Gazans will reach Phase 5.<ref name="B'tselem"/>
On 21 January 2024, a journalist in the Gaza Strip reported that people were making flour using animal food.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza hunger: Making flour out of animal food |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-deadly-israeli-attacks-across-gaza?update=2637281 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=21 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124181128/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-deadly-israeli-attacks-across-gaza?update=2637281 |archive-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> On 21 January 2024, the UN reported there were only 15 bakeries still in operation across the entirety of the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #98 |url=https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-98 |website=UNOCHA |date=21 January 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124141610/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-98 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 30 January 2024, ''CNN'' reported that Palestinians were eating grass to stay alive.<ref name="cnn20240130">{{cite news |last1=Haq |first1=Sana Noor |title='We are dying slowly:' Palestinians are eating grass and drinking polluted water as famine looms across Gaza |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middleeast/famine-looms-in-gaza-israel-war-intl/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=31 January 2024 |date=30 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212233937/https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middleeast/famine-looms-in-gaza-israel-war-intl/index.html |archive-date=12 February 2024}}</ref> On 31 January, the World Health Organization's emergencies director stated, "This is a population that is starving to death."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Millard |first1=Robin |title=Gaza Population 'Starving To Death': WHO |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/gaza-population-starving-to-death-who-a75c2429 |website=Barron's |access-date=1 February 2024 |date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214132636/https://www.barrons.com/news/gaza-population-starving-to-death-who-a75c2429 |archive-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>
====February–April 2024==== On 12 February, the Food and Agriculture Organization stated there were "unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity, hunger, and near-famine-like conditions in Gaza."<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Every day, more and more people are on the brink of famine-like conditions |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/gaza-every-day-more-and-more-people-are-on-the-brink-of-famine-like-conditions-fao-interview-12feb-2024/ |website=United Nations |access-date=13 February 2024 |date=12 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221090534/https://www.un.org/unispal/document/gaza-every-day-more-and-more-people-are-on-the-brink-of-famine-like-conditions-fao-interview-12feb-2024/ |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> Israel attacked fishermen in Deir el-Balah attempting to catch fish to eat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli ships continue to attack fishermen on Deir el-Balah's beach |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-afraid-to-leave-as-israel-fires-on-hospital |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=16 February 2024 |date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216065703/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-afraid-to-leave-as-israel-fires-on-hospital?update=2707592 |archive-date=16 February 2024}}</ref> On 27 February 2024, Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the WFP, told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000 people were at risk of imminent famine in Gaza.<ref name="famine">{{cite web |title=WFP Deputy Chief warns Security Council of imminent famine in northern Gaza unless conditions change |url=https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-deputy-chief-warns-security-council-imminent-famine-northern-gaza-unless-conditions-change |website=World Food Programme |date=28 February 2024 |access-date=29 February 2024 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229090807/https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-deputy-chief-warns-security-council-imminent-famine-northern-gaza-unless-conditions-change |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 17 February 2024, ActionAid stated that "every single person in the territory" was facing extreme levels of hunger, stating that people had even run out of animal feed to eat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hunger crisis in Gaza at 'unprecedented levels, as people run out of even animal feed to eat' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2712866 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=18 February 2024 |date=17 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218165022/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2712866 |archive-date=18 February 2024}}</ref> By March, bird feed in northern Gaza had run out and people ate livestock feed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saleh |first1=Heba |last2=Ali |first2=Mustafa |date=8 March 2024 |title=Starvation stalks children of northern Gaza |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d236431b-b9bd-4d6c-b5a1-de36a7a0cf5c?shareType=nongift |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318055122/https://www.ft.com/content/d236431b-b9bd-4d6c-b5a1-de36a7a0cf5c?shareType=nongift |archive-date=18 March 2024 |access-date=18 March 2024 |work=Financial Times |issn=0307-1766 |oclc=60638918}}</ref> On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening".<ref>{{cite news |date=3 March 2024 |title=Famine deepening, aid drops not effective: Gaza government |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303155804/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746017 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |access-date=6 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin.<ref>{{bulleted list| |{{cite news |date=3 March 2024 |title=UN expert calls for sanctions against Israel as 'famine' may 'be already occurring' in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2745344 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303062120/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2745344 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |access-date=6 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}} |{{cite news |date=9 March 2024 |title=Maritime aid plan 'too little, too late,' former US aid official<!-- "offical" in original --> says |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-by-ramadan-looking-tough-biden-says?update=2759408 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312032621/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-by-ramadan-looking-tough-biden-says?update=2759408 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}} |{{harvnb|Borger|2024b}} }}</ref> On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118% in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105%.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 March 2024 |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #134 |url=https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-134-enarhe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510145147/https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-134-enarhe |archive-date=10 May 2024 |access-date=9 March 2024 |website=UNOCHA |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> March Epidemiological forecasts projected future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.<ref name="We are about to witness">{{cite news |last=de Waal |first=Alex |date=21 March 2024 |title=We are about to witness the most intense famine since World War II in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/21/we-are-about-to-witness-the-most-intense-famine-since-world-war-ii-in-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510144453/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/21/we-are-about-to-witness-the-most-intense-famine-since-world-war-ii-in-gaza |archive-date=10 May 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
On 13 March 2024, Israeli spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they were "trying to flood the area" with aid and that they were "learning and improving and doing different changes."<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 March 2024 |title=Israel says it will 'flood' Gaza with aid as pressure mounts to do more |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-says-will-flood-gaza-with-aid-pressure-mounts-do-more-2024-03-13/ |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Reuters |archive-date=13 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113205032/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-says-will-flood-gaza-with-aid-pressure-mounts-do-more-2024-03-13/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In late March, António Guterres stated that it was time to "truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid" and that the starvation was a "moral outrage"<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Magdy |first1=Samy |last2=Nabil |first2=Amr |last3=Metz |first3=Sam |date=23 March 2024 |title=UN chief says it's time to 'truly flood' Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-23-2024-2939dce94ce6c4f1084ff3cb8444ce3a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323141623/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-23-2024-2939dce94ce6c4f1084ff3cb8444ce3a |archive-date=23 March 2024 |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer said that reports of an imminent famine were "a complete lie and fabrication" and "a libel against Israel."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fadel |first1=Leila |last2=Estrin |first2=Daniel |title=Cease-fire resolution, growing support for Gaza in the U.S. sour relations with Israel |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1240884500/ceasefire-resolution-growing-support-for-gaza-in-the-u-s-sour-relations-with-isr |access-date=19 May 2025 |work=NPR |date=26 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327020031/https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1240884500/ceasefire-resolution-growing-support-for-gaza-in-the-u-s-sour-relations-with-isr |archive-date=27 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In April, Yoav Gallant announced that Israel would create a new crossing on its border and that "we plan to flood Gaza with aid".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Dan |date=10 April 2024 |title=Israel to open new north Gaza crossing for overseas, Jordanian aid |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-open-new-north-gaza-crossing-overseas-jordanian-aid-2024-04-10/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424173714/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-open-new-north-gaza-crossing-overseas-jordanian-aid-2024-04-10/ |archive-date=24 April 2024 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Reuters}}</ref> Philippe Lazzarini stated on 30 April that "there is more food available on the market", but "no cash circulating" in northern Gaza, making the food inaccessible. He further acknowledged the increase in supplies entering Gaza in April, but cautioned that it was "still far from enough to reverse the negative trend".<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 April 2024 |title=Press Conference at UN Geneva by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini: Transcript of Introductory Remarks. |url=https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/press-conference-un-geneva-unrwa-commissioner-general |website=UNRWA |access-date=18 June 2024 |archive-date=17 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617002853/https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/press-conference-un-geneva-unrwa-commissioner-general |url-status=live }}</ref>
In early April 2024, the Red Cross said that 2.2 million people in Gaza were considered to be experiencing food insecurity at the emergency level.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 April 2024 |title=Summary of events in Gaza |url=https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/whats-happening-in-gaza-humanitarian-crisis-grows |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409172618/https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/whats-happening-in-gaza-humanitarian-crisis-grows |archive-date=9 April 2024 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=British Red Cross}}</ref>
On 30 April 2024, when rendering its verdict in the ''Nicaragua v. Germany'' genocide case, the International Court of Justice said that it remained concerned about the situation in Gaza, "In particular, in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/30/icj-verdict-live |title=ICJ rules against imposing emergency measures on Germany over Israel aid |first=Edna |last=Mohamed |date=30 April 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=30 April 2024 |archive-date=30 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430135300/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/30/icj-verdict-live |url-status=live}}</ref> In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine ... but that famine is setting in."<ref name="reuters20240328">{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/world-court-orders-israel-take-measures-ensure-food-gets-into-gaza-2024-03-28/ |title=World court orders Israel to take action to address Gaza famine |last1=van den Berg |first1=Stephanie |date=28 March 2024 |work=Reuters |archive-date=28 March 2024 |access-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328180346/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/world-court-orders-israel-take-measures-ensure-food-gets-into-gaza-2024-03-28/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
====May–July 2024==== In May 2024, the head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children, stated the official count of 28 children dead from malnutrition and disease was "probably the tip of the iceberg", due to the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system.<ref>{{cite news |title=Number of child deaths as starvation grips Gaza likely 'tip of the iceberg': Analyst |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-battles-in-jabalia-and-rafah-as-israel-advances?update=2907361 |access-date=24 May 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=18 May 2024}}</ref>
In May 2024, the WFP reported, "The threat of famine in Gaza never loomed larger".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abdulrahim |first1=Raja |date=16 May 2024 |title=Israel Sending More Troops to Rafah Amid Warnings of Famine in Gaza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-rafah-gaza-famine.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609184547/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-rafah-gaza-famine.html |archive-date=9 June 2024 |access-date=22 May 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The United Nations humanitarian chief stated famine in Gaza was an "immediate, clear and present danger" as food ran out and humanitarian operations were stuck.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farge |first1=Emma |title=UN aid chief warns on Gaza food supplies, says relief work 'unplannable' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-aid-chief-warns-gaza-food-supplies-says-relief-work-unplannable-2024-05-16/ |work=Reuters |access-date=24 May 2024 |date=16 May 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref> The Gaza media office said 98% of bakeries were closed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Usaid |last2=Motamedi |first2=Maziar |title=Over 98 percent of Gaza's bakeries closed: Gaza media office |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/31/israels-war-on-gaza-live-unrelenting-nightmare-for-weary-palestinians?update=2938949 |access-date=9 June 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=31 May 2024}}</ref> In June 2024, the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization stated in a joint statement that more than 1 million people could face severe starvation within a month.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Magdy |first1=Samy |title=UN agencies say over 1 million in Gaza could experience highest level of starvation by mid-July |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-agencies-say-over-1-million-in-gaza-could-experience-highest-level-of-starvation-by-mid-july |work=PBS NewsHour |agency=Associated Press |access-date=15 June 2024 |date=5 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605205140/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-agencies-say-over-1-million-in-gaza-could-experience-highest-level-of-starvation-by-mid-july |archive-date=5 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The same month, the World Health Organization stated only two nutrition stabilisation centers remained operational in the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WHO Says 8,000 Under-5s Treated For Malnutrition In Gaza |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/who-says-8-000-under-5s-treated-for-malnutrition-in-gaza-f601e091 |magazine=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=24 June 2024 |date=12 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619220608/https://www.barrons.com/news/who-says-8-000-under-5s-treated-for-malnutrition-in-gaza-f601e091 |archive-date=19 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) reported later in May that famine was possible in northern Gaza.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=10}} The FRC, citing uncertainty and the disparate evidence used in the FEWS NET analysis, did not endorse their findings. They expressed concerns over the methodology employed in the analysis and suggested that "a reduction in acute malnutrition might also be considered possible" citing a greater food supply.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=11}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2024 |title=Famine Review Committee: Review of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) IPC-Compatible Analysis for the Northern Governorates of the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/documents/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_FEWS_NET_Gaza_4June2024.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606132735/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/documents/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_FEWS_NET_Gaza_4June2024.pdf |archive-date=6 June 2024 |website=Integrated Food Security Phase Classification }}</ref> The IPC found a decreasing risk of famine in their June assessment, but emphasized that the risk of famine remains high.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=10}} The FRC, endorsing the IPC's findings, noted that Israel permitted an increasing amount of food into northern Gaza since March.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=12}}{{Efn|Devereux suggests that pressure exerted by US President Joe Biden on Netanyahu to ease the blockade after the IDF attacked a World Central Kitchen aid convoy led to increased aid.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=12}}}}
In June 2024, Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP, stated children and adults were dying from starvation after being reduced to the "size of a skeleton".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Starving children and adults dying the 'size of a skeleton', says World Food Programme boss |url=https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-starving-children-and-adults-dying-the-size-of-a-skeleton-says-world-food-programme-boss-13137414 |access-date=17 June 2024 |website=Sky News |date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516215039/https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-starving-children-and-adults-dying-the-size-of-a-skeleton-says-world-food-programme-boss-13137414 |archive-date=16 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The same month, FEWS NET stated, "Regardless of whether or not the famine (IPC phase 5) thresholds have been definitively reached or exceeded, people are dying of hunger-related causes across Gaza".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |date=5 June 2024 |title=Starvation already causing many deaths and lasting harm in Gaza, agencies say |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/05/starvation-already-causing-mass-death-and-lasting-harm-in-gaza-agencies-say |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605172219/https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/05/starvation-already-causing-mass-death-and-lasting-harm-in-gaza-agencies-say |archive-date=5 June 2024 |access-date=17 June 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
In late June, a leaked UN document said that 95% of the population of Gaza were in food insecurity, while almost 500,000 were facing near-famine hunger.<ref name=Leak>{{cite news |title=Israel war on Gaza live: Leaked report warns of 'catastrophic' hunger |first1=Mersiha |last1=Gadzo |first2=Usaid |last2=Siddiqui |date=25 June 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/6/25/israel-war-on-gaza-live-leaked-un-report-warns-high-famine-risk-remains |access-date=25 June 2024 }}</ref> The report found famine remained a possibility throughout the entirety of the Gaza Strip, and that the risk was "as high" as at any other time during the conflict.<ref name="Hansler 2024">{{cite news |last1=Hansler |first1=Jennifer |title=Gaza population at risk of famine as it continues to face emergency levels of hunger, report finds |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/gaza-famine-ipc-report-intl-latam/index.html |work=CNN |date=25 June 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625100521/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/gaza-famine-ipc-report-intl-latam/index.html |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Batrawy |first1=Aya |title=High risk of famine across Gaza as hunger spreads, experts say |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/06/25/g-s1-6193/gaza-famine-hunger-war-israel |work=NPR |access-date=4 July 2024 |date=25 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625201555/https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/06/25/g-s1-6193/gaza-famine-hunger-war-israel |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN stated one in five households went entire days without eating.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 June 2024 |title=New famine alert for Gaza where families go days without food |url=https://palestine.un.org/en/272568-new-famine-alert-gaza-where-families-go-days-without-food |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627144813/https://palestine.un.org/en/272568-new-famine-alert-gaza-where-families-go-days-without-food |archive-date=27 June 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 |website=United Nations}}</ref> On 30 June 2024, the IPC Global Famine Review Committee said evidence indicated famine was not occurring in Gaza, but that high risk of famine would persist as long as the war and warned against complacency."<ref name="FRC">{{cite web |date=25 June 2024 |title=Famine Review Committee: Gaza Strip, June 2024 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_Gaza_June2024.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625103046/https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Committee_Report_Gaza_June2024.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2024 |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=Famine Review Committee}}</ref> Israel has challenged the IPC's past methodology, citing academics in the Israeli public health sector.<ref name="timesofisrael20240531">{{Cite news |last=Sharon |first=Jeremy |date=31 May 2024 |title=Key Gaza famine report cited by UN, ICJ has systematic flaws, Israeli review finds |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/key-gaza-famine-report-cited-by-un-icj-has-systematic-flaws-israeli-review-finds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531191656/https://www.timesofisrael.com/key-gaza-famine-report-cited-by-un-icj-has-systematic-flaws-israeli-review-finds/ |archive-date=31 May 2024 |work=The Times of Israel |issn=0040-7909 |oclc=1076401854}}</ref>
On 9 July 2024, a group of UN experts released a statement that Israel's "targeted starvation campaign" had caused the death of children in Gaza and that famine had spread from the North to the rest of Gaza. The statement cited the deaths of three children who had recently died of malnutrition in Gaza, saying: "When the first child dies from malnutrition and dehydration, it becomes irrefutable that famine has taken hold."<ref name="cnn20240709">{{Cite news |last1=Kourdi |first1=Eyad |last2=Said-Moorhouse |first2=Lauren |date=9 July 2024 |title=Famine has spread throughout Gaza, say UN experts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/09/middleeast/gaza-famine-un-report-intl-latam/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709211935/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/09/middleeast/gaza-famine-un-report-intl-latam/index.html |archive-date=9 July 2024 |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=CNN |language=en }}</ref><ref name="cbsnews20240709">{{Cite news |date=9 July 2024 |title=U.N. experts say Gaza children dying in Israeli 'targeted starvation campaign' |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-n-experts-say-gaza-children-dying-in-israeli-targeted-starvation-campaign/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709154452/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-n-experts-say-gaza-children-dying-in-israeli-targeted-starvation-campaign/ |archive-date=9 July 2024 |agency=AFP |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=CBS News |language=en-US }}</ref><ref name="aljazeera20240709">{{Cite news |date=9 July 2024 |title=UN experts say Israel carrying out 'targeted starvation campaign' in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/9/un-experts-say-israel-carrying-out-targeted-starvation-campaign-in-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709175052/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/9/un-experts-say-israel-carrying-out-targeted-starvation-campaign-in-gaza |archive-date=9 July 2024 |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |language=en }}</ref><ref name="ohchr20240709">{{Cite web |date=9 July 2024 |title=UN experts declare famine has spread throughout Gaza strip |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/un-experts-declare-famine-has-spread-throughout-gaza-strip |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709172258/https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/un-experts-declare-famine-has-spread-throughout-gaza-strip |archive-date=9 July 2024 |website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights }}</ref> According to Devereux, while there was no famine in Gaza "in the first half of 2024" according to the IPC's food insecurity scale, the situation in Gaza fell under other scholarly definitions which see it "as a process of intensifying food crisis," agreeing with the declarations of famine by FEWS NET and the WFP.{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|pp=15–16}} WHO stated people were trapped in a "vicious cycle" as malnutrition was worsening people's vulnerability to diseases.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanitarian Situation Update #190 Gaza Strip |url=https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-190-gaza-strip |website=OCHA |date=12 July 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712184854/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-190-gaza-strip |archive-date=12 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to a group of UN experts, as of July 2024 Israel's "targeted starvation campaign" had spread throughout the entire Gaza Strip, causing the death of children.<ref name="cnn20240709"/><ref name="cbsnews20240709"/><ref name="aljazeera20240709"/><ref name="ohchr20240709"/> The same month, detected cases of childhood malnutrition in northern Gaza increased by 300% compared to May 2024.<ref name="HSU200">{{cite web |date=5 August 2024 |title=Humanitarian Situation Update #200 Gaza Strip |url=https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-200-gaza-strip |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805220437/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-200-gaza-strip |archive-date=5 August 2024 |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=OCHA |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> In September 2024, Refugees International warned that food conditions had "deteriorated badly" since May, stating, "There remains a grave risk of famine conditions spiraling once again."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Konyndyk |first1=Jeremy |last2=Marks |first2=Jesse |date=12 September 2024 |title=Untangling the Reality of Famine in Gaza |url=https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/untangling-the-reality-of-famine-in-gaza/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912153807/https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/untangling-the-reality-of-famine-in-gaza/ |archive-date=12 September 2024 |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Refugees International}}</ref>
====October–December 2024==== Israel tightened the blockade in October,{{Sfn|Devereux|2024|p=13}} and individuals familiar with aid flow into the Gaza Strip stated that the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Strip was at its lowest levels in seven months.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gauthier-Villars |first1=David |last2=Davidson |first2=John |date=2 October 2024 |title=Food aid to Gaza falls as Israel sets new rule |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/food-aid-gaza-falls-israel-sets-new-aid-rule-sources-2024-10-02/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215194010/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/food-aid-gaza-falls-israel-sets-new-aid-rule-sources-2024-10-02/ |archive-date=15 December 2024 |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=Reuters}}</ref> The WFP stated on 11 October 2024 that no food had entered northern Gaza that entire month, and that one million people faced starvation.<ref name="UN says no food">{{cite web |last1=Khadder |first1=Kareem |last2=Salman |first2=Abeer |last3=Kourdi |first3=Eyad |last4=Lockwood |first4=Pauline |date=11 October 2024 |title=UN says no food has entered northern Gaza since start of October, putting 1 million people at risk of starvation |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/11/middleeast/food-northern-gaza-starvation-un-intl |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241020190208/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/11/middleeast/food-northern-gaza-starvation-un-intl/ |archive-date=20 October 2024 |access-date=13 October 2024 |website=CNN}}</ref> The World Food Programme (WFP) warned in October 2024 that one million people were at risk of starvation.<ref name="UN says no food"/> The human rights organizations Gisha, B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and Yesh Din warned this was one of the "alarming signs" that Israel was implementing the General's Plan to starve northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shotter |first1=James |title=Israel 'starting to implement' north Gaza starvation plan, say rights groups |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c0c9e82c-3c83-4bda-a7f9-157ce32d8c12?shareType=nongift |work=Financial Times |access-date=19 October 2024 |date=14 October 2024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The United Nations warned on 17 October that it would run out of food for people in northern Gaza in just a week and a half.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shotter |first1=James |last2=Saleh |first2=Heba |title=UN warns it will run out of food for northern Gaza in week and a half |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4591ec61-2c81-48c2-b60a-11679bed200d?shareType=nongift |work=Financial Times |access-date=19 October 2024 |date=16 October 2024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The IPC released an updated report, finding nearly all people in Gaza faced high levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 3), and 133,000 people faced catastrophic lack of food (Phase 5).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mpoke Bigg |first1=Matthew |date=17 October 2024 |title=Gazans Are So Malnourished That They Could Face Famine, Report Warns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/world/middleeast/gaza-malnourished-famine-warnings.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241029225750/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/world/middleeast/gaza-malnourished-famine-warnings.html |archive-date=29 October 2024 |access-date=21 October 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> By the end of the month, humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip reached its lowest levels since the conflict began.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza aid falls to lowest level since start of war despite US warning to Israel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/99488ed6-e3e3-4d07-9316-e236b3640ddc# |work=Financial Times |access-date=30 October 2024 |date=29 October 2024 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
In December 2024, OCHA claimed that only 2,205 aid trucks had entered Gaza, while Israel said 5,000 entered. The pre-war amount was about 15,000 a month. OCHA claimed that 91% of Gaza's population faced "high levels of acute food insecurity". Israel considered that month whether to limit more humanitarian aid after Donald Trump's election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel considering limiting humanitarian aid to Gaza after Trump's inauguration |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/04/middleeast/israel-gaza-aid-limits-trump-intl/index.html |website=CNN |date=4 January 2025 |access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref>
==== January–March 2025 ==== During the January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Israel permitted a maximum of 600 aid trucks to enter every day. The deliveries did not have any significant disruptions, and prices of food was lower.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-29 |title=Gangs and merchants sell food aid in Gaza, where Israel's offensive has shattered security |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-aid-un-ghf-567c5bffd5d7ae4cc54ea0816a159f8f |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> On 5 February, the UN reported that over one million people had received food aid since the start of the ceasefire. In addition to food parcel deliveries, there were increased bread deliveries at bakeries and food kitchens. A community kitchen in northern Gaza had reopened on 24 January. The WFP delivered fuel, enabling five Gazan bakeries to boost production capacity by 40%.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-05 |title=Gaza: More than a million receive food aid since the start of the ceasefire |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1159796 |access-date=2025-09-18 |website=UN News |language=en}}</ref>
====March – 9 October 2025==== On 2 March 2025, Israel cut off all aid to the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Ben |last2=Shbair |first2=Bilal |date=July 30, 2025 |title=One Gazan Girl's Fight to Survive Extreme Hunger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/us/politics/army-secretary-west-point-trump-loomer.html |access-date=December 26, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The blockade caused food prices to increase by up to 1,400%. By the end of the month, all bakeries supported by the WFP had run out of flour and cooking oil.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4wvvnzp39o|title=UN agency runs out of food aid in Gaza after Israeli blockade|date=25 April 2025|access-date=27 April 2025|website=BBC|last1=Gritten|first1=David|last2=Moench|first2=Mallory}}</ref> During this complete blockade (2–25 March), at least 58 people starved to death.<ref name=652025AJ>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2025 |title=Dozens of Palestinians starved to death under Israel's blockade of Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/3/57-palestinians-starved-to-death-under-israels-blockade-of-gaza |access-date=6 May 2025 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref name=2552025IMEMC>{{cite web |date=25 May 2025 |title=Child Dies Of Malnutrition Amid Worsening Humanitarian Crisis |url=https://imemc.org/article/child-dies-of-malnutrition-amid-worsening-humanitarian-crisis/ |access-date=26 May 2025 |website=International Middle East Media Center |language=en}}</ref> In mid-April 2025, 12 CEOs of humanitarian organizations signed a statement that aid systems were in danger of collapsing.<ref name="NBC News, World Food Programme has run out, April 27, 2025">{{cite web |author1=Astha Rajvanshi |date=27 April 2025 |title=The World Food Programme has run out of food in Gaza |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/world-food-programme-food-stocks-depleted-gaza-rcna203183 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250715163204/https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/world-food-programme-food-stocks-depleted-gaza-rcna203183 |archive-date=15 July 2025 |website=NBC News}}</ref>
On 25 April, the WFP announced that it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens preparing hot meals in Gaza; the meals were expected to be gone within days. The kitchens had been the only consistent source of food assistance in the last few weeks, although they reached only half of the population with one quarter of their daily food requirements.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 April 2025 |title=WFP runs out of food stocks in Gaza |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162611 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425145804/https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162611 |archive-date=25 April 2025 |access-date=26 April 2025 |website=UN News |language=en}}</ref> On 28 April, the Gaza Media Office announced that there were over 65,000 cases of acute malnutrition in children in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="middleeasteye20250428">{{Cite web |date=28 April 2024 |title=At least 65,000 children facing malnutrion in the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/least-65000-children-facing-malnutrion-gaza-strip-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250430043914/https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/least-65000-children-facing-malnutrion-gaza-strip-0 |archive-date=30 April 2025 |access-date=29 April 2025 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> UNRWA corroborated these claims, saying there were 66,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition in May.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 May 2025 |title=UNRWA: 66,000 children Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition |url=https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/157077 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506115505/https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/157077 |archive-date=6 May 2025 |access-date=7 May 2025 |website=WAFA Agency |language=en}}</ref>
According to a United Nations report from early June, 2,700 children under the age of five in Gaza were suffering from acute malnutrition, representing a threefold increase compared to three months earlier.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 June 2025 |title=UN warns of surge in acute malnutrition among Gaza's young children |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/6/un-warns-of-surge-in-acute-malnutrition-among-gazas-young-children |website=aljazeera}}</ref>
In mid-July, it was reported that at least 76 children and 10 adults had died from malnutrition throughout the Gaza war.<ref name=2172025CNN>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2025 |title=Four-year old girl dies of hunger in Gaza as Israel throttles food supply |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/20/middleeast/gaza-girl-food-crisis-intl |access-date=21 July 2025 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> On 23 July, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 10 people had died from starvation in the previous 24 hours; this was after reporting the previous day that 15 people had died in the 24 hours before that. This brought the total death count from starvation to 111.<ref name=2282025ABC>{{cite news |date=22 July 2025 |title=15 dead, including 4 children, of malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, Hamas-run ministry says |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/15-dead-including-4-children-malnutrition-gaza-past/story?id=123951220 |access-date=22 July 2025 |work=ABC News |publisher= |location=}}</ref><ref name=2382025AJ>{{cite news |date=23 July 2025 |title=LIVE: Israel pounds Gaza as forced starvation kills 10 more Palestinians |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/7/23/live-israel-pounds-gaza-as-deaths-from-starvation-mount |work=Al Jazeera |publisher= |location=}}</ref> On 26 July, the death toll rose to 122.<ref name="Hume2025">{{Cite web |last1=Hume |first1=Tim |last2=Regencia |first2=Ted |date=26 July 2025 |title=Nine starve to death in Gaza in one day as Israel blocks aid supplies |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/7/26/live-israels-starvation-policy-leaves-122-dead-in-gaza-mostly-children |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>
The IPC reported on 25 July that a "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in Gaza, citing additional displacement caused by a new offensive in Deir al-Balah, mass killings near aid sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and the lack of ready-to-eat items distributed by the GHF.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marx |first=Willem |date=29 July 2025 |title=A 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, a U.N.-backed report warns |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5483520/gaza-famine-hunger |access-date=14 August 2025 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> On 22 August, the IPC and the FRC confirmed famine within the Gaza Governorate, warning that the classification could spread throughout Gaza.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mednick |first1=Sam |last2=Shurafa |first2=Wafaa |date=22 August 2025 |title=Famine grips Gaza's largest city and is likely to spread, authority on food crises says |url=https://apnews.com/article/gaza-famine-hunger-israel-ceasefire-a5f88e20db2a5c4f754117de9bdada69 |access-date=22 August 2025 |website=Associated Press |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yee |first=Vivian |date=22 August 2025 |title=Gaza City and Surrounding Areas Officially Hit by Famine, Global Group Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/world/middleeast/famine-gaza-city-israel.html |access-date=22 August 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> It concluded that Deir al-Balah Governorate and Khan Yunis Governorate would reach famine levels within a month. The IPC had insufficient data on North Gaza Governorate for a classification but concluded that conditions were likely similar or worse than in the Gaza Governorate.<ref name="IPC_22_August_2025"/><ref name="reuters20250822"/>
On 30 August, CNN reported that Israel had been dropping leaflets over Gaza City telling residents to move south of Wadi Gaza. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, "Such an evacuation would trigger a massive population movement that no area in the Gaza Strip can absorb, given the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the extreme shortages of food, water, shelter and medical care."<ref name="CNN30August2025">{{Cite news |date=30 August 2025 |title=Israel to halt airdrops ahead of Gaza City offensive as hostage families lash out at Netanyahu |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/middleeast/airdrops-israel-halt-evacuation-gaza-city-intl |work=CNN |quote=This week Israeli drones circled over several areas in and around the city to drop leaflets, according to Gaza City residents, telling people to evacuate to south of Wadi Gaza, which bisects the Strip.}}</ref>
Since the GHF began operating in Gaza in May, at least 1,373 aid seekers have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Of these, 859 were near GHF-run aid sites, and 514 were killed while waiting along food convoy routes controlled by the IDF. Additionally, an MSF worker reported that Israeli forces attacked Palestinians who were following aid trucks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel 'engineering massacres' as more Palestinians starve to death in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/1/israel-engineering-massacres-as-more-palestinians-starve-to-death-in-gaza |website=aljazeera |date=1 August 2025 }}</ref>
According to Democracy Now, the Palestinian academic Omar Harb starved to death at age 60 on 4 September.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-05 |title=Israeli Attacks Kill Dozens of Palestinians as Army Claims to Control 40% of Gaza City |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/5/headlines/israeli_attacks_kill_dozens_of_palestinians_as_army_claims_to_control_40_of_gaza_city |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=Democracy Now! |language=en}}</ref>
On 9 October 2025, UNRWA said they have enough food for the entrite population of the Gaza strip for 3 months.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2025/10/09/un-says-has-enough-stocks-to-feed-entire-gaza-for-3-months | title=UN says has enough stocks to feed entire Gaza for 3 months | website=Al Arabiya | date=9 October 2025 }}</ref>
====10 October 2025 – present==== The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on 10 October 2025.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 10, 2025 |title=Israel Says Cease-Fire Has Begun, Troops Withdraw From Parts of Gaza |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-says-cease-fire-has-begun-troops-start-withdrawing-from-parts-of-gaza-098b90dc |access-date=October 11, 2025 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Under the ceasefire terms, Israel was to permit up to 600 humanitarian aid trucks to enter Gaza each day. Since then, the limit has been reduced to 300, with Israeli officials attributing the change to delays in recovering the bodies of Israeli hostages believed to be buried beneath rubble from Israeli strikes.<ref name="onworf">{{cite web | last=Chughtai | first=Alia | title=On World Food Day, Israel continues to restrict aid into Gaza | website=Al Jazeera | date=2025-10-16 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/16/on-world-food-day-israel-continues-to-restrict-aid-into-gaza | access-date=2025-10-17}}</ref> Data from the UN2720 Monitoring and Tracking Dashboard, which records the movement of humanitarian convoys entering Gaza, showed that between 10 and 16 October, only 216 trucks reached their intended destinations within Gaza.<ref name="onworf"/>
Since the ceasefire, Israel has increased the entry of medical and humanitarian supplies into Gaza; however, according to WHO, the amount remains far below what is required to restore the territory's health system.<ref>{{cite web | last=Seddon | first=Sean | title=Gaza health crisis will last for 'generations', WHO chief warns | website=BBC Home | date=2025-10-22 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvezzdnmrno | access-date=2025-10-26}}</ref> On 23 October, 41 humanitarian organizations working in Gaza accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries despite ceasefire commitments, citing arbitrary rejections of shipments and new restrictions on NGO registration. Between 10 and 21 October, 17 international NGOs were denied entry for essential supplies including food, water, and medicine, with 94% of all rejections issued to such organizations.<ref>{{cite web | title=Mounting alarm as Israeli authorities reject NGO applications to transport life-saving aid into Gaza | website=Oxfam International | date=2025-10-23 | url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/mounting-alarm-israeli-authorities-reject-ngo-applications-transport-life-saving-0 | access-date=2025-10-26}}</ref>
On December 19, the IPC published a report, declaring that there is no longer a famine in Gaza after improvements in availability to commercial and humanitarian food delivery following the ceasefire, but warned that the situation remains "highly fragile".<ref name="apnews20251219">{{Cite web|title=Spread of famine in Gaza Strip averted but Palestinians there still face starvation, experts say|url=https://apnews.com/article/mideast-gaza-famine-hunger-ipc-report-885b40b8fc4d435268bdeb2e320c19f8|website=Associated Press|date=2025-12-19|last=Mednick|first=Sam|access-date=2025-12-19}}</ref> The IPC report also stated that more than 100,000 people faced catastrophic conditions, but projected that figure to decline to around 1,900 people by April 2026.<ref name="reuters20251219"/>
===Southern Gaza=== On 7 January 2024, the UNRWA deputy director reported severe hunger in southern Gaza, stating, "I don't know how much more they can bear before something explodes in the southern part of Gaza".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ahmad |first1=Reged |last2=Yang |first2=Maya |last3=Dugan |first3=Emily |date=7 January 2024 |title=UNRWA in 'life-saving' mode in Gaza as humanitarian crisis deteriorates |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jan/07/middle-east-crisis-live-israel-west-bank-jenin-palestinian-ministry-latest-updates?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-659ad5498f08640ae963b98e#block-659ad5498f08640ae963b98e |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108021606/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jan/07/middle-east-crisis-live-israel-west-bank-jenin-palestinian-ministry-latest-updates?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-659ad5498f08640ae963b98e#block-659ad5498f08640ae963b98e |archive-date=8 January 2024 |access-date=8 January 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> On 11 February, the mayor of Rafah stated the city was facing famine and that available supplies were only enough for 10% of the population.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mayor of Rafah: Military action on city will result in 'bloodbath' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-death-toll-nears-28000-as-rafah-assault-looms?update=2696379 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=11 February 2024 |date=10 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210101416/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-death-toll-nears-28000-as-rafah-assault-looms?update=2696379 |url-status=live |archive-date=10 February 2024}}</ref> Long queues for food were reported in Rafah.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mahmoud |first1=Hani |title=Vast majority in Rafah go hungry |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709984 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217153042/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709984 |url-status=live |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> On 15 February, UNOCHA stated there was "an urgent need to establish a stabilisation centre in Rafah for treating children suffering from severe malnutrition".<ref>{{cite news |title=Rafah urgently needs stabilisation centre for children with 'severe malnutrition': UN |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709265 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221095831/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709265 |url-status=live |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> UNOCHA stated on 17 February that people in Rafah were in "such dire need that they stop aid trucks to take food and eat it immediately".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marsi |first1=Federica |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Usaid |date=17 February 2024 |title=People in Rafah are 'desperate, hungry, and terrified': UN |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2712881 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218075809/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2712881 |archive-date=18 February 2024 |access-date=18 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> On 19 February, Israeli gunboats fired at fishermen attempting to catch fish off the coast of Rafah.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=Israeli gunboats fired on Palestinian fishing boats |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-food-trucks-surrounded-as-hunger-spreads-in-gaza?update=2716830 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=20 February 2024 |date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220065239/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-food-trucks-surrounded-as-hunger-spreads-in-gaza?update=2716830 |archive-date=20 February 2024}}</ref> A 73-year-old displaced woman stated on 25 February, "I have never witnessed the starvation like this... Death for us is much better than our current life".<ref>{{cite news |title=Displaced women from Beit Hanoon share tales of displacement and famine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731666 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=26 February 2024 |date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=25 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225202009/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731666 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In May 2024, Israel launched a military offensive in Rafah, seizing and closing the Rafah crossing, one of two major crossings for humanitarian aid in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Laura |title=Israel's capture, closure of Rafah border crossing raises humanitarian alarm |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/4649574-israels-capture-closure-of-rafah-border-crossing-raises-humanitarian-alarm/ |work=The Hill |date=7 May 2024 |access-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507194430/https://thehill.com/policy/international/4649574-israels-capture-closure-of-rafah-border-crossing-raises-humanitarian-alarm |archive-date=7 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Martin Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, stated, "Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed and we are prevented from helping them."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Al-Mughrabi |first1=Nidal |title=Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-warns-israel-that-rafah-invasion-will-jeopardise-weapons-supply-assault-2024-05-09/ |work=Reuters |access-date=14 May 2024 |date=9 May 2024 |archive-date=5 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241105113934/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-warns-israel-that-rafah-invasion-will-jeopardise-weapons-supply-assault-2024-05-09/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In an assessment report, UNOCHA stated the closure of Rafah crossing and Israel's assault would have "serious consequences" for food and nutrition services.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #163 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-163-enar |website=ReliefWeb |date=8 May 2024 |publisher=UNOCHA |access-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510230637/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-163-enar |archive-date=10 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN ceased food distribution in Rafah on 21 May 2024, stating that humanitarian operations were on the verge of collapse, and if food supplies did not begin entering "in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread".<ref>{{cite news |date=21 May 2024 |title=UN suspends Rafah aid distribution and warns US pier may fail |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/un-suspends-food-aid-in-rafah-over-lack-of-supplies-and-insecurity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521192816/https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/un-suspends-food-aid-in-rafah-over-lack-of-supplies-and-insecurity |archive-date=21 May 2024 |access-date=22 May 2024 |website=The Guardian |location=Cairo |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On 30 May, the WFP stated food access was so constrained that southern Gaza was at risk of the same levels of catastrophic hunger as the north.<ref name="un20240530">{{cite web |title=Amid ongoing Israeli incursions into Gaza, aid facilities shut 'one after another' |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1150411 |website=UN News |date=30 May 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=8 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530115547/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1150411 |archive-date=30 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2024, the WFP stated its stocked up supplies of food in southern Gaza were beginning to run out.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Aidan |title=Food supplies in southern Gaza at risk, says UN official |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/food-supplies-southern-gaza-risk-says-un-official-2024-06-14/ |work=Reuters |access-date=22 June 2024 |date=14 May 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref> In July 2024, the WFP stated they had been forced to reduce food rations for families in central and southern Gaza due to limited supplies.<ref>{{cite web |title=WFP reduces rations for Gaza families to ensure coverage for newly displaced |url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-812028 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=26 July 2024 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=3 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727054956/https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-812028 |archive-date=27 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2024, the UN warned that more than 1 million people in southern and central Gaza had received no food rations in the month of August.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2024 |title=Israel Hinders Polio Vaccination; U.N. Warns Gazans Getting No Food in "Beyond Catastrophic" Scenario |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/6/headlines/israel_hinders_polio_vaccination_un_warns_gazans_getting_no_food_in_beyond_catastrophic_scenario |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906160813/https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/6/headlines/israel_hinders_polio_vaccination_un_warns_gazans_getting_no_food_in_beyond_catastrophic_scenario |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=Democracy Now! |language=en}}</ref>
===Northern Gaza=== {{stack| '''Percent of population in each IPC phase by region (6 May 2025)'''<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2025 |title=GAZA STRIP: IPC Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Special Snapshot April – September 2025 |url=https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Apr_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf |access-date=21 July 2025 |website=IPC}}</ref> {{ #invoke:Chart | bar-chart | height = 250 | width = 300 | stack = 1 | margin = true | group 1 = 30 : 25 : 15 : 20 : 25 | group 2 = 60 : 50 : 55 : 55 : 60 | group 3 = 10 : 25 : 30 : 25 : 15 | group 4 = 0 : 0 : 0 : 0 : 0 | colors = maroon : red : orange: yellow | group names = "Catastrophe" (phase 5) : "Emergency" (phase 4) : "Crisis" (phase 3) : "Stressed" (phase 2) | units suffix = % | x legends = North Gaza : Gaza : Deir al-Balah : Khan Younis : Rafah }} }} On 13 January 2024, ''The Guardian'' reported that the WFP had stated that nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cameron |first1=David |author-link=David Cameron |date=11 January 2024 |title=Israel must act now to let aid through and save lives in Gaza. Britain has a plan to help that happen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/11/israel-aid-gaza-britain-crossings-water-united-nations-food |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113023445/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/11/israel-aid-gaza-britain-crossings-water-united-nations-food |archive-date=13 January 2024 |access-date=13 January 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878}}</ref> The World Health Organization stated on 25 January 2024 that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shana |first1=Fadi |last2=Al-Mughrabi |first2=Nidal |last3=Williams |first3=Dan |date=25 January 2024 |title=Gaza health ministry says 20 Palestinians killed in strike on food aid queue |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tanks-batter-hospital-districts-gazas-khan-younis-2024-01-25/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217193511/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tanks-batter-hospital-districts-gazas-khan-younis-2024-01-25/ |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=26 January 2024 |work=Reuters}}</ref> A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adler |first1=Nils |last2=Alsaafin |first2=Linah |last3=Varshalomidze |first3=Tamila |last4=Osgood |first4=Brian |last5=Gadzo |first5=Merisha |date=30 January 2024 |title=Palestinians suffocating to death during clamour for food: Mercy Corps member |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/30/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-forces-detain-dozens-in-un-shelter-raid?update=2663848 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214153458/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/30/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-forces-detain-dozens-in-un-shelter-raid?update=2663848 |archive-date=14 February 2024 |access-date=31 January 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> A relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."<ref>{{cite news |title='Real suffering, real pain': Aid worker warns northern Gaza on 'verge of famine' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/31/israels-war-on-gaza-live-severe-hunger-in-gaza-as-aid-trucks-surrounded?update=2664984 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 February 2024 |date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201053641/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/31/israels-war-on-gaza-live-severe-hunger-in-gaza-as-aid-trucks-surrounded?update=2664984 |archive-date=1 February 2024}}</ref>
On 10 February 2024, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alsaafin |first1=Linah |last2=Osgood |first2=Brian |date=9 February 2024 |title=Gaza media office: Famine worsening in north |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-fear-in-rafah-as-israel-prepares-ground-attack?update=2694523 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221102320/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-fear-in-rafah-as-israel-prepares-ground-attack?update=2694523 |archive-date=21 February 2024 |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> On 15 February, ''Al Jazeera'' reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food.<ref>{{cite news |date=15 February 2024 |title=Some Palestinians going days without food as Israeli assault pushes Gaza towards famine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710789 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217045703/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710789 |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Osgood |first1=Brian |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Usaid |date=16 February 2024 |title='Tremendous challenges' in distributing aid in Gaza: UN official |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-17000-children-torn-from-parents-un-says?update=2712751 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217174139/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-17000-children-torn-from-parents-un-says?update=2712751 |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=People eating animal feed for survival |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-17000-children-torn-from-parents-un-says?update=2712732 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217174901/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-17000-children-torn-from-parents-un-says?update=2712732 |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived".<ref>{{cite news |title='Pure misery': 300,000 in Gaza's north facing famine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2713699 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=18 February 2024 |date=17 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218011347/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2713699 |archive-date=18 February 2024}}</ref> In late February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Usaid |last2=Osgood |first2=Brian |date=19 February 2024 |title=Gaza mill shuts down due to scarcity of grains and fuel, leaving citizens hungry and hopeless |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-food-trucks-surrounded-as-hunger-spreads-in-gaza?update=2716947 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220064524/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-food-trucks-surrounded-as-hunger-spreads-in-gaza?update=2716947 |archive-date=20 February 2024 |access-date=20 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref>
On 20 February 2024, the WFP stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Food Programme stops deliveries to northern Gaza |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68349031 |work=BBC News |date=20 February 2024 |access-date=21 February 2024 |archive-date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221001320/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68349031 |url-status=live}}</ref> In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people".<ref>{{cite news |title=Stopping WFP aid to northern Gaza a 'death sentence': Gaza authorities |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2720971 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 February 2024 |date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221143325/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2720971 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Michaelson |first1=Ruth |title=UNRWA suspends aid to northern Gaza amid 'collapse of civil order' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9fc1c8f08345124d7dc59#block-65d9fc1c8f08345124d7dc59 |work=The Guardian |date=24 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510145146/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9fc1c8f08345124d7dc59#block-65d9fc1c8f08345124d7dc59 |url-status=live}}</ref> Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dead horses, scraps, leaves: Gaza's hungry get desperate |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240224-dead-horses-scraps-leaves-gaza-s-hungry-get-desperate |work=France24 |date=24 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=25 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225004446/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240224-dead-horses-scraps-leaves-gaza-s-hungry-get-desperate |url-status=live}}</ref> One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger."<ref>{{cite news |date=24 February 2024 |title=Strikes on Gaza kill scores as Paris hosts new truce talks |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/strikes-on-gaza-kill-scores-as-paris-hosts-new-truce-talks/articleshow/107966219.cms?UTM_Source=Google_Newsstand&UTM_Campaign=RSS_Feed&UTM_Medium=Referral&from=mdr |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225035544/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/strikes-on-gaza-kill-scores-as-paris-hosts-new-truce-talks/articleshow/107966219.cms?UTM_Source=Google_Newsstand&UTM_Campaign=RSS_Feed&UTM_Medium=Referral&from=mdr |archive-date=25 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389 |oclc=61311680 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> ''Al Jazeera'' reported that two sisters searching for food on 25 February had been shot and claimed that Israeli Army was responsible for the incident.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Varshalomidze |first1=Tamila |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Usaid |date=25 February 2024 |title=Israeli army targets 2 hungry sisters seeking food in northern Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731830 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225224113/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731830 |archive-date=25 February 2024 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> Thousands of people in Gaza City waited for a possible delivery of flour on 25 February.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands wait for possible flour delivery near Gaza City |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731605 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=26 February 2024 |date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=26 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226060738/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731605 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 27 February 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, "What is happening in northern Gaza is a true famine... This escalating famine could kill thousands of citizens due to malnutrition and dehydration in the coming days in front of the eyes of the world."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marsi |first1=Federica |last2=Harb |first2=Ali |last3=Osgood |first3=Brian |date=27 February 2024 |title=Gaza Health Ministry warns of imminent mass deaths from famine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-biden-comments-turn-focus-back-to-gaza-ceasefire?update=2736351 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228041130/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-biden-comments-turn-focus-back-to-gaza-ceasefire?update=2736351 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |access-date=28 February 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> A man in the Jabalia refugee camp stated children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?"<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Zaanoun |first1=Adel |last2=Baudoin-Laarman |first2=Louis |title=Biden Orders US Military To Set Up Temporary Aid Port In Gaza |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/china-calls-war-in-gaza-a-disgrace-to-civilisation-1f700bb6 |magazine=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=9 March 2024 |date=7 March 2024 |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309180052/https://www.barrons.com/news/china-calls-war-in-gaza-a-disgrace-to-civilisation-1f700bb6 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 17 March 2024, 13 aid trucks arrived in Jabalia and Gaza City without incident, for the first time in months.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aid reaches north Gaza for first time in months |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-13-aid-trucks-reach-north-malnutrition-doubles?update=2779489 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=17 March 2024 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319031443/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-13-aid-trucks-reach-north-malnutrition-doubles?update=2779489 |url-status=live}}</ref> In late March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification placed northern Gaza in Phase 5, its most severe stage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Diaz |first1=Jaclyn |title=Famine in northern Gaza is 'imminent,' warns the world's leading authority on hunger |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239394316/gaza-famine-israel-humanitarian-aid |work=NPR |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321051616/https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239394316/gaza-famine-israel-humanitarian-aid |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=More on the report about food insecurity in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780807 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321051616/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780807 |url-status=live}}</ref> Analysis from the Food and Agriculture Organization found widespread destruction in Gaza's agricultural sector, including the deaths of 60% of milk cows, 70% of cattle stock, and 60% of small ruminants like goats and sheep.<ref>{{cite news |title=UN: Gaza famine imminent as agriculture sector ravaged |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/23/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-brushes-off-blinken-over-rafah-attack?update=2793424 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=25 March 2024 |date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=25 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325020224/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/23/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-brushes-off-blinken-over-rafah-attack?update=2793424 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 29 March 2024, the US State Department stated that famine in northern Gaza "quite possibly is present in at least some areas".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |title=Famine is now probably present in Gaza, US says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/famine-gaza-us-state-department-israel-food-aid |work=The Guardian |date=29 March 2024 |access-date=30 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510144518/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/famine-gaza-us-state-department-israel-food-aid |url-status=live}}</ref> A UNOCHA spokesperson stated people faced "cruel death by famine".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farge |first1=Emma |title=UN agencies press Israel to allow food aid to north Gaza, warn of famine |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-agency-calls-israel-revoke-ban-food-deliveries-north-gaza-2024-03-26/ |work=Reuters |access-date=30 March 2024 |date=26 March 2024 |archive-date=11 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411142412/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-agency-calls-israel-revoke-ban-food-deliveries-north-gaza-2024-03-26/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By late March, the growing season for khobiza, a wild plant eaten in northern Gaza, was ending, which journalist Moath al-Kahlout stated "will lead to an even more horrific famine".<ref>{{cite news |last1=al-Kahlout |first1=Moath |title=Clean water a 'luxury' in northern Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-bombing-intensifies-despite-un-truce-call |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=31 March 2024 |date=27 March 2024 |archive-date=31 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331051137/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-bombing-intensifies-despite-un-truce-call?update=2801967 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN stated 30% of its March 2024 aid missions had been denied.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #148 |url=https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-148 |website=UNOCHA |date=29 March 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=5 April 2024 |archive-date=4 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404235423/https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-148 |url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2024, Oxfam reported that people in northern Gaza were surviving on an average of 245 calories a day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Trew |first1=Bel |title=Families in northern Gaza 'forced to survive on a less than a can of beans a day' |url=https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/families-north-gaza-forced-survive-160233220.html |via=Yahoo! News |date=5 April 2024 |work=The Independent |access-date=16 April 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510145728/https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/families-north-gaza-forced-survive-160233220.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 3 May 2024, Cindy McCain, American director of the U.N. WFP, said "There is famine—full-blown famine—in the north, and it's moving its way south."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/senior-un-official-says-northern-gaza-now-full-blown-famine-rcna150696 |title=A senior U.N. official says northern Gaza is now in 'full-blown famine' |date=4 May 2024 |work=NBC News |access-date=4 May 2024|archive-date=4 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504082604/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/senior-un-official-says-northern-gaza-now-full-blown-famine-rcna150696|url-status=live}}</ref> In early June 2024, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) stated, "It is possible, if not likely" that famine was underway in northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Magdy |first1=Samy |title=Over 1 Million in Gaza Could Experience Highest Level of Starvation by July: U.N. Agencies |url=https://time.com/6985912/gaza-starvation/ |magazine=Time |access-date=13 June 2024 |date=5 June 2024 |archive-date=13 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613222542/https://time.com/6985912/gaza-starvation/ }}</ref>
In late June, the FRC released a new analysis of the IPC projections in north Gaza. It challenged the IPC and FEWS NET's methodologies and said that current evidence did not prove that famine was imminent. However, it acknowledged the "extreme human suffering" of civilians in Gaza and called for sustainable humanitarian aid to enter. It also said that conditions in north Gaza had seemingly improved.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Aidan |publication-date=26 June 2024 |title=High risk of famine persists across Gaza, global hunger monitor says |work=Reuters |location=Cairo, Egypt |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/high-risk-famine-persists-across-gaza-global-hunger-monitor-says-2024-06-25/ |archive-date=25 August 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250825131831/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/high-risk-famine-persists-across-gaza-global-hunger-monitor-says-2024-06-25/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kasprak |first=Alex |title=UN Said There's No Famine in Gaza? |website=Snopes |publication-date=2 July 2024 |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/un-famine-gaza/ |archive-date=25 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250825131720/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/un-famine-gaza/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="Hansler 2024"/> In response to the IPC findings, the WFP stated that "The improvement shows the difference that greater access can make" and "Increased food deliveries to the north and nutrition services have helped to reduce the very worst levels of hunger, leaving a still desperate situation."<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 June 2024 |title=New famine alert for Gaza where families go days without food |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151416 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625114831/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151416 |archive-date=25 June 2024 |access-date=25 June 2024 |website=UN News |language=en |publisher=United Nations }}</ref> In July 2024, UNOCHA stated commercial trucks had not been able to make deliveries to northern Gaza for several months.<ref>{{cite web |title='No vegetables or meat': pangs of hunger stalk Gazans |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/no-vegetables-meat-pangs-hunger-193415613.html |website=Yahoo! News |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=20 July 2024 |date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=20 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720153111/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/no-vegetables-meat-pangs-hunger-193415613.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2024, the United Nations reported that childhood malnutrition cases had increased 300% between May and July 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mizzi |first1=Oliver |title=Malnutrition up 300 percent as Bezalel Smotrich says Gaza 'should starve' |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/malnutrition-300-percent-smotrich-says-gaza-should-starve |website=The New Arab |access-date=17 August 2024 |date=6 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806171206/https://www.newarab.com/news/malnutrition-300-percent-smotrich-says-gaza-should-starve |archive-date=6 August 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In November 2024, amidst the Siege of North Gaza, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee stated, "The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence."<ref>{{cite web |title=North Gaza Situation 'Apocalyptic': UN Agency Chiefs |url=https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/north-gaza-situation-apocalyptic-un-agency-chiefs-53d4951f# |website=Barron's |publisher=Agence France-Presse |access-date=2 November 2024 |date=1 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115184115/https://www.barrons.com/amp/news/north-gaza-situation-apocalyptic-un-agency-chiefs-53d4951f |archive-date=15 January 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 November, the Famine Review Committee that famine was "imminent in areas within the Northern Gaza Strip." It also warned that action would need to be taken "within days not weeks" to avoid the situation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 November 2024 |title='Imminent' famine likely in northern Gaza, experts warn in alert |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/09/israel-iran-war-news-hamas-gaza-palestine/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241112141421/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/09/israel-iran-war-news-hamas-gaza-palestine/ |archive-date=12 November 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 November 2024 |title='Strong likelihood' of imminent famine in north Gaza: Food security experts |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/9/strong-likelihood-of-imminent-famine-in-north-gaza-food-security-experts |access-date=10 November 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>
== Humanitarian aid == {{see also|Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war}} [[File:U.S. Central Command airdrops 38,000 MREs over Gaza (8266207).jpg|thumb|March 2024 US airdrop of aid into Gaza. Al Jazeera reported that the drop was described as "ineffective" by Oxfam, and "symbolic" by a former director of USAID.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxfam blasts Biden's airdrop plan, says US officials trying to relieve 'guilty consciences' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2743903 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304030237/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2743903 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Aid airdrops 'symbolic' gesture to 'appease' US electorate |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744486 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304002133/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744486 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
On 9 January 2024, Gisha reported that only 6,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October, the equivalent of 12 days of aid before the conflict's start.<ref>{{cite news |title=Just 6,000 aid trucks enter Gaza over past three months: Israeli group |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/8/israel-war-on-gaza-world-must-look-says-wael-dahdouh-as-son-killed?update=2604624 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=9 January 2024 |date=8 January 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109012358/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/8/israel-war-on-gaza-world-must-look-says-wael-dahdouh-as-son-killed?update=2604624 |url-status=live}}</ref> Colonel Moshe Tetro, who heads the Israeli unit overseeing deliveries of humanitarian aid, stated that there was no food shortage in Gaza and that existing reserves are sufficient.<ref name="Burke"/> Another Israeli official stated, "Don't forget that this is an Arab, Gazan population whose DNA is to hoard, certainly when it comes to food."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gontarz |first1=Nir |date=12 January 2024 |title=Half a Million Gazans Are Suffering From Acute Hunger. Let That Sink In |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-12/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/half-a-million-gazans-are-suffering-from-acute-hunger-let-that-sink-in/0000018c-fd57-d517-af9d-fd7f19b10000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214083710/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-12/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/half-a-million-gazans-are-suffering-from-acute-hunger-let-that-sink-in/0000018c-fd57-d517-af9d-fd7f19b10000 |archive-date=14 February 2024 |access-date=17 January 2024 |work=Haaretz}}</ref>
Officials stated that the worsening crisis was partly attributable to the limited amount of aid being allowed into Gaza, with Cindy McCain stating, "People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khaled |first1=Mai |last2=Saleh |first2=Heba |title='We've all lost weight': the desperate struggle to find food in Gaza |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e8b98b73-e8c5-4543-82a5-362a93c6cec1 |work=Financial Times |access-date=22 January 2024 |date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124052309/https://www.ft.com/content/e8b98b73-e8c5-4543-82a5-362a93c6cec1 |archive-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> Arif Husain, the WFP chief economist, stated on 24 January that only between 20 and 30% of needed aid was entering Gaza,<ref>{{cite news |date=23 January 2024 |title=WFP official says 20 to 30 percent of needed aid entering Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/israels-war-on-gaza-ground-shaking-in-hospital-amid-israeli-attacks?update=2643549 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124054024/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/israels-war-on-gaza-ground-shaking-in-hospital-amid-israeli-attacks?update=2643549 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |access-date=24 January 2024 |work=Al Jazeera}}</ref> as UNOCHA accused Israel of "systematically denying" humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tétrault-Farber |first1=Gabrielle |title=Risk of 'pockets of famine' in Gaza, World Food Programme says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/little-aid-reaching-gaza-prompting-risk-pockets-famine-wfp-2024-01-23/ |work=Reuters |access-date=24 January 2024 |date=23 January 2024}}</ref>
On 1 February 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for unrestricted humanitarian access, stating, "Everyone in Gaza is hungry."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Guterres |first1=Antonio |date=31 January 2024 |title=Secretary-General's remarks to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2024-01-31/secretary-generals-remarks-the-committee-the-exercise-of-the-inalienable-rights-of-the-palestinian-people-delivered |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217193459/https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2024-01-31/secretary-generals-remarks-the-committee-the-exercise-of-the-inalienable-rights-of-the-palestinian-people-delivered |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=2 February 2024 |website=United Nations}}</ref> Human Rights Watch stated that the decision of 18 countries to defund UNRWA risked hastening famine.<ref>{{cite web |date=31 January 2024 |title=Gaza: Suspending UNRWA Aid Risks Hastening Famine |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/31/gaza-suspending-unrwa-aid-risks-hastening-famine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204063530/https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/31/gaza-suspending-unrwa-aid-risks-hastening-famine |archive-date=4 February 2024 |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> The WFP stated on 2 February that aid to northern Gaza was being overwhelmingly rejected by the Israelis.<ref>{{cite news |title=WFP says food deliveries consistently blocked |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-downplays-settler-violence-in-west-bank?update=2671962 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=3 February 2024 |date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221130258/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-downplays-settler-violence-in-west-bank?update=2671962 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> Journalist Abubaker Abed stated, "Families eat strategically, just to stay alive."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abed |first1=Abubaker |title='Families eat strategically, just to stay alive' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/5/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-strikes-level-homes-in-deir-el-balah?update=2679706 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=6 February 2024 |date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221135300/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/5/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-strikes-level-homes-in-deir-el-balah?update=2679706 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>
While speaking to ''CNN'' reporters in February 2024, some Palestinians stated humanitarian aid was being resold on the black market, with packages already opened. Israeli airstrikes around certain areas also caused prices to spike, with a 25-kilogram bag of flour jumping from $20 in Kahn Younis to $34 after intensified airstrikes.<ref name="cnn20240130"/> The same month, Human Rights Watch criticized the defunding of UNRWA, which they termed "the main humanitarian channel into Gaza", in the face of "mounting risks of famine and a binding order by the World Court in a case about genocide".<ref>{{cite news |title=Countries withholding UNRWA funds accused of 'callous indifference' to Gaza suffering |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-says-space-for-truce-deal-israel-vows-war?update=2689605 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=10 February 2024 |date=8 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208035034/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-says-space-for-truce-deal-israel-vows-war?update=2689605 |archive-date=8 February 2024}}</ref>
On 13 February 2024, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blocked a US-funded flour shipment to Gaza and stated he had done so "in coordination with the prime minister".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ravid |first1=Barak |date=13 February 2024 |title=Israeli minister blocking flour Bibi promised Biden would be allowed into Gaza |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/02/13/israel-gaza-flour-shipment# |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220140243/https://www.axios.com/2024/02/13/israel-gaza-flour-shipment |archive-date=20 February 2024 |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=Axios}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Smotrich says he will continue to block flour shipments to Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-jordans-king-urges-ceasefire-in-biden-meeting?update=2705873 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214060115/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-jordans-king-urges-ceasefire-in-biden-meeting?update=2705873 |archive-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan confirmed Israel was blocking flour from entering Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |title=Top US official confirms Israel not allowing flour into Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-afraid-to-leave-as-israel-fires-on-hospital |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=16 February 2024 |date=14 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216035625/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-afraid-to-leave-as-israel-fires-on-hospital?update=2708557 |archive-date=16 February 2024}}</ref> On 14 February, the ''Financial Times'' reported that an aid shipment that could have fed more than 1 million people for a month had been blocked at the Israeli port of Ashdod, with the Israeli government stating the food would not be released.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saleh |first1=Heba |last2=Zilber |first2=Neri |last3=Shotter |first3=James |last4=England |first4=Andrew |last5=Khaled |first5=Mai |title=Why desperately needed aid is failing to reach the people of Gaza |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d7bbd8c3-6c44-4687-a93e-48969d37373d?shareType=nongift |work=Financial Times |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214233523/https://www.ft.com/content/d7bbd8c3-6c44-4687-a93e-48969d37373d?shareType=nongift |archive-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> The UN stated aid deliveries had halved in February from the month before.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aid deliveries to Gaza cut in half in February: UNRWA |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2733839 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=26 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227055600/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2733839 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 February, USAID chief Samantha Power stated more aid needed to enter Gaza, calling the situation "a matter of life and death".<ref>{{cite news |title='Absolutely clear' Gaza needs more aid crossings: US official |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738880 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229032008/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738880 |url-status=live}}</ref> Following a US announcement that it was beginning airdrops of aid and building a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The time when countries use air drops and these maritime piers is usually, if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Niamh |title=The US is dropping aid into Gaza. Here's why that will do little to ease a humanitarian crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/09/middleeast/airdrops-gaza-israel-us-explainer-intl/index.html |work=CNN |date=9 March 2024 |access-date=10 March 2024 |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309193053/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/09/middleeast/airdrops-gaza-israel-us-explainer-intl/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 2024, there were efforts to address the crisis include attempts to negotiate a humanitarian aid cease-fire and allow for the provision of aid in addition to a hostage release deal.<ref name="washingtonpost20240304">{{Cite news |last1=Brasch |first1=Ben |last2=Soroka |first2=Lior |last3=Wu |first3=Daniel |name-list-style=and |date=4 March 2024 |title=What to know about the potential cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/04/israel-gaza-ceasefire-hamas-hostages/ |access-date=21 March 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=2269358}}</ref> In March, the US began airdropping meals into Gaza. The first two aid drops provided over 74,800 US and Jordanian meals.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2024 |title=More U.S. aid airdropped into Gaza |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235940178/more-u-s-aid-air-dropped-into-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305143805/https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235940178/more-u-s-aid-air-dropped-into-gaza |archive-date=5 March 2024 |website=NPR}}</ref> The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in late March: "Some families receive a can of food every other day for the whole family".<ref>{{cite news |title='Alarming' lack of food in Gaza: Red Cross |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2785997 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=23 March 2024 |date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323022725/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2785997 |url-status=live}}</ref> In late March, residents reported that animal feed was running out in parts of Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=Despite UN resolution, humanitarian situation dire in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-world-welcomes-un-ceasefire-resolution?update=2800086 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=30 March 2024 |date=26 March 2024 |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330042755/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-world-welcomes-un-ceasefire-resolution?update=2800086 |url-status=live}}</ref> In late April 2024, the WFP stated half of Gaza's population is starving.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shao |first1=Elena |title=How the U.S. Humanitarian Pier in Gaza Will Work |work=The New York Times |date=27 April 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/27/world/middleeast/gaza-pier-israel-hamas-war.html |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=28 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428004947/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/27/world/middleeast/gaza-pier-israel-hamas-war.html |url-status=live}}</ref> At the end of May 2024, the United Nations stated that humanitarian aid deliveries had dropped 67% since the start of Israel's Rafah offensive at the beginning of the month.<ref name="un20240530"/> The WFP stated it was unable to feed most civilians in Rafah and described conditions as "apocalyptic".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barr |first1=Natalie |title=UN food agency can't feed enough Gazans in 'apocalyptic' Rafah as IDF pushes into city |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/31/middleeast/wfp-rafah-gaza-food-aid-intl-hnk/index.html |website=CNN |date=31 May 2024 |access-date=9 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601035110/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/31/middleeast/wfp-rafah-gaza-food-aid-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=1 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In June 2024, the WFP stated that aid workers moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing faced risks due to "fighting, damaged roads, unexploded ordnance, and Israeli restrictions."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Magdy |first1=Samy |title=UN to Israel: Aid operations across Gaza will be suspended without improved safety |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-to-israel-aid-operations-across-gaza-will-be-suspended-without-improved-safety |website=PBS |date=25 June 2024 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625203214/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/un-to-israel-aid-operations-across-gaza-will-be-suspended-without-improved-safety |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> World Central Kitchen said it had provided over 50 million meals in Gaza with plans to expand operations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 2024 |title=World Central Kitchen says it has supplied 50 mln meals in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/world-central-kitchen-says-it-has-supplied-50-mln-meals-gaza-2024-06-04/ |website=Reuters}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref> By the end of June 2024, almost no aid was entering into Gaza.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Han |first1=Jeongyoon |last2=Bowman |first2=Tom |last3=Batrawy |first3=Aya |title=Aid workers in Gaza are fighting for survival too |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/06/29/g-s1-7150/aid-workers-gaza |website=NPR |date=29 June 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629090631/https://www.npr.org/2024/06/29/g-s1-7150/aid-workers-gaza |archive-date=29 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> As of July 2024, hundreds of trucks were waiting to enter into Gaza, some having been delayed for as long as two months.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ramahi |first1=Abdelhadi |title=Stranded aid trucks in Egypt deepen Gaza's humanitarian crisis |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/stranded-aid-trucks-egypt-deepen-gazas-humanitarian-crisis-2024-07-08/ |website=Reuters |date=8 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref> In September 2024, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that 83% of required food aid was failing to enter the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel's siege now blocks 83% of food aid reaching Gaza, new data reveals |url=https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/september/israels-siege-now-blocks-83-of-food-aid-reaching-gaza-new-data-reveals/ |website=Norwegian Refugee Council |access-date=22 September 2024 |date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917055216/https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/september/israels-siege-now-blocks-83-of-food-aid-reaching-gaza-new-data-reveals/ |archive-date=17 September 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Gaza floating pier === On 7 March 2024, President Biden announced plans to build a Gaza floating pier to deliver food and humanitarian aid. The pier's cost was an estimated $320 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beard |first=Stephen J. |last2=Petras |first2=George |date=3 May 2024 |title=US-built Gaza pier now open, trucks deliver aid to population isolated by Israel-Hamas war |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/05/03/gaza-pier-food-humanitarian-relief-pentagon/73524492007/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504061123/https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/05/03/gaza-pier-food-humanitarian-relief-pentagon/73524492007/ |archive-date=4 May 2024 |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}</ref> At its closure announcement on 17 July, the pier had been operational for 20 days, delivering {{convert|19400000|lb|tonne|order=flip}} of aid. The pier had been dismantled three times because of high sea states.<ref name="cnn-20240717">{{cite news |last1=Britzky |first1=Haley |last2=Bertrand |first2=Natasha |date=17 July 2024 |title=US military ends troubled temporary pier mission off Gaza coast |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/us-military-ends-pier-mission-gaza/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717212745/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/us-military-ends-pier-mission-gaza/index.html |archive-date=17 July 2024 |access-date=21 July 2024 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>
=== Gaza Humanitarian Foundation === {{Excerpt|Gaza Humanitarian Foundation}}
=== Israeli blocking of aid === thumb|Israelis blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, February 2024 {{see also|Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip (2023–present)|Gaza war protests in Israel#Protest against humanitarian aid|Israeli blockade of aid delivery to the Gaza Strip|Israeli ban on UNRWA}} {{excerpt|Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war#Israeli blocking of aid|only=paragraphs}}
===Israeli attacks on aid distribution=== {{Main|2025 Gaza Strip aid distribution killings}}
According to Forensic Architecture, a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London, more than 40 Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers have been documented. According to the group, these were not isolated events, but were rather "systematic in nature".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Scialla |first1=Mark |title=Starving since the day he was born |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/10/20/starving-since-the-day-he-was-born-how-famine-stalks-gazas-children |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=23 October 2024 |date=20 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241021050504/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/10/20/starving-since-the-day-he-was-born-how-famine-stalks-gazas-children |archive-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
Human Rights Watch reported eight incidents since the start of the war until May 2024 in which aid workers were attacked by Israeli forces despite providing locations for Israeli leaders. The eight incidents, it said, reveal serious flaws in the so-called "conflict prevention mechanism" – a mechanism designed to protect aid workers and allow them to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.<ref name="HSU200"/>
On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shooting into crowd kills 20 in north Gaza, combat in the south displaces thousands |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-1-25-2024-dc0a88df2ec76c404a5423beb80ec058 |work=Associated Press |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=29 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229225701/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-1-25-2024-dc0a88df2ec76c404a5423beb80ec058 |url-status=live}}</ref> Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Polglase |first=Katie |date=21 February 2024 |title=Exclusive: Israeli forces fired on food convoy in Gaza, UN documents and satellite analysis reveals |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/21/middleeast/un-food-convoy-gaza-israel-strike-cmd-intl/index.html |access-date=21 February 2024 |work=CNN |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222052401/https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/21/middleeast/un-food-convoy-gaza-israel-strike-cmd-intl/index.html |archive-date=22 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=UNRWA says it cannot deliver aid under fire |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/5/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-strikes-level-homes-in-deir-el-balah?update=2679719 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=6 February 2024 |date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221131057/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/5/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-strikes-level-homes-in-deir-el-balah?update=2679719 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mahmoud |first1=Hani |title='The destruction cycle continues' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa?update=2682494 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=7 February 2024 |date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207161648/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa?update=2682494 |archive-date=7 February 2024}}</ref> UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news |title=People shot at while waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City: Report |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa?update=2680957 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=8 February 2024 |date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208040044/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa?update=2680957 |archive-date=8 February 2024}}</ref> On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=Israeli forces shooting Palestinians in Gaza waiting for aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-palestinians-fleeing-rafah-face-israeli-strikes?update=2716606 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 February 2024 |date=18 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219051224/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-palestinians-fleeing-rafah-face-israeli-strikes?update=2716606 |archive-date=19 February 2024}}</ref> On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli troops shoot at Palestinians receiving aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2719711 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 February 2024 |date=20 February 2024 |archive-date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221051510/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2719711 |url-status=live}}</ref> People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians have consistently come under Israeli fire while waiting for aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734334 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=27 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227021912/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734334 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Timeline: Attacks on aid convoys and aid seekers in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734291 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=26 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227022359/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734291 |url-status=live}}</ref> UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Frustration mounts as UN convoy is blocked outside stricken hospital |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146977 |website=UN News |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=27 February 2024 |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301060008/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146977 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City reported three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three Palestinians killed while waiting for food aid near Gaza City |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2737357 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228165503/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2737357 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 29 February, more than 100 people seeking humanitarian died in the Flour Massacre by Israeli gunfire at the Al Nabulsi roundabout west of Gaza City.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Borger |first1=Julian |title=What we know about the killing of over 100 Palestinians near aid trucks |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/29/gaza-aid-trucks-death-toll-explainer |work=The Guardian |date=29 February 2024 |access-date=4 March 2024 |archive-date=18 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418092619/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/29/gaza-aid-trucks-death-toll-explainer |url-status=live}}</ref> The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".<ref>{{cite web |title=UN Human Rights Office strongly deplores killing of at least 112 Palestinians during food aid distribution in Gaza City |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-un-human-rights-office-strongly-deplores-killing-least-112-palestinians-during-food-aid-distribution-gaza-city-enar |website=ReliefWeb |date=1 March 2024 |publisher=OHCHR |access-date=4 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304061538/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-un-human-rights-office-strongly-deplores-killing-least-112-palestinians-during-food-aid-distribution-gaza-city-enar |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 2 March, three people in Beit Hanoun were killed while picking herbs for food.<ref>{{cite news |title=Three Palestinians killed while 'picking herbs' in northern Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744352 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304010405/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744352 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 3 March, at least nine people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in an Israeli airstrike in Deir el-Balah.<ref>{{cite news |title=At least nine killed after Israeli air strike hits aid truck in Deir el-Balah |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746020 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=6 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303234207/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Several killed in Israeli attack on aid truck in Gaza: Report |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/3/several-killed-in-israeli-attack-on-aid-truck-in-gaza-report |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314204212/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/3/several-killed-in-israeli-attack-on-aid-truck-in-gaza-report |url-status=live}}</ref> Later on the same day, dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli forces target truck carrying food aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746342 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304051347/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746342 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Ministry of Health called it a "horrific massacre".<ref>{{cite news |title='Dozens' of Palestinians killed in attack on Gaza City |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746371 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304051348/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746371 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 March, another attack was reported at the Kuwaiti roundabout, after thousands of people waited all day for humanitarian aid, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them as soon as the trucks arrived.<ref name="Another Israeli attack">{{cite news |title=Another Israeli attack on aid seekers in Gaza City |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/4/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-repeats-attacks-as-children-die-of-hunger?update=2749341 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=6 March 2024 |date=4 March 2024 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315132913/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/4/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-repeats-attacks-as-children-die-of-hunger?update=2749341 |url-status=live}}</ref> Al Jazeera stated the attacks on aid seekers had become "a near-daily occurrence".<ref name="Another Israeli attack"/> On 6 March, eight people were wounded after Israel fired live rounds at people seeking humanitarian aid at the Nabulsi roundabout.<ref>{{cite news |title=Another Israeli attack on aid seekers in Gaza City: Al Jazeera correspondent |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-food-convoy-blocked-from-north-gaza-by-israel |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=9 March 2024 |date=6 March 2024 |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309041402/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-food-convoy-blocked-from-north-gaza-by-israel?update=2754290 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 March, five people were killed while waiting for aid at the Nabulsi roundabout.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mahmoud |first1=Hani |title=More aid seekers killed at the same location as 'flour massacre' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/7/israels-war-on-gaza-live-20-starve-to-death-in-gaza-more-feared-dead?update=2755594 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=9 March 2024 |date=7 March 2024 |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309182336/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/7/israels-war-on-gaza-live-20-starve-to-death-in-gaza-more-feared-dead?update=2755594 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 March, several people seeking humanitarian aid were reportedly killed by Israeli open fire at the Kuwait Roundabout.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israeli forces again target aid seekers in northern Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-60000-pregnant-women-face-malnutrition-in-gaza?update=2759127 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310031023/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-60000-pregnant-women-face-malnutrition-in-gaza?update=2759127 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 12 March, Israel had killed an estimated 400 humanitarian aid seekers in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=More Palestinian aid seekers killed waiting for food |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/12/israels-war-on-gaza-live-2000-medical-staff-starving-in-north-ministry?update=2768891 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=14 March 2024 |date=12 March 2024 |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314215032/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/12/israels-war-on-gaza-live-2000-medical-staff-starving-in-north-ministry?update=2768891 |url-status=live}}</ref> Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers was described as the "new normal" for Palestinians in northern Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mahmoud |first1=Hani |title=Aid seekers death toll rises to 11 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/12/israels-war-on-gaza-live-2000-medical-staff-starving-in-north-ministry?update=2767558 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=15 March 2024 |date=12 March 2024 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315012522/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/12/israels-war-on-gaza-live-2000-medical-staff-starving-in-north-ministry?update=2767558 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 13 March 2024, at least nine aid seekers were shot and wounded by Israeli troops at the Kuwaiti roundabout.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aid seekers injured by Israeli bullets in Gaza City |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-vows-to-finish-the-job-in-rafah?update=2771002 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=16 March 2024 |date=13 March 2024 |archive-date=16 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316002803/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-vows-to-finish-the-job-in-rafah?update=2771002 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 14 March 2024, Israeli troops fired on Palestinians receiving aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout, killing 21 and injuring more than 150 others.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siddiqui |first=Usaid |date=14 March 2024 |title=Dozens of casualties as Israel army opens fire on aid-waiting Palestinians |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-attack-coming-soon-despite-pressure |access-date=15 March 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314205148/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-attack-coming-soon-despite-pressure |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Khadder |first1=Kareem |last2=Salman |first2=Abeer |last3=Tawfeeq |first3=Mohammed |date=14 March 2024 |title=At least 20 people killed, dozens wounded in shelling while waiting for food aid, Gaza health ministry says |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/middleeast/blasts-kill-palestinians-food-aid-gaza-intl/index.html |access-date=15 March 2024 |work=CNN |language=en |archive-date=14 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314234832/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/middleeast/blasts-kill-palestinians-food-aid-gaza-intl/index.html}}</ref> In a statement on 15 March, the UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths stated that attacks on aid seekers "cannot be allowed to continue".<ref>{{cite news |title='Unconscionable': Attacks on aid-seekers 'cannot be allowed to continue' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-new-horrific-massacre-on-starving-palestinians?update=2775023 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 March 2024 |date=15 March 2024 |archive-date=17 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317194614/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-new-horrific-massacre-on-starving-palestinians?update=2775023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Norwegian Refugee Council stated the attacks "shouldn't be happening".<ref>{{cite news |title=Killings of aid seekers 'preventable' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-new-horrific-massacre-on-starving-palestinians?update=2773882 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 March 2024 |date=15 March 2024 |archive-date=17 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317203732/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-new-horrific-massacre-on-starving-palestinians?update=2773882 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 19 March, at least 23 people were killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted a group of aid coordinators at the Kuwaiti roundabout.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Azzoum |first1=Tareq |title=Tribal aid workers targeted in Gaza City, 23 killed |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-holds-al-jazeera-reporter-for-12-hours?update=2784185 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322010921/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-holds-al-jazeera-reporter-for-12-hours?update=2784185 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 1 April 2024, an Israeli drone fired three consecutive missiles at three cars belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven aid workers who had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been pushed close to famine by Israel's siege and blockade during the Israel–Hamas war.<ref name="ap1">{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-04-01-2024-e75cf75aa88a9133774a883d987115c1 |title=Gaza medical officials say Israeli strike kills 4 foreign aid workers, driver after delivering food |work=AP News |access-date=2 April 2024 |date=2 April 2024 |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403001509/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-04-01-2024-e75cf75aa88a9133774a883d987115c1 |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2024, eight people were reportedly killed at an UNRWA aid distribution training center near Gaza City.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Al-Mughrabi |first1=Nidal |title=Israeli airstrike kills eight at Gaza aid centre, witnesses say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tanks-edge-rafahs-mawasi-refuge-zone-residents-say-2024-06-23/ |work=Reuters |access-date=2 July 2024 |date=23 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241222233458/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tanks-edge-rafahs-mawasi-refuge-zone-residents-say-2024-06-23/ |archive-date=22 December 2024}}</ref>
From May 2025<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 August 2025 |title='A death journey' for Palestinians desperately seeking aid at GHF sites |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/1/a-death-journey-palestinians-describe-ghf-aid-site-turmoil-in-gaza |access-date=16 August 2025 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> GHF was set up as the sole aid distributor in Gaza but repeated and regular mass shootings and killings at the distribution sites means that they have been described as "slaughter masquerading as aid".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tondo |first=Lorenzo |date=8 June 2025 |title=At least four killed by Israeli fire near Gaza food point, officials say |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/08/shooting-rafah-gaza-food-distribution-point-ghf |access-date=16 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Survivors of the repeated mass killings perpetrated at the distribution sites have called this Israeli-backed operation "traps" rather than aid.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Tantesh |first1=Malak A. |last2=Graham-Harrison |first2=Emma |date=7 June 2025 |title='These are traps set for the people': the story of a mother shot dead searching for food in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/jun/07/story-of-a-mother-shot-dead-searching-for-food-in-gaza |access-date=16 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="theguardian20250623">{{Cite news |last=Speri |first=Alice |date=23 June 2025 |title=Rights groups warn Gaza Humanitarian Foundation it may be liable for international law violations |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/23/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-israel-human-rights-groups |access-date=16 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The Center for Constitutional Rights and 14 other human rights organizations have warned that the GHF could be liable for complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians.<ref name="theguardian20250623"/>
Members of the IDF and of the Israeli police have been providing information to far right Israeli settlers about upcoming aid truck convoys delivering food to Gaza so they could intercept the deliveries to vandalize and destroy them. A spokesperson for the radical right Israeli group Tzav 9 stated that the group has been blocking aid trucks to Gaza since January 2024, acknowledged receiving advance information from Israeli forces but denied being the ones who burned trucks. Videos taken in May 2024 show Israelis intercepting aid trucks and destroying food aid. Many Israeli and Palestinian witnesses reported that the IDF soldiers sent to accompany and protect the aid trucks watched as the settlers attacked the convoys but did nothing to protect them.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=21 May 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/israeli-soldiers-and-police-tipping-off-groups-that-attack-gaza-aid-trucks?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other |title=Israeli Soldiers and Police Tipping off Groups that Attack Gaza Aid Trucks; Exclusive: Members of security forces giving settlers who intercept vital supplies information on location of convoys, group says }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=The Guardian |date=16 May 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/16/palestinian-lorry-drivers-israeli-settlers-attack-gaza-aid-convoy |title='Barbaric': Palestinian Lorry Drivers Recount Settlers' Attack on Gaza Aid Convoy; Israeli Soldiers Escorting Convoy Accused of Doing Nothing to Stop Widely Condemned Incident }}</ref>
=== Looting === {{Main|Societal breakdown in the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war}}
In February 2024, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that lawlessness in Gaza was hindering aid efforts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cloud |first=David |date=27 February 2024 |title=As Israel Drives Out Hamas, Lawlessness Hampers Gaza Aid Efforts |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/as-israel-drives-out-hamas-lawlessness-hampers-gaza-aid-efforts-2438be11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227040605/https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/as-israel-drives-out-hamas-lawlessness-hampers-gaza-aid-efforts-2438be11 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal }}</ref> ''Axios'' reported that armed gangs have been attacking and looting aid trucks since Hamas police have quit due to Israeli attacks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ravid |first=Barak |date=29 February 2024 |title=Dozens of Palestinians killed in incident around Gaza aid convoy |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/gaza-aid-palestinians-killed-israel-idf-hamas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304002300/https://www.axios.com/2024/02/29/gaza-aid-palestinians-killed-israel-idf-hamas |archive-date=4 March 2024 |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Axios}}</ref> A Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesman stated that the civil disorder "contributed to around a 50% decrease in the total number of aid trucks entering Gaza in February" and an Egyptian aid truck driver described people climbing and smashing aid trucks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Le Masurier |first=Jessica |date=1 March 2024 |title='Flour massacre': Aid delivery turns deadly in Gaza as UN warns famine 'almost inevitable' |url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/flour-massacre-aid-delivery-turns-deadly-in-gaza-as-un-warns-famine-almost-inevitable/ar-BB1jbz1X |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425130520/https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/flour-massacre-aid-delivery-turns-deadly-in-gaza-as-un-warns-famine-almost-inevitable/ar-BB1jbz1X |archive-date=25 April 2024 |access-date=16 March 2024 |website=msn.com |publisher=PassBlue}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Le Masurier |first1=Jessica |last2=Khaled |first2=Fatma |date=1 March 2024 |title='Flour Massacre': Lifesaving Aid Becomes a Deadly Struggle in Gaza |url=https://www.passblue.com/2024/03/01/flour-massacre-gaza-aid-delivery-turns-deadly-as-un-warns-of-famine/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302150443/https://www.passblue.com/2024/03/01/flour-massacre-gaza-aid-delivery-turns-deadly-as-un-warns-of-famine/ |archive-date=2 March 2024 |access-date=16 March 2024 |website=PassBlue}}</ref>
In June, ''The New York Times'' reported that relief groups had stopped delivering aid to southern Gaza due to looting and attacks from armed gangs, with aid trucks being peppered by bullet holes. Both commercial and aid agencies decided that they could not risk employees' lives. One aid worker described the daily attacks from armed criminal gangs in the Israel-Gaza border area as being coordinated and organized. The worker said that sometimes the aid truck drivers were beaten.<ref name="nytimes20240619">{{Cite news |last1=Yee |first1=Vivian |last2=Boxerman |first2=Aaron |name-list-style=and |date=19 June 2024 |title=Anarchy Hinders Gaza Aid Efforts, Despite Daily Combat Pause |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-chaos.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619192523/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-chaos.html |archive-date=19 June 2024 |access-date=26 June 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> AP News spoke with an UN official who described thousands of aid trucks piled up, armed groups regularly obstructing convoys, and drivers being held at gunpoint.<ref name="apnews20240620">{{Cite web |date=20 June 2024 |title=Israel's pledge to guard an aid route into Gaza falls flat as lawlessness blocks distribution |url=https://apnews.com/article/gaza-rafah-crime-hamas-israel-988f2919d00339ded5a18f26feafda6f |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620223822/https://apnews.com/article/gaza-rafah-crime-hamas-israel-988f2919d00339ded5a18f26feafda6f |archive-date=20 June 2024 |access-date=26 June 2024 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> A worker at a Palestinian trucking company said that aid was spoiling in the hot weather. To try to make up for the aid deficiency, Israel allowed more commercial trucks into Gaza from Israel and the occupied West Bank, which unlike UN convoys, usually travel with armed protection. One Gazan businessman said that in the past he paid thousands of dollars to other Gazans to protect his trucks.<ref name="nytimes20240619"/> An associate professor of political science at Al-Azhar University said the lawlessness is a result of increasing desperation and the power vacuum left from Hamas' decreasing power over Gaza.<ref name="apnews20240620"/>
In late June, the UN warned that it would suspend aid operations in Gaza unless Israel increased efforts to protect humanitarian workers. A State Department spokesman said that in June, looting and other criminal attacks were the largest barriers to delivering aid, rather than Israeli strikes or Hamas' commandeering of aid convoys.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 June 2024 |title=UN tells Israel it will suspend aid operations across Gaza without improved safety |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-06-25-2024-c6a905b264ddb827c087072968d681ce |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625154158/https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-06-25-2024-c6a905b264ddb827c087072968d681ce |archive-date=25 June 2024 |access-date=26 June 2024 |work=AP News |language=en }}</ref> In July, the UN said that they would be bringing in more personal safety equipment and armored vehicles following approval from Israeli officials.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nichols |first=Michelle |date=15 July 2024 |title=Israel allows UN to bring in more equipment amid Gaza lawlessness |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-allows-un-bring-more-equipment-amid-gaza-lawlessness-2024-07-15/ |website=Reuters |access-date=18 July 2024 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240716133603/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-allows-un-bring-more-equipment-amid-gaza-lawlessness-2024-07-15/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 16 November 2024 armed gangs captured and looted 98 trucks carrying aid. The convoy, which had been organized by UNRWA and the WFP, consisted of 109 trucks and was attacked shortly after crossing into Gaza from Kerem Shalom. A UNRWA spokesperson said that "We're back at a stage where we're seeing people literally fighting over a bag of flour" and that "Israeli authorities continue to restrict a huge amount of the humanitarian response. Everything here is being strangled—food, flour, water—everything."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yazbek |first1=Hiba |last2=Solomon |first2=Erika |name-list-style=and |date=18 November 2024 |title=Looters Strip Aid From About 100 Trucks in Gaza, U.N. Agency Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/world/middleeast/gaza-aid-convoy-looted-unrwa-israel.html |access-date=20 November 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> One UN aid official blamed organized crime for attacks on aid convoys, and others have reported that family clans from southern Gaza previously known to be involved with looting were behind the most recent attacks on convoys. UN aid officials have said that delivering aid has never been more difficult.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=18 November 2024 |title=Armed looters hijack almost 100 trucks carrying aid supplies into Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/18/armed-looters-hijack-almost-100-trucks-carrying-aid-supplies-into-gaza |website=The Guardian}}</ref> According to a UN memo, the criminals would operate with "the passive, if not active benevolence" of the IDF.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/6a039600-d4f3-4aaa-ae0f-e4ca72cf2268|title=How gangsters took over Gaza's aid routes|first1=Jana|last1=Tauschinski|first2=Malaika Kanaaneh|last2=Tapper|newspaper=Financial Times |date=20 November 2024}}</ref>
== Effect on children and elderly == ===Children=== thumb|Girl in Gaza on her way to get food (August 2024). {{See also|Effect of the Gaza war on children in the Gaza Strip|Death of Yazan al-Kafarneh}}
On 14 January 2024, Philippe Lazzarini stated, "Whenever you go to a school, the kids are looking at your eyes begging for a sip of water or a loaf of bread."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weiss |first1=Mark |title=Israel-Gaza war: Thousands take part in solidarity strike with hostages as fighting continues |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2024/01/14/israel-gaza-war-thousands-take-part-in-solidarity-strike-with-hostages-as-fighting-continues/ |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=15 January 2024 |date=14 January 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115010407/https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2024/01/14/israel-gaza-war-thousands-take-part-in-solidarity-strike-with-hostages-as-fighting-continues/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 January, officials reported newborn babies with undernourished mothers were dying within days, and children weakened by starvation were dying from hypothermia.<ref name="Burke" >{{cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Jason |title=Aid officials believe there are 'pockets of famine' in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/16/no-food-no-water-no-heating-famine-exists-in-gaza-say-officials |work=The Guardian |date=16 January 2024 |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217202733/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/16/no-food-no-water-no-heating-famine-exists-in-gaza-say-officials |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> On 18 January, the deputy executive director of UNICEF took a tour of the Gaza Strip, stating he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen" and that "thousands of children are malnourished and sick."<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban upon conclusion of his visit to the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/statement-unicef-deputy-executive-director-ted-chaiban-upon-conclusion-his-visit |website=UNICEF |access-date=20 January 2024 |date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124181143/https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/statement-unicef-deputy-executive-director-ted-chaiban-upon-conclusion-his-visit |archive-date=24 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Timotija |first1=Filip |title=UN warns of viruses spreading in Gaza |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/4417536-gaza-un-warns-viruses-spreading-poor-conditions/ |work=The Hill |access-date=20 January 2024 |date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206025503/https://thehill.com/policy/international/4417536-gaza-un-warns-viruses-spreading-poor-conditions/ |archive-date=6 February 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 10 February 2024, a UNICEF spokesperson said Gaza had the world's highest rate of child malnutrition.<ref>{{cite news |title=UNICEF: Gaza witnessing worst level of child malnutrition worldwide |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-fear-in-rafah-as-israel-prepares-ground-attack?update=2694547 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=11 February 2024 |date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221141755/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-fear-in-rafah-as-israel-prepares-ground-attack?update=2694547 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> On 17 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported an instance of an eight-year-old girl who had died from starvation and dehydration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Girl, 8, dies of starvation and dehydration: Watchdog |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2714019 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=18 February 2024 |date=17 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221142140/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-icj-warns-of-perilous-situation-in-rafah?update=2714019 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>
On 19 February 2024, UNICEF found that nearly 16% of children in northern Gaza under two years old were "acutely malnourished", with 3% suffering from severe wasting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Children's lives threatened by rising malnutrition in the Gaza Strip |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/19-02-2024-children-s-lives-threatened-by-rising-malnutrition-in-the-gaza-strip |website=World Health Organization |access-date=20 February 2024 |date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221130505/https://www.who.int/news/item/19-02-2024-children-s-lives-threatened-by-rising-malnutrition-in-the-gaza-strip |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> One mother in northern Gaza described the situation on 21 February, stating, "My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger".<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza mother feeds her starving children fried pancakes using animal feed |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-ceasefire-veto-a-new-low-as-hunger-spreads?update=2723358 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 February 2024 |date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222070802/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-ceasefire-veto-a-new-low-as-hunger-spreads?update=2723358 |archive-date=22 February 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 26 February, two children from Gaza City stated they ate once every two days, and were then eating animal feed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rouqa |first1=Doaa |title=Bird-feed loaf and a date wrapped in gauze: What children eat in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bird-feed-loaf-date-wrapped-gauze-what-children-eat-gaza-2024-02-26/ |website=Reuters |date=27 February 2024 |access-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620214533/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bird-feed-loaf-date-wrapped-gauze-what-children-eat-gaza-2024-02-26/ |archive-date=20 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Action Aid, citing the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated on 25 February that a "significant number" of children in northern Gaza had already died from starvation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keane |first1=Fergal |title=Gaza children searching for food to keep families alive |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68398476 |work=BBC News |date=26 February 2024 |access-date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228021647/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68398476 |url-status=live}}</ref> At least six children died of malnutrition on 28 February.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two more children die of malnutrition in northern Gaza: Ministry |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738697 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228220154/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738697 |url-status=live}}</ref> Project HOPE, an aid organization in Deir el-Balah, stated 11% of the under-five-year-olds they had seen were experiencing malnutrition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Many pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, relief group says |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738225 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228205850/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2738225 |url-status=live}}</ref>
A doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated they had seen a steep rise in pediatric malnutrition cases.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hospital in northern Gaza treating newborns for malnutrition |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731231 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227004037/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2731231 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 February, a representative from Save the Children stated that due to Israeli bombardment and restrictions on aid, children were starving with trucks full of food waiting to enter into Gaza, describing this as "the killing of children in slow motion".<ref>{{cite news |title='Children are being starved' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2737126 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301055758/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2737126 |url-status=live}}</ref> A two-year-old died from food poisoning after eating bread made from animal feed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hungry Palestinian toddler dies from poisoning in northern Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2736725 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301055958/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-could-die-in-days-as-israel-blocks-aid?update=2736725 |url-status=live}}</ref> Four more children died of starvation on 29 February, bringing the week's total to at least ten.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel Flash Update #130 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-130 |website=ReliefWeb |date=March 2024 |publisher=UNOCHA |access-date=4 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150110/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-130-enarhe |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Four more children die of starvation in northern Gaza: Health Ministry |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2740962 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=29 February 2024 |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301061327/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2740962 |url-status=live}}</ref> Melanie Ward, the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen."<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=MedicalAidPal |number=1763172220900151317 |author=Medical Aid for Palestinians |title='This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen.' @melanie_ward speaks with @IsaCNN about the catastrophic levels of hunger that Israel's blockade is causing in Gaza}}</ref> On 3 March, health officials stated at least 15 children at Kamal Adwan Hospital had died of malnutrition and dehydration in the preceding few days.<ref>{{cite news |title=Health Ministry: 15 children died from lack of food, water in Kamal Adwan Hospital |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2745651 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=6 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315165021/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2745651 |url-status=live}}</ref> CNN reported that the true number could be higher, with a UNICEF representative stating there were likely more starving children "fighting for their lives" in other parts of Gaza.<ref name="Newborns die of hunger">{{cite news |last1=Haq |first1=Sana Noor |title=Newborns die of hunger and mothers struggle to feed their children as Israel's siege condemns Gazans to starvation |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/middleeast/israel-gaza-starvation-siege-mothers-babies-intl/index.html |work=CNN |date=6 March 2024 |access-date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308051854/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/06/middleeast/israel-gaza-starvation-siege-mothers-babies-intl/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Regan |first1=Helen |title=Children starve to death in Gaza, WHO says, as ceasefire deal sticking points remain |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/middleeast/gaza-children-dying-malnutrition-israel-ceasefire-talks-intl-hnk/index.html |work=CNN |date=4 March 2024 |access-date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308052655/https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/04/middleeast/gaza-children-dying-malnutrition-israel-ceasefire-talks-intl-hnk/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc |url-status=live}}</ref>
Yazan al-Kafarneh, a 10-year-old boy who died from starvation, was described as "the face of starvation in Gaza".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shbair |first1=Bilal |last2=Yee |first2=Vivian |last3=Boxerman |first3=Aaron |name-list-style=and |date=9 March 2024 |title=The 10-Year-Old Boy Who Has Become the Face of Starvation in Gaza |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/middleeast/yazan-kafarneh-gaza-starvation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318215618/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/world/middleeast/yazan-kafarneh-gaza-starvation.html |archive-date=18 March 2024 |access-date=18 March 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The father of a 5-year-old who died from starvation stated, "He did not suffer from any disease. My child died before my eyes because of hunger".<ref>{{cite news |title=Father of five-year-old mourns son who died of starvation |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-unarmed-palestinians-killed-buried-by-bulldozer?update=2804519 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=2 April 2024 |date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=2 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402062100/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-unarmed-palestinians-killed-buried-by-bulldozer?update=2804519 |url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2024, children died of malnutrition as Israel's Rafah offensive caused sharp reductions in humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |title=Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation heightens threat of famine in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/children-die-malnutrition-rafah-famine-gaza-israeli-troops-aid-strip |newspaper=The Observer |date=2 June 2024 |access-date=11 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602050214/https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/children-die-malnutrition-rafah-famine-gaza-israeli-troops-aid-strip |archive-date=2 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Gaza Media Office stated on 3 June 2024 that 3,500 children under the age of five were at risk of death from starvation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khadder |first1=Kareem |title='We want our rights.' Palestinian children protest Israeli aid restrictions as risk of famine grows in Gaza |url=https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-06-06-24#h_8538e38ea11a373daa81da6d63721a63 |work=CNN |date=6 June 2024 |access-date=13 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606064021/https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-06-06-24#h_8538e38ea11a373daa81da6d63721a63 |archive-date=6 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> UNICEF placed the number at almost 3,000 children.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ferguson |first1=Sarah |title='Children Dying Before Their Families' Eyes' In Gaza |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2024/06/15/children-dying-before-their-families-eyes-in-gaza/ |website=Forbes |access-date=19 June 2024 |date=15 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615135420/https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2024/06/15/children-dying-before-their-families-eyes-in-gaza/ |archive-date=15 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The World Health Organization stated 8,000 children had been diagnosed with malnutrition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: 8,000 children diagnosed with malnutrition amid ongoing shelling |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150996 |website=UN News |date=13 June 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=20 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613162912/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150996 |archive-date=13 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In late June 2024, a mother struggling to feed her children stated, "We are living the worst days of our lives in terms of famine and deprivation".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Salem |first1=Mohammed |title=Gazans struggle to feed their children under Israeli campaign |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gazans-struggle-feed-their-children-under-israeli-campaign-2024-06-27/ |work=Reuters |access-date=13 July 2024 |date=27 June 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref>
On 28 April 2025, the Gaza Media Office announced that there were over 65,000 cases of acute malnutrition in children in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="middleeasteye20250428"/> On 25 May, a four-year-old child named Mohammad Mustafa Yassin died from prolonged malnutrition according to doctors at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. His death brings the number of Palestinians who have died from malnutrition due to the blockade in Gaza to 58.<ref>{{cite web|title= Four-year-old boy dies of starvation in Gaza due to Israeli blockade|url= https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/four-year-old-boy-dies-starvation-gaza-due-israeli-blockade|website=Middle East Eye|date=25 May 2025|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250526042210/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/four-year-old-boy-dies-starvation-gaza-due-israeli-blockade|archive-date=26 May 2025}}</ref>
==== Infants and newborns ==== A two-month-old baby died in Gaza City on 24 February from malnutrition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two-month-old baby died of malnutrition in a Gaza City hospital, says health ministry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9dac68f08345124d7db7e#block-65d9dac68f08345124d7db7e |work=The Guardian | date=24 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150102/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9dac68f08345124d7db7e#block-65d9dac68f08345124d7db7e |url-status=live |last1=Sedghi | first1=Amy}}</ref> A pediatrician working in Gaza stated, "Nursing mothers are unable to lactate as their health worsens".<ref>{{cite news |title=No milk for babies in Gaza: Paediatrician |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2730974 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227005142/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-rafah-strikes-further-harming-aid-efforts-un?update=2730974 |url-status=live}}</ref> The head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated the hospital was struggling to find milk to feed infant patients, stating, "Even newborns are emaciated".<ref>{{cite news |last1=al-Sharif |first1=Anas |title='Even newborns are emaciated': Paediatrician at Kamal Adwan Hospital |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2738992 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=2 March 2024 |date=29 February 2024 |archive-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302055547/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2738992 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN Population Fund stated doctors "no longer see normal-sized babies" but instead more stillborns.<ref>{{cite news |title=Babies being born already malnourished in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2775780 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=16 March 2024 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319021111/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2775780 |url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2024, a doctor at the Emirati Hospital stated 16 premature babies had died from malnutrition-related diseases in the past five weeks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jahjouh |first1=Mohammed |last2=Jeffrey |first2=Jack |last3=Keath |first3=Lee |title=It's not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in Gaza. Now some are dying of hunger too |url=https://apnews.com/article/gaza-malnutrition-famine-children-dying-israel-palestinians-2f938b1a82d7822c7da67cc162da1a37 |work=Associated Press |access-date=18 March 2024 |date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318042130/https://apnews.com/article/gaza-malnutrition-famine-children-dying-israel-palestinians-2f938b1a82d7822c7da67cc162da1a37 |url-status=live}}</ref> The United Nations reported that one-third of children under two were "acutely malnourished" by 16 March.<ref>{{cite news |title=A third of children under two are 'acutely malnourished' in Gaza: UNRWA |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2775901 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=16 March 2024 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319014707/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2775901 |url-status=live}}</ref> Catherine M. Russell, the head of UNICEF, stated, "I have been in wards where babies are suffering from malnutrition, the whole ward is absolutely quiet because the babies don't even have the energy to cry."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gritten |first1=David |title=Father's plea for starving children in north Gaza after son dies of malnutrition |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fathers-plea-starving-children-north-113252799.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319031030/https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fathers-plea-starving-children-north-113252799.html |archive-date=19 March 2024 |website=Yahoo! News |publisher=BBC |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=6 March 2024}}</ref> WHO stated, "What doctors and medical staff are telling us is more and more they are seeing the effects of starvation; they're seeing newborn babies simply dying because they (are) too low birth weight".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Increasing numbers of newborns on brink of death, agencies warn |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147711 |website=UN News |date=19 March 2024 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323172032/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147711 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 March, UNICEF reported that acute malnutrition amongst under-two-year-olds had doubled in one month.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tanis |first1=Fatma |title=Half the population of Gaza is facing catastrophic food insecurity, WFP says |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1239283031/immediate-action-is-needed-to-avoid-mass-starvation-in-northern-gaza-wfp-says |work=NPR |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320034943/https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1239283031/immediate-action-is-needed-to-avoid-mass-starvation-in-northern-gaza-wfp-says |url-status=live}}</ref>
In late March 2024, doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated babies were dying from hunger and dehydration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Babies are dying of hunger and dehydration in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805154 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=5 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405041742/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805154 |url-status=live}}</ref> By June 2024, newborns and infants starved due to the lack of available infant formula and mothers' inability to breastfeed.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Mohammad |first1=Ibrahim |title=Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza |url=https://www.972mag.com/northern-gaza-famine-hunger-malnutrition-aid/ |magazine=+972 Magazine |date=18 June 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618174206/https://www.972mag.com/northern-gaza-famine-hunger-malnutrition-aid/ |archive-date=18 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Qadder Sabbah |first1=Abdel |last2=Al Sawalhi |first2=Mohammad |last3=El Helou |first3=Tareq |last4=Khadder |first4=Kareem |last5=Noor Haq |first5=Sana |last6=Hancocks |first6=Paula |last7=Shelley |first7=Jo |last8=Blunt |first8=Byron |title=Children are dying of starvation in their parents' arms as famine spreads through Gaza |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/israel-gaza-children-starvation-malnutrition-intl/index.html |work=CNN |date=25 June 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625151856/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/israel-gaza-children-starvation-malnutrition-intl/index.html |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2024, ActionAid stated that according to their partners, "Pregnant women [are] losing their babies because they are so malnourished".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza's acute hunger crisis is extremely alarming, says ActionAid |url=https://actionaid.org/news/2024/gazas-acute-hunger-crisis-extremely-alarming-says-actionaid |website=ActionAid | date=10 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710123306/https://actionaid.org/news/2024/gazas-acute-hunger-crisis-extremely-alarming-says-actionaid |archive-date=10 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
===Elderly=== In March 2024, the elderly were reportedly dying at an "alarmingly high rate", with the Euro-Med Monitor stating it was receiving daily reports of the elderly dying of starvation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Euro-Med Monitor: Gaza's elderly dying at rapid rates |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2763738 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=12 March 2024 |date=10 March 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312040025/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2763738 |url-status=live}}</ref> The group stated, "The majority of these cases do not reach hospital... after dying at home, the elderly are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves".<ref>{{cite web |title=Death rate of elderly people in northern Gaza Strip soars due to bombing, starvation, dehydration, and lack of healthcare |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/death-rate-elderly-people-northern-gaza-strip-soars-due-bombing-starvation-dehydration-and-lack-healthcare-enar |website=ReliefWeb |date=10 March 2024 |publisher=Euro-Med Monitor |access-date=12 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150108/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/death-rate-elderly-people-northern-gaza-strip-soars-due-bombing-starvation-dehydration-and-lack-healthcare-enar |url-status=live}}</ref>
==War crimes and genocide== {{Main|Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war|Gaza genocide}}
On 18 December 2023, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip".<ref name="hrw20231218"/> On 16 January 2024, UN experts accused Israel of "destroying Gaza's food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people".<ref name="ohchr20240116"/> The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, stated Israel was using hunger as a weapon against Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web |title=UN expert says Israel using hunger 'as a weapon' against population of Gaza |url=https://www.news-journal.com/un-expert-says-israel-using-hunger-as-a-weapon-against-population-of-gaza/video_623eaf6c-6161-57f3-9334-1f0ae91fb917.html |website=Longview News-Journal |date=22 January 2024 |access-date=27 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127033313/https://www.news-journal.com/un-expert-says-israel-using-hunger-as-a-weapon-against-population-of-gaza/video_623eaf6c-6161-57f3-9334-1f0ae91fb917.html |archive-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> On 23 January, Alex De Waal stated Israel was committing a war crime through enforced starvation, stating, "An entire population being reduced to this stage is really unprecedented. We haven't seen it in Ethiopia, in Sudan and Yemen{{snd}}pretty much anywhere else in the world."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel is using 'war crime of starvation' in Gaza: Expert |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/israels-war-on-gaza-ground-shaking-in-hospital-amid-israeli-attacks?update=2640664 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=24 January 2024 |date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221155723/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/23/israels-war-on-gaza-ground-shaking-in-hospital-amid-israeli-attacks?update=2640664 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>
On 13 February 2024, US Senator Chris Van Hollen stated, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals."<ref>{{cite news |title='Kids are dying': US senator accuses Israel of 'textbook war crimes' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-jordans-king-urges-ceasefire-in-biden-meeting?update=2704278 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=15 February 2024 |date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221161714/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/13/israels-war-on-gaza-live-jordans-king-urges-ceasefire-in-biden-meeting?update=2704278 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> A representative from the Palestinian non-profit organization Juhoud for Community and Rural Development stated, "The denial of access to food, water, and other necessities consists of a serious violation of international law".<ref>{{cite news |title='Our plight here is unimaginable': No entry of Gaza aid in days |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709971 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221164224/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2709971 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview with ''El Pais'' that "We are already in the midst of a catastrophe. The United Nations has had to suspend humanitarian aid: Israel is using famine as a weapon of war and that is contrary to international law."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pérez |first1=Claudi |title='Trump has not won yet, just as Putin has not won yet, but Europe has to wake up' |url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-02-26/josep-borrell-trump-has-not-won-yet-just-as-putin-has-not-won-yet-but-europe-has-to-wake-up.html |website=El País |date=26 February 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304052055/https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-02-26/josep-borrell-trump-has-not-won-yet-just-as-putin-has-not-won-yet-but-europe-has-to-wake-up.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 3 March, Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard stated that week's death of ten children from malnutrition was unlawful and the result of an Israeli "engineered famine".<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of children from malnutrition 'unlawful': Amnesty International chief |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746612 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304041402/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746612 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of violating international law by "using starvation as a weapon of war".<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel buys time for 'extermination' as global community falls for 'blackmail': Palestinian foreign ministry |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-by-ramadan-looking-tough-biden-says?update=2760770 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=11 March 2024 |date=9 March 2024 |archive-date=11 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311023414/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/9/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-by-ramadan-looking-tough-biden-says?update=2760770 |url-status=live}}</ref> Physicians for Human Rights–Israel stated "According to the International Criminal Court, starvation is considered a war crime. Israel must immediately... stop limiting life-saving humanitarian aid. This is a moral stain that will stay with us for generations."<ref>{{cite news |title='A moral stain that will stay with us for generations': Israeli rights group |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2763044 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=12 March 2024 |date=10 March 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312050730/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2763044 |url-status=live}}</ref> Belgian foreign minister Alexander De Croo stated Israel was engaging in "tactics of starvation".<ref>{{cite news |title='Tactics of starvation': Belgian PM discusses Gaza in Qatar |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2776912 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=16 March 2024 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319001707/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-will-the-netanyahu-government-attack-rafah?update=2776912 |url-status=live}}</ref> The global humanitarian director of Plan International stated, "Israeli restrictions on aid... must cease immediately. The starvation of the civilian population is illegal under international humanitarian law."<ref>{{cite news |title=IPC report on famine 'absolutely devastating', Plan International says |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2781198 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321032519/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2781198 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jeremy Laurence, the UN Human Rights Office spokesman, stated Israel's conduct may constitute "starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |title=UN says Israeli restrictions on Gaza food aid may constitute a war crime |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/19/un-israeli-restrictions-gaza-food-aid-war-crime-hunger |work=The Guardian |date=19 March 2024 |access-date=22 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150211/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/19/un-israeli-restrictions-gaza-food-aid-war-crime-hunger |url-status=live}}</ref>
Ayman Safadi, the Foreign Minister of Jordan, stated, "Israel is weaponizing starvation. This is another horrific war crime."<ref>{{cite news |title=Jordan's FM urges opening of land crossings into Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2786081 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322224122/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2786081 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ireland Micheál Martin stated, "The use of starvation as a weapon of war is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel using starvation as weapon of war: Ireland |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-nine-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-deir-el-balah?update=2797078 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 March 2024 |date=25 March 2024 |archive-date=29 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329014154/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-nine-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-deir-el-balah?update=2797078 |url-status=live}}</ref> Caroline Gennez, Belgium's minister of development cooperation, stated Israel's use of hunger as weapon of war was a "flagrant violation of international law".<ref>{{cite news |title='Stop starving children': Belgian minister tells Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805204 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=5 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405041421/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805204 |url-status=live}}</ref> A June 2024 investigation by ''The Independent'' found both current and former officials believed the United States was complicit in the creation of famine in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Richard |last2=Trew |first2=Bel |last3=Feinberg |first3=Andrew |title=Biden is furious at allegations that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. But he is complicit in Gaza's famine |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gaza-famine-biden-israel-hamas-b2548247.html |work=The Independent |date=20 May 2024 |access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref> In July 2024, a group of ten UN special rapporteurs stated Israel had conducted a "targeted starvation campaign" which constituted "a form of genocidal violence".<ref name="aljazeera20240709"/> Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated that Israel is using famine as a tactic of genocide. Fakhri stated, "Israel made its intentions to starve everyone in Gaza explicit, implemented its plans and predictably created a famine throughout Gaza. Tracking the geography of Israel's starvation tactics alongside Israeli officials' statements confirms its intent."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fakhri |first1=Michael |title=Starvation and the right to food, with an emphasis on the Palestinian people's food sovereignty |url=https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/212/30/pdf/n2421230.pdf |website=United Nations |access-date=14 September 2024 |date=17 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909042128/https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/212/30/pdf/n2421230.pdf |archive-date=9 September 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In response to an Israeli bombing of four water engineers, Oxfam stated attacks on civilian infrastructure were "part of the crime of using starvation as a weapon of war."<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxfam condemns killing of water engineers in Gaza |url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-condemns-killing-water-engineers-gaza |website=Oxfam |date=21 October 2024 |access-date=21 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241020175405/https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/oxfam-condemns-killing-water-engineers-gaza |archive-date=20 October 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 21 November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the former defence minister Yoav Gallant. The judges wrote "The chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity" and that there are "reasonable grounds" that they bear criminal responsibility for "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare".<ref>{{#invoke:Cite|news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/21/icc-issues-arrest-warrant-for-benjamin-netanyahu-israel|title=ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged Gaza war crimes|first1=Andrew|last1=Roth|first2=Julian|last2=Borger|date=21 November 2024|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="ft20241121">{{#invoke:Cite|news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0b62f17a-97db-4817-90f8-f98adead79f0|url-access=subscription|title=ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu|first1=James|last1=Shotter|first2=Oliver|last2=Ralph|date=21 November 2024|newspaper=Financial Times }}</ref> The United States expressed deep concern over the "troubling process errors" that led to the decision to issue the warrants, adding that the US "fundamentally rejects" the decision.<ref name="El-Sabawi2024">{{cite web |last1=El-Sabawi |first1=Yasmine |date=21 November 2024 |title=Biden administration 'fundamentally rejects' ICC warrant for Netanyahu |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/biden-administration-fundamentally-rejects-icc-warrant-netanyahu |website=Middle East Eye |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121211507/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/biden-administration-fundamentally-rejects-icc-warrant-netanyahu |archive-date=21 November 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
One of the key allegations in the International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Gallant and Netanyahu was the "use of starvation as a weapon of war".<ref>{{cite news |title=ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel's Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/icc-issues-arrest-warrants-israels-netanyahu-gallant-hamas-leader-2024-11-21/ |work=Reuters |date=22 November 2024 |quote=In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza". |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218024327/https://www.reuters.com/world/icc-issues-arrest-warrants-israels-netanyahu-gallant-hamas-leader-2024-11-21/ |archive-date=18 December 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Israel's ambassador to the UN weighs in on ICC's warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199764/israels-ambassador-to-the-un-weighs-in-on-iccs-warrants-for-netanyahu-and-gallant |work=NPR |date=21 November 2024 |quote=The court says it has reasonable grounds to believe that the two Israeli leaders are criminally responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Among the allegations are the use of starvation as a weapon of war and crimes against humanity. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121223701/https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199764/israels-ambassador-to-the-un-weighs-in-on-iccs-warrants-for-netanyahu-and-gallant |archive-date=21 November 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Eboe-Osuji |first1=Chile |title=Can the ICC Actually Arrest Netanyahu? |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/07/icc-arrest-warrant-israel-netanyahu-gaza/ |work=Foreign Policy |date=12 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507162614/https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/05/07/icc-arrest-warrant-israel-netanyahu-gaza/ |archive-date=7 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What ICC arrest warrants mean for Netanyahu, Gallant and Gaza |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/21/icc-warrant-netanyahu-gallant-israel-gaza/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=21 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121202610/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/21/icc-warrant-netanyahu-gallant-israel-gaza/ |archive-date=21 November 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bigg |first1=Matthew Mpoke |last2=Boxerman |first2=Aaron |name-list-style=and |date=22 November 2024 |title=Netanyahu's Arrest Sought by International Criminal Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/11/21/world/israel-netanyahu-hamas-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121123234/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/11/21/world/israel-netanyahu-hamas-gaza |archive-date=21 November 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The use of starvation of civilians as weapon of war is banned by the United Nations.<ref>{{cite news |title=The day the UN barred using hunger and starvation as weapons of war |url=https://www.wfp.org/stories/un-barred-using-hunger-and-starvation-weapons-war |work=World Food Programme |date=24 May 2022 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209172004/https://www.wfp.org/stories/un-barred-using-hunger-and-starvation-weapons-war |archive-date=9 December 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Adopting Resolution 2417 (2018), Security Council Strongly Condemns Starving of Civilians, Unlawfully Denying Humanitarian Access as Warfare Tactics |url=https://press.un.org/en/2018/sc13354.doc.htm |work=Meetings Coverage and Press Releases |date=24 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821143051/https://press.un.org/en/2018/sc13354.doc.htm |archive-date=21 August 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In mid 2023 German government officials accused Russia of using hunger as a weapon but have not commented on Israel's policies as of March 2024.<ref name="ips journal" >{{cite journal | title = Hunger as a weapon of war | website = www.ips-journal.eu |date=8 March 2024 |url=https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/foreign-and-security-policy/hunger-as-a-weapon-of-war-7381/ |access-date=24 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419231518/https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/foreign-and-security-policy/hunger-as-a-weapon-of-war-7381/ |archive-date=19 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ipg journal" >{{cite journal | title = Hunger als Kriegswaffe | website = www.ipg-journal.de | date = 6 March 2024 | url = https://www.ipg-journal.de/regionen/naher-osten/artikel/hunger-als-kriegswaffe-7377/ | access-date = 24 November 2024 |language=de-DE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317171934/https://www.ipg-journal.de/regionen/naher-osten/artikel/hunger-als-kriegswaffe-7377/ |archive-date=17 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Yoav Gallant made a public speech in early October 2023, shortly after the October 7 attack that sparked the war, saying, 'there will be no more electricity, no more food, no more fuel ... We are fighting against human animals and will behave accordingly'.{{sfn|Fabian|2023}}<ref name="hrw20231218"/><ref name="bbc"/> A few weeks before that the arrest warrants were issued, there were also reports of looting occurring in areas controlled by the IDF.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Hasson | first1 = Nir | last2 = Yaniv | first2 = Kubovich | work = Haaretz | title = The Israeli Army Is Allowing Gangs in Gaza to Loot Aid Trucks and Extort Protection Fees From Drivers | url = https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-11/ty-article/.premium/the-idf-is-allowing-gaza-gangs-to-loot-aid-trucks-and-extort-protection-fees-from-drivers/00000193-17fb-d50e-a3db-57ff16af0000 | date = 11 November 2024 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20241119205521/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-11-11/ty-article/.premium/the-idf-is-allowing-gaza-gangs-to-loot-aid-trucks-and-extort-protection-fees-from-drivers/00000193-17fb-d50e-a3db-57ff16af0000 | archive-date = 19 November 2024 | quote = ...looting of the convoys reflects the complete anarchy that prevails in Gaza due to the lack of any functioning civilian government. ... Defense officials confirmed that the IDF is aware of the problem. (the Israeli government) considered making the clans to which the armed men belong responsible for distributing aid to Gaza's residents, even though some of the clans' members are involved in terrorism, and some are even affiliated with extremist organizations like the Islamic State. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | date = 18 November 2024 | newspaper = The Washington Post | title = Gangs looting Gaza aid operate in areas under Israeli control... | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/18/gaza-looting-aid-convoys-israel-famine/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241120054549/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/18/gaza-looting-aid-convoys-israel-famine/ | archive-date = 20 November 2024}}</ref>
Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, stated that Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid may constitute starvation as a weapon of war, which would be a war crime.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tétrault-Farber |first=Gabrielle |date=19 March 2024 |title=Israel's restrictions to Gaza aid may be war crime, says UN rights office |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-restrictions-gaza-aid-may-amount-war-crime-says-un-rights-office-2024-03-19/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210172636/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-restrictions-gaza-aid-may-amount-war-crime-says-un-rights-office-2024-03-19/ |archive-date=10 December 2024 |work=Reuters }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Beaumont (journalist) |date=20 March 2024 |title='Man-made famine' charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/20/man-made-famine-charge-israel-mounting-evidence-un-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510144510/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/20/man-made-famine-charge-israel-mounting-evidence-un-gaza |archive-date=10 May 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> An Independent International Commission of Inquiry also found Israel was using starvation as a method of war.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Erika |title=The U.N. Report on Israeli and Palestinian War Crimes: What We Know |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/world/middleeast/gaza-war-crimes-israel-hamas.html |work=The New York Times |date=13 June 2024 |access-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240626221559/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/world/middleeast/gaza-war-crimes-israel-hamas.html |archive-date=26 June 2024}}</ref> In April and May, USAID and the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration determined that Israel was blocking food aid from entering Gaza. These findings were rejected by Secretary of State Blinken and the Biden Administration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Brett |date=24 September 2024 |title=Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them. |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza-palestine-israel-blocked-humanitarian-aid-blinken |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924090641/https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza-palestine-israel-blocked-humanitarian-aid-blinken |archive-date=24 September 2024 |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref>
=== Israeli response === {{multiple issues|section=yes|{{More citations needed section|date=December 2025}} {{Disputed section|date=December 2025}}}} The Israeli government denied that it was using starvation as a weapon of war and said that it was not violating the Genocide Convention.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corder |first1=Mike |title=Israel asks UN court to reject South Africa's request for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israel-asks-un-court-to-reject-south-africas-request-for-interim-orders-to-prevent-starvation-in-gaza |work=PBS Newshour |date=18 March 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321042213/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israel-asks-un-court-to-reject-south-africas-request-for-interim-orders-to-prevent-starvation-in-gaza |url-status=live}}</ref> COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for allowing aid into Gaza, has stated Israel was not putting limits into the amount of aid entering Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Halabi |first1=Einav |title=COGAT:'There is no limit to the amount of aid that can enter Gaza' |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s19orcp3t |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=24 February 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321184422/https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s19orcp3t |url-status=live}}</ref> COGAT's claim has been challenged by multiple entities, including the European Union, United Nations, Oxfam, and United Kingdom.<ref>{{bulletedlist|{{harvnb|Larson|2024}}|{{harvnb|Brown|2024}}|{{cite magazine |date=17 March 2024 |title=Oxfam Says Israel 'Deliberately' Blocking Aid To Gaza |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/oxfam-says-israel-deliberately-blocking-aid-to-gaza-0898ac06 |magazine=Barron's |publisher=Agence France-Presse |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321210945/https://www.barrons.com/news/oxfam-says-israel-deliberately-blocking-aid-to-gaza-0898ac06 |url-status=live}}|{{harvnb|Wintour|2024}}|{{cite news |title=UN aid chief says Israel needs to lift all impediments to Gaza aid |url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-793276 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=22 March 2024 |agency=Reuters |access-date=24 March 2024 |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324121351/https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-793276 |url-status=live}}}}</ref> Since March 2025, Israel has made the blockade publicly official,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 May 2025 |title=UN official urges Israel to lift 'cruel' aid blockade on Gaza |url=https://www.euronews.com/2025/05/01/un-official-urges-israel-to-allow-aid-into-gaza-calls-blockade-collective-punishment |access-date=3 May 2025 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref> with current defense minister Israel Katz declaring "no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza".<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2025 |title='No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza,' Israel defence minister says |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250416-israel-says-no-humanitarian-aid-will-enter-gaza |access-date=3 May 2025 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref> Israel has claimed that "Hamas stockpiled supplies and kept them from increasingly desperate civilians,"<ref name="DeYoung Hudson 2024 g056"/><ref>{{cite news |title=UN chief blames Israeli 'obstacles, chokepoints' for looming famine in Gaza Strip |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-blames-israeli-obstacles-chokepoints-for-looming-famine-in-gaza-strip/ |work=The Times of Israel |access-date=25 March 2024 |date=24 March 2024 |archive-date=25 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325040157/https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-blames-israeli-obstacles-chokepoints-for-looming-famine-in-gaza-strip/ |url-status=live}}</ref> but, as of February 2024, the US has not received evidence supporting this claim.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Magid |first1=Jacob |title=US envoy says Israel has yet to provide 'specific evidence' that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-envoy-says-israel-has-yet-to-provide-specific-evidence-that-hamas-is-stealing-humanitarian-aid/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=16 February 2024 |access-date=25 March 2024 |archive-date=25 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325040157/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/us-envoy-says-israel-has-yet-to-provide-specific-evidence-that-hamas-is-stealing-humanitarian-aid/ |url-status=live}}</ref> There have been reports of armed gangs stealing aid,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Batrawy |first1=Aya |last2=Baba |first2=Anas |last3=Dixon |first3=Greg |date=21 November 2024 |title=In Gaza Organized Gangs Make a Bad Situation Even Worse |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/1214380339/in-gaza-organized-gangs-make-a-bad-situation-even-worse |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121212959/https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/1214380339/in-gaza-organized-gangs-make-a-bad-situation-even-worse |archive-date=21 November 2024 |access-date=17 June 2025 |website=NPR}}</ref> and some of those stealing aid have been armed by Israel.<ref>{{Cite news |first1=Eric |last1=Tlozek |first2=Chérine |last2=Yazbeck |date=13 July 2025 |title=The 'uncharismatic, illiterate' criminal behind Gaza's aid-looting gangs |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-14/gaza-aid-looting-gangs-yasser-abu-shabab-israel-netanyahu-hamas/105501926 |access-date=23 July 2025 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>
In August 2025, with the release of a video showing hostage Evyatar David in emaciated condition many Israeli officials, released hostages and the Israeli public used it as a rally cry to show that Hamas was stealing humanitarian aid and to downplay the famine. This was due to the Hamas members arm shown in the video which appears to be slightly larger than David's with former hostages stating after the video was released that Hamas fighters guarding them daily had meat, vegetables, fish and fruit that they stole from humanitarian aid packages.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gordon |first=Lihi |date=2025-08-02 |title=Revealing detail in hostage video exposes Hamas starvation hoax |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1hspj2peg |access-date=2025-09-30 |work=Ynetglobal |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Donnison |first=Jon |last2=Kola |first2=Paulin |date=2025-08-04 |title=He is a human skeleton, brother of Gaza hostage Evyatar David tells BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewyk4ezeedo |access-date=2025-09-30 |website=bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Israeli legal obligations == On 22 October 2025, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion that Israel is legally obliged to ensure that Gaza (and the rest of Palestine, as an Israeli-occupied territory) "has the essential supplies of daily life, including food, water, clothing, bedding, shelter, fuel, medical supplies and services"<ref name="ICJ_2025Oct22_obligations_IL">{{cite Q|Q136563747}}</ref>{{rp|page=65}} and that Israeli is obliged to "co-operate in good faith with the United Nations by providing every assistance ... including UNRWA".<ref name="ICJ_2025Oct22_obligations_IL"/>{{rp|page=66}} Political scientist Juan Cole interpreted the advisory opinion as effectively declaring the Israeli food blockade illegal.<ref name="JuanCole_ICJ_IL_broke_law">{{cite Q|Q136563727|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Reactions == Israel's actions, according to its government, aim to neutralize Hamas as a security threat, including preventing military resources from being smuggled under the guise of humanitarian aid.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bodkin |first=Henry |date=20 November 2023 |title=Hamas used food aid sacks to smuggle bullets into Gaza, claims Israel |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/20/hamas-rice-sacks-smuggle-bullets-gaza-israel-military/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321125512/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/20/hamas-rice-sacks-smuggle-bullets-gaza-israel-military/ |archive-date=21 March 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref name="cnn20231007">{{Cite news |last1=Raine |first1=Andrew |last2=Lau |first2=Chris |last3=Berlinger |first3=Joshua |last4=Sangal |first4=Aditi |first5=Thom |last5=Poole |last6=Meyer |first6=Matt |date=7 October 2023 |title=Israel-Gaza conflict erupts into fighting after attack by Palestinian militants|url=https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/al-aqsa-storm-militants-infiltrate-israel-after-gaza-rockets-10-07-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=CNN |language=en |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007221148/https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/al-aqsa-storm-militants-infiltrate-israel-after-gaza-rockets-10-07-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Efforts to address the crisis include attempts to negotiate ceasefires and allow for the provision of aid, though challenges persist due to the continuation of hostilities and the difficulty in delivering aid amid the fighting.<ref name="washingtonpost20240304"/>
On 5 August 2024, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that he believes that blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is "justified and moral" even if it causes two million Gazans to die of starvation, but the international community would not allow it to happen.<ref name="timesofisrael20240805">{{Cite news |date=5 August 2024 |title=Smotrich: It may be 'justified' to starve 2 million Gazans, but world won't let us |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-it-may-be-justified-to-starve-2-million-gazans-but-world-wont-let-us/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805141554/https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-it-may-be-justified-to-starve-2-million-gazans-but-world-wont-let-us/ |archive-date=5 August 2024 |work=The Times of Israel }}</ref>
===January 2024=== On 7 January, Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres stated "widespread famine looms" in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Andres |first1=Paula |title=Israeli strikes kill 7 civilians in West Bank, 2 journalists in Gaza |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-west-bank-journalists-gaza-hamas/ |work=Politico |date=7 January 2024 |access-date=8 January 2024 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108022718/https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-west-bank-journalists-gaza-hamas/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The UN special rapporteur for health Tlaleng Mofokeng responded to Guterres, stating Gaza was experiencing "deliberate starvation not famine".<ref>{{cite news |title='Deliberate starvation not famine': UN human rights expert |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/7/israel-war-on-gaza-live-signs-of-starvation-everywhere-in-southern-gaza?update=2601737 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108041903/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/7/israel-war-on-gaza-live-signs-of-starvation-everywhere-in-southern-gaza?update=2601737 |url-status=live}}</ref> Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on 12 January, Martin Griffiths stated colleagues who had made it into northern Gaza in recent days had described "scenes of utter horror: Corpses left lying in the road. People with evident signs of starvation stopping trucks in search of anything they can get to survive."<ref>{{cite web |title=Mr. Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator – Briefing to the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 12 January 2024 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/mr-martin-griffiths-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-briefing-un-security-council-humanitarian-situation-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-12-january-2024 |website=ReliefWeb |date=12 January 2024 |publisher=UNOCHA |access-date=13 January 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150136/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/mr-martin-griffiths-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-briefing-un-security-council-humanitarian-situation-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-12-january-2024-enhe |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 11 January, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated there was no hunger in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Summer |first1=Charlie |title='No food shortage in Gaza,' says IDF official, dismissing UN claims to the contrary |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-food-shortage-in-gaza-says-idf-official-overseeing-transfer-of-aid/ |work=Times of Israel |access-date=16 January 2024 |date=11 January 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115084946/https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-food-shortage-in-gaza-says-idf-official-overseeing-transfer-of-aid/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 January, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on food, stated, "What we're witnessing in Gaza is an entire civilian population made to go hungry... this is a result of Israeli bombardment, this is a result of the denial of humanitarian relief. We've never seen anything so brutal happen so quickly".<ref>{{cite news |title=UN food official: 'Never seen anything so brutal', on hunger in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-at-least-132-killed-in-gaza-in-last-24-hours?update=2625596 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=16 January 2024 |date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214153458/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-at-least-132-killed-in-gaza-in-last-24-hours?update=2625596 |archive-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> Following a visit to the Rafah border crossing, US Senator Chris Van Hollen described the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza as an "unnecessarily cumbersome process".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nazarro |first1=Miranda |title=Van Hollen agrees Israel should face 'consequences' over Gaza aid, civilian deaths |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/4394248-van-hollen-agrees-israel-should-face-consequences-over-gaza-aid-civilian-deaths/ |work=The Hill |date=7 January 2024 |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115131937/https://thehill.com/policy/international/4394248-van-hollen-agrees-israel-should-face-consequences-over-gaza-aid-civilian-deaths/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
The heads of the WFP, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization issued a joint statement stating significantly more humanitarian aid was needed in Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |title=UN agency chiefs say Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster, warning of famine and disease |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/un-agency-chiefs-say-gaza-needs-aid-warning-of-famine-and-disease.html |work=CNBC |date=15 January 2024 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115221756/https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/un-agency-chiefs-say-gaza-needs-aid-warning-of-famine-and-disease.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Mohammad Mustafa, the chief economist of the Palestine Investment Fund, stated, "Maybe more people will be killed or die from hunger and famine than the war itself."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Khojji |first1=Zaynab |title=More people likely to die of hunger than war in Gaza, says Palestinian investment fund head |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443406/amp# |website=Arab News |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125025611/https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443406/amp |archive-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> After major Western donors announced they were suspending funding of UNRWA, the agency stated "over 2 million people [are] depending on it for their sheer survival" as "hunger stalks everyone."<ref>{{cite news |title='Hunger stalks everyone': UNRWA says 2 million people dependent on its aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-aid-cuts-are-collective-punishment-unrwa?update=2654003 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=30 January 2024 |date=28 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222100612/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/28/israels-war-on-gaza-live-aid-cuts-are-collective-punishment-unrwa?update=2654003 |archive-date=22 February 2024}}</ref>
===February 2024=== On 14 February, a joint statement by 14 major human rights organizations, including Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, Danish Refugee Council, Handicap International, INTERSOS, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, Project HOPE, Save the Children, Solidarités International, and War Child UK stated, "The risk of famine is increasing each day in Gaza due to the continuation of hostilities, and the continued blockade of the Strip."<ref>{{cite web |title=Joint Statement on Conflict-Induced Hunger in Gaza |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/joint-statement-conflict-induced-hunger-gaza |website=ReliefWeb |date=14 February 2024 |publisher= |access-date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218201451/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/joint-statement-conflict-induced-hunger-gaza |archive-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>
The American Friends Service Committee stated, "Everyone is hungry in Gaza today. That is just enormous and truly catastrophic, and we've never seen anything like that before."<ref>{{cite news |title='Everyone is hungry in Gaza today': Aid group |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710717 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217051747/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710717 |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> Alex de Waal, a British academic, stated, "There's no doubt that certain senior members of the Israel government and certain groups within Israeli society have the intent of starving Gaza."<ref>{{cite news |title=More from Alex de Waal |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710393 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222101144/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710393 |archive-date=22 February 2024}}</ref> He further stated, "Nothing compares to Gaza over the last 75 years."<ref>{{cite news |title=Speed of deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza 'absolutely terrifying' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710382 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217064739/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/15/israels-war-on-gaza-live-four-dead-as-israel-hits-city-in-lebanons-south?update=2710382 |archive-date=17 February 2024}}</ref>
On 18 February, the heads of eight major humanitarian organizations—including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps, Refugees International, Oxfam America, CARE USA, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and Catholic Relief Services—wrote a joint op-ed, stating, "If the situation continues we will see one of the biggest disasters we have faced as humanitarians... this crisis will soon reach a tipping point, where emergency food aid won't be enough. Averting mass death becomes harder as starvation gains momentum."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Callahan |first1=Sean |last2=Egeland |first2=Jan |last3=D'Oyen McKenna |first3=Tjada |last4=Konyndyk |first4=Jeremy |last5=Maxman |first5=Abby |last6=Nunn |first6=Michelle |last7=Soeripto |first7=Janti |last8=Owubah |first8=Charles |title=Palestinians in Gaza face mass starvation. Only an immediate cease-fire will save them. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2024/02/16/israel-rafah-palestinians-gaza-hunger-starvation/72601130007/ |website=USA Today |access-date=19 February 2024 |date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221224116/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2024/02/16/israel-rafah-palestinians-gaza-hunger-starvation/72601130007/ |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref> The Gaza Media Office stated on 20 February, "We hold the US administration and the international community additionally to Israel fully responsible for this famine."<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza authorities say starvation is deepening for Palestinians |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2720814 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 February 2024 |date=20 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221030247/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-fears-explosion-in-child-deaths-in-gaza?update=2720814 |archive-date=21 February 2024}}</ref>
On 21 February, WFP chief Cindy McCain stated, "A famine doesn't have to happen. But if things don't change, it will".<ref>{{cite news |title=Famine inevitable if things don't change: WFP |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-ceasefire-veto-a-new-low-as-hunger-spreads?update=2722846 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 February 2024 |date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222101845/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-ceasefire-veto-a-new-low-as-hunger-spreads?update=2722846 |archive-date=22 February 2024}}</ref> Tor Wennesland stated on 22 February that more than 2 million people were facing extreme food insecurity.<ref>{{cite news |title=UN Middle East envoy: Two million in Gaza experiencing extreme food insecurity |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/22/israels-war-on-gaza-live-gaza-has-become-a-death-zone-says-who-chief?update=2726678 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=23 February 2024 |date=22 February 2024 |archive-date=23 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223042945/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/22/israels-war-on-gaza-live-gaza-has-become-a-death-zone-says-who-chief?update=2726678 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 23 February, a UNOCHA official stated, "Famine is looming".<ref>{{cite news |title=Ocha calls for 'unfettered access for an urgent scale-up of aid' to 'avert the threat of mass starvation' in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9b4978f08345124d7da5f#block-65d9b4978f08345124d7da5f |work=The Guardian |date=24 February 2024 |access-date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150812/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/24/middle-east-crisis-live-more-than-100-reportedly-killed-overnight-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-in-paris?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65d9b4978f08345124d7da5f#block-65d9b4978f08345124d7da5f |url-status=live |last1=Sedghi |first1=Amy}}</ref> The head of the Red Cross stated on 26 February: "80% of the population already faces emergency or catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions".<ref>{{cite news |title='A severe food insecurity is looming in Gaza' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734662 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=27 February 2024 |date=26 February 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227011214/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid?update=2734662 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, stated that if nothing was done to change the status quo then "widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Besheer |first1=Margaret |title=UN: If No Cease-Fire, 'Widespread Famine' in Gaza Is Near Certain |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/un-if-no-cease-fire-widespread-famine-in-gaza-is-near-certain/7505522.html |website=VOA |date=27 February 2024 |access-date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228013610/https://www.voanews.com/a/un-if-no-cease-fire-widespread-famine-in-gaza-is-near-certain/7505522.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On 27 February, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said that Gaza was going through a genocide and that there was "no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food."<ref name=guardian_2.28.24>{{cite news |last1=Lakhani |first1=Nina |title=Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/un-israel-food-starvation-palestinians-war-crime-genocide |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=27 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228041844/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/un-israel-food-starvation-palestinians-war-crime-genocide |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 29 February, the humanitarian policy director of Oxfam America stated the organization was opposed to proposed US airdrops, stating, "Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza".<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxfam says US policies contributing to risk of famine in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2741119 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 March 2024 |date=29 February 2024 |archive-date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301060010/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2741119 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The UN WFP warned of a real prospect of famine by May 2024, for half a million people.<ref name="famine"/>
===March 2024=== A man in Rafah spoke to Al Jazeera, stating, "From the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep, we are battling to survive. We are fighting to get our hands on some water, to get hold of a loaf of bread for our children. We are exhausted, mentally and physically. This is unbearable."<ref>{{cite news |title=Rafah's skyrocketing food prices |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744141 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=2 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304011652/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-medics-say-many-gaza-aid-attack-victims-shot?update=2744141 |url-status=live}}</ref> Save the Children released a statement saying children in Gaza were "forced to forage for scraps of food left by rats and eating leaves out of desperation. The risk of famine will increase so long as the government of Israel continues to impede the entry of aid."<ref>{{cite news |title=Risk of famine will increase in Gaza amid aid restrictions: Save the Children |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746497 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304044330/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-every-minute-counts-as-hunger-kills-in-gaza?update=2746497 |url-status=live}}</ref> UNICEF responded to news of children dying from starvation, stating, "Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robertson |first1=Nick |title=Child deaths in Gaza likely to 'rapidly increase' amid obstacles to aid: UNICEF |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/4505765-child-deaths-gaza-likely-rapidly-increase-obstacles-aid-unicef/ |work=The Hill |date=4 March 2024 |access-date=4 March 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304045624/https://thehill.com/policy/international/4505765-child-deaths-gaza-likely-rapidly-increase-obstacles-aid-unicef/ |url-status=live}}</ref> On 5 March, UNOCHA stated that the first deaths of children from starvation in northern Gaza were "a warning like no other".<ref>{{cite web |title=North Gaza aid mission reveals more infants may die from hunger |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/north-gaza-aid-mission-reveals-more-infants-may-die-hunger-enar |website=ReliefWeb |date=5 March 2024 |publisher=UN News |access-date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150745/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/north-gaza-aid-mission-reveals-more-infants-may-die-hunger-enar |url-status=live }}</ref> A WFP director stated, "The is nowhere else in the world where so many people face imminent famine".<ref>{{cite news |title='Surge' food aid into Gaza or there will be starvation: WFP |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805149 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=5 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405042429/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805149 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In ''The Guardian'', global health expert Devi Sridhar wrote there was no precedent to the starvation in Gaza. Sridhar quoted an unnamed colleague, who stated there had never been another conflict in history "that used bombing, snipers, starvation all at once with such intensity".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sridhar |first1=Devi |title=I asked public health colleagues about starvation in Gaza. They say there is no precedent for what is happening |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/colleagues-starvation-gaza-no-precedent-famine |website=The Guardian |date=6 March 2024 |access-date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150824/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/colleagues-starvation-gaza-no-precedent-famine |url-status=live}}</ref> On 6 March, a UN official stated, "Ninety percent of the population today in Gaza is facing a high level of acute food insecurity".<ref>{{cite news |title=Despair so high any passage of trucks an attraction to hungry people: UNRWA |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-food-convoy-blocked-from-north-gaza-by-israel |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=9 March 2024 |date=6 March 2024 |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309054041/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-un-food-convoy-blocked-from-north-gaza-by-israel?update=2753755 |url-status=live}}</ref> A medical student working as a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital documented the first death by starvation in Gaza; he stated, "Do not talk to us again about human rights, I do not know where the world has reached in its brutality and cruelty."<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital documents its first case of child starving to death |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-60000-pregnant-women-face-malnutrition-in-gaza?update=2758157 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=8 March 2024 |archive-date=10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310054409/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-60000-pregnant-women-face-malnutrition-in-gaza?update=2758157 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gaza's civil defense criticized humanitarian aid drops, stating, "The method of using the dropping of aid via international relief planes has not limited the famine crisis".<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza's civil defence decries tactic of airdropping aid |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2762012 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=13 March 2024 |date=10 March 2024 |archive-date=13 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313030234/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/10/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-is-restricting-lifesaving-aid-unrwa?update=2762012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The EU's humanitarian aid chief Janez Lenarcic stated, "We already have a very strong and credible indication that there are pockets of famine already in the Gaza Strip."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baczynska |first1=Gabriela |title=EU humanitarian chief urges Israel to boost land access to Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/eu-humanitarian-chief-urges-israel-boost-land-access-gaza-2024-03-14/ |website=Reuters |date=14 March 2024 |access-date=16 March 2024 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526120638/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/eu-humanitarian-chief-urges-israel-boost-land-access-gaza-2024-03-14/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
A displaced Palestinian speaking to Al Jazeera English in late March stated, "The situation is so bad that no one can imagine it".<ref>{{cite news |title='We cannot eat, or drink, and aid is very scarce' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-13-aid-trucks-reach-north-malnutrition-doubles?update=2778424 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=19 March 2024 |date=17 March 2024 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319233457/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-13-aid-trucks-reach-north-malnutrition-doubles?update=2778424 |url-status=live}}</ref> Martin Griffiths stated the world should "hang its head in shame for failing to stop this".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ide |first1=Ella |title=Famine imminent in north Gaza, an 'unprecedented' crisis: UN |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/famine-imminent-north-gaza-unprecedented-134249204.html |website=Yahoo! News |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=20 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320034103/https://sg.news.yahoo.com/famine-imminent-north-gaza-unprecedented-134249204.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In a report, Islamic Relief stated, "Palestinians are not just starving; they are being starved".<ref>{{cite web |title=Imminent famine in Gaza is entirely man-made, Islamic Relief says |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/imminent-famine-gaza-entirely-man-made-islamic-relief-says |website=ReliefWeb |date=18 March 2024 |publisher=Islamic Relief |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150845/https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/imminent-famine-gaza-entirely-man-made-islamic-relief-says |url-status=live}}</ref> The International Rescue Committee, stated, "Children are starving due to an entirely man-made and preventable crisis. There is no excuse".<ref>{{cite news |title=No excuse for Gaza's man-made famine: IRC |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780924 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321041143/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780924 |url-status=live}}</ref> Melanie Ward, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "If Israel would only let food aid in, we could stop the starvation immediately."<ref>{{cite news |title=Gaza's imminent famine a 'really simple problem to solve' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780876 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321042951/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780876 |url-status=live }}</ref> Oxfam stated the imminent famine was the result of Israel's bombing of Gaza and "using starvation as a weapon of war".<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxfam: 'Catastrophic scenario' as Gaza Strip at risk of famine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780800 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=18 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321052848/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-ceasefire-push-as-rafah-invasion-looms?update=2780800 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Citing the IPC, the US Secretary of State acknowledged on 19 March: "100% of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. That's the first time an entire population has been so classified".<ref>{{cite web |title=Entire Gaza Population At 'Severe Levels Of Acute Food Insecurity': Blinken |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/blinken-says-100-percent-of-gaza-population-at-severe-levels-of-acute-food-insecurity-f076b1f6 |website=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322011645/https://www.barrons.com/news/blinken-says-100-percent-of-gaza-population-at-severe-levels-of-acute-food-insecurity-f076b1f6 |url-status=live}}</ref> Naledi Pandor, South Africa's Foreign Minister, stated that as famine set in, humanity needed to look at itself "in horror and dismay".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tandon |first1=Shaun |title=Israel War Undermining Top UN Court, S.Africa Says |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/israel-war-undermining-top-un-court-s-africa-says-1c053ebf?refsec=topics_afp-news |website=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=10 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510150837/https://www.barrons.com/news/israel-war-undermining-top-un-court-s-africa-says-1c053ebf?refsec=topics_afp-news |url-status=live}}</ref> Caroline Gennez, the Belgian Minister of Development, stated Israel would not defeat Hamas by using hunger as a weapon to starve civilians.<ref>{{cite web |title='One doesn't defeat Hamas by starving innocent civilians' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-holds-al-jazeera-reporter-for-12-hours?update=2782989 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322033322/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/19/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-holds-al-jazeera-reporter-for-12-hours?update=2782989 |url-status=live }}</ref> The World Bank stated the "situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels".<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Gaza faces imminent famine: World Bank |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2786169 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 March 2024 |date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321193538/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/20/israels-war-on-gaza-live-multiple-attacks-kill-dozens-of-palestinians?update=2786169 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, stated under questioning: "We need urgent action now to avoid a famine".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Savage |first1=Claudia |last2=Lynch |first2=David |title='Urgent action' needed to avoid famine in Gaza, says Rishi Sunak |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/urgent-action-needed-avoid-famine-134201257.html |website=Yahoo! News |agency=PA Media |date=20 March 2024 |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323142701/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/urgent-action-needed-avoid-famine-134201257.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 March 2024, the UN secretary-general António Guterres stated the imminent famine was an "entirely man-made disaster".<ref name="un20240318"/>
After the passage of UNSC Resolution 2728, the UN director of Human Rights Watch stated Israel needed to begin "facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, ending its starvation of Gaza's population, and halting unlawful attacks".<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel told to immediately respond to passage of resolution |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-nine-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-deir-el-balah?update=2797222 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 March 2024 |date=25 March 2024 |archive-date=29 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329021937/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/25/israels-war-on-gaza-live-nine-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-deir-el-balah?update=2797222 |url-status=live }}</ref> A provisional measure issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in ''South Africa v. Israel'' found "Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine... but that famine is setting in".<ref name="reuters20240328"/> David J. Simon, the Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, wrote, "Failing to act raises the possibility the [ICJ] will make a finding of genocide".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=David J. |date=27 March 2024 |title=A Famine in Gaza May Bring a Genocide Ruling Against Israel |url=https://time.com/6961106/gaza-averting-famine-genocide-essay/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327203152/https://time.com/6961106/gaza-averting-famine-genocide-essay/ |archive-date=27 March 2024 |access-date=30 March 2024 |website=Time Magazine}}</ref> Amnesty International responded to the ICJ's provisional measures, stating, "This new ruling must serve as a critical reminder to all states of their clear duty to prevent genocide".<ref>{{cite web |title=Amnesty says ICJ order to Israel on Gaza aid highlights 'catastrophe' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/3/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-netanyahu-says-army-preparing-to-enter-rafah?update=2805247 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=29 March 2024}}</ref>
===April 2024=== A director of Save the Children stated, "Starvation must never be used as a weapon of war—27 children have already been killed by starvation and disease. If the world fails to act now countless more children will be added to that number."<ref>{{cite web |title='Food being blocked at every turn': Aid group |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-five-aid-workers-killed-after-delivering-food?update=2812597 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=10 April 2024 |date=2 April 2024}}</ref> On 16 April, Andrea De Domenico, the head of UNOCHA in Palestine, stated, "We're dealing with this dance where we do one step forward, two steps backward, or two steps forward, one step backward, which leaves us basically always at the same point".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nichols |first1=Michelle |title=UN says it still faces obstacles in bid to fend off famine in Gaza |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-says-it-still-faces-obstacles-bid-fend-off-famine-gaza-2024-04-16/ |website=Reuters |date=16 April 2024 |access-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240502151018/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-says-it-still-faces-obstacles-bid-fend-off-famine-gaza-2024-04-16/ |archive-date=2 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 23 April, David M. Satterfield, the US special envoy for humanitarian issues, stated that the risk of famine throughout Gaza, and especially in the north, was "very high".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pamuk |first1=Humeyra |title=Famine risk 'very high' in Gaza, especially in north, US official says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/risk-famine-very-high-gaza-especially-north-us-official-says-2024-04-23/ |website=Reuters |date=23 April 2024 |access-date=25 April 2024}}{{dead link|date=September 2025}}</ref> Gian Caro Cirri, a WFP director, stated, "There is reasonable evidence that all three famine thresholds – food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality—will be passed in the next six weeks."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tétrault-Farber |first1=Gabrielle |title=Gaza could surpass famine thresholds in six weeks, WFP official says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-could-surpass-famine-thresholds-six-weeks-wfp-official-says-2024-04-24/ |website=Reuters |date=24 April 2024 |access-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605122020/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-could-surpass-famine-thresholds-six-weeks-wfp-official-says-2024-04-24/ |archive-date=5 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Carl Skau, the World Food Program deputy executive director, stated, "We are still heading toward famine. We haven't seen the paradigm shift that is needed to avert a famine".<ref>{{cite web |title=UN agency official says northern Gaza still 'heading toward famine' |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/un-agency-official-says-northern-gaza-still-heading-toward-famine-/7585392.html |website=VOA |date=25 April 2024 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425222153/https://www.voanews.com/a/un-agency-official-says-northern-gaza-still-heading-toward-famine-/7585392.html |archive-date=25 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
=== May 2024 === On 4 May, Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP, stated in an interview with NBC News that Northern Gaza was in a "full-blown famine", and that it was "moving its way south". She said: "It's horror. It's so hard to look at and it's so hard to hear. What we are asking for and what we continually ask for is a ceasefire and the ability to have unfettered access, to get in safe through the various ports and gate crossings."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/4/northern-gaza-in-full-blown-famine-un-food-agency-chief-says|title=Northern Gaza in 'full-blown famine', UN food agency chief says|date=4 May 2024|website=Al Jazeera}}</ref> A WFP spokesman later said that one of the three benchmarks for a formal famine declaration had been met.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 May 2024 |title=The UN says there's 'full-blown famine' in northern Gaza |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-un-says-theres-full-blown-famine-in-northern-gaza |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506204803/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/the-un-says-theres-full-blown-famine-in-northern-gaza |archive-date=6 May 2024 |access-date=23 November 2024 |website=PBS News |language=en-us}}</ref> Human Rights Watch stated, "Despite children dying from starvation and famine in Gaza, the Israeli authorities are still blocking aid critical for the survival of Gaza's population in defiance of the World Court".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gaza: Israel Flouts World Court Orders |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/07/gaza-israel-flouts-world-court-orders |website=Human Rights Watch |date=7 May 2024 |access-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507203303/https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/07/gaza-israel-flouts-world-court-orders |archive-date=7 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The American Friends Service Committee stated, "There are 600,000 children on the edge of death."<ref>{{cite web |title=Aid system for Gaza – 'seems it was designed not to work' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/21/israels-war-on-gaza-live-40-of-gaza-population-displaced-in-two-weeks?update=2917137 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=29 May 2024 |date=21 May 2024}}</ref>
=== June 2024 === Stacy Gilbert, a US State Department official who resigned in protest of the Biden's Administration's policies, stated it was "absolutely unanimous that Israel is blocking humanitarian assistance, which is why there's famine".<ref>{{cite web |title='Absolutely unanimous': Israel is blocking aid to Gaza – US official |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/6/3/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-strike-on-gaza-refugee-camp-kills-four?update=2947519 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=13 June 2024 |date=3 June 2024}}</ref> The Middle East and North Africa director of Oxfam stated, "When hunger claims many more lives, nobody will be able to deny the horrifying impact of Israel's deliberate, illegal and cruel obstruction of aid".<ref>{{cite web |title=Famine risk increases as Israel makes Gaza aid response virtually impossible |url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/famine-risk-increases-israel-makes-gaza-aid-response-virtually-impossible-oxfam |website=Oxfam |date=3 June 2024 |access-date=14 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604022132/https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/famine-risk-increases-israel-makes-gaza-aid-response-virtually-impossible-oxfam |archive-date=4 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview, the head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital stated, "We are reeling under famine, we are left with nothing but some quantities of white flour."<ref>{{cite web |title=More from head of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/6/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-no-ceasefire-deal-soon-us-president-biden?update=2975159 |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=22 June 2024 |date=14 June 2024}}</ref>
Israel has criticized the IPC's previous methodology,<ref name="timesofisrael20240531"/> citing the revised June FRC report which stated that: "In contrast with the assumptions made for the projection period (March–July 2024), the amount of food and non-food commodities allowed into the northern governorates increased"; "Additionally, the response in the nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health sectors was scaled up. In this context, the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel-Gaza war: 'High risk' of famine persists, UN-backed assessment says |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22g81djdyo |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=bbc.com |date=25 June 2024 |language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625211736/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22g81djdyo |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> A separate peer-reviewed study by Israeli public health academics analyzed data from all food shipments delivered into the Gaza Strip by land between January–July 2024 by COGAT, including the gross weight of each consignment and its content, concluded that the provisions entering Gaza were sufficient to provide the basic requirements of energy, protein and fat for the entire population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fliss-Isakov |first1=Naomi |last2=Nitzan |first2=Dorit |last3=Magnazi |first3=Moran Blaychfeld |last4=Mendlovic |first4=Joseph |last5=Preis |first5=Sharon Alroy |last6=Twig |first6=Gilad |last7=Troen |first7=Aron M. |last8=Endevelt |first8=Ronit |date=12 February 2025 |title=Food supplied to Gaza during seven months of the Hamas-Israel war |journal=Israel Journal of Health Policy Research |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=8 |doi=10.1186/s13584-025-00668-6 |doi-access=free |issn=2045-4015 |pmc=11818336 |pmid=39939994}}</ref> An independent study by researchers from Columbia university came to similar conclusions, though has not been peer-reviewed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 June 2024 |title=Experts: ICC and UN blamed Israel for a famine that never happened in Gaza – exclusive |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-806739 |access-date=24 June 2024 |work=The Jerusalem Post |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629145343/https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-806739 |archive-date=29 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=18 June 2024 |title=Columbia University Professors Refute ICC And UN Gaza Famine Claims |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-columbia-university-professors-refute-icc-and-un-gaza-famine-claims |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618120707/https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-columbia-university-professors-refute-icc-and-un-gaza-famine-claims |archive-date=18 June 2024 |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=i24NEWS}}</ref>
Arif Husain, the chief economist of WFP, stated that arguments about an official famine designation for Gaza were missing the point, as the situation was already dire for the territory's 2.3 million people.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Food Program economist pleads for action to help Gaza's dire food crisis |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-mideast-latest-06-25-2024-e73b2b0e7e5301c9fd11d55f963a3827# |website=Associated Press |date=25 June 2024 |access-date=6 July 2024|quote=The U.N. food agency's chief economist says designations about whether there's a famine in Gaza miss the point, because the situation is dire with nearly all 2.3 million Palestinians facing acute hunger. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625084759/https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-mideast-latest-06-25-2024-e73b2b0e7e5301c9fd11d55f963a3827 |archive-date=25 June 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
===July 2024 – present=== In July 2024, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated in an interview that she was aware of reports that people were eating grass, as well as Gaza's lack of available clean water, stating, "You can't make shit with flour if you don't have clean water. So what's going on with that? I ask questions like, What are people actually eating right now?"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zhang |first1=Sharon |title=Harris Says She Understands Gaza Protesters, as Biden Question Lingers |url=https://truthout.org/articles/harris-says-she-understands-gaza-protesters-as-biden-question-lingers/ |website=truthout |date=9 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709205412/https://truthout.org/articles/harris-says-she-understands-gaza-protesters-as-biden-question-lingers/ |archive-date=9 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Walsh |first1=Joan |title=Is Kamala the One? |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kamala-harris-interview-profile-excerpt/ |website=The Nation |date=8 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708201729/https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kamala-harris-interview-profile-excerpt/ |archive-date=8 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In August 2024, Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, stated, "We bring in aid because there is no choice... We can't, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger, even though it might be justified and moral".<ref name="timesofisrael20240805"/> The European Union and foreign ministries of France and the UK condemned Smotrich's comments.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU, France, UK Slam Israel Minister For Gaza Starvation Comment |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/eu-france-slam-israel-minister-for-gaza-starvation-comment-078ec06d |website=Barron's |publisher=Agence France Presse |access-date=18 August 2024 |date=7 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818203642/https://www.barrons.com/news/eu-france-slam-israel-minister-for-gaza-starvation-comment-078ec06d |archive-date=18 August 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Australian foreign minister Penny Wong stated, "The deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime. There is no justification for it, ever."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shepherd |first1=Tory |title=Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister's comments suggesting starvation in Gaza 'might be justified' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/10/penny-wong-condemns-israeli-ministers-comments-suggesting-starvation-in-gaza-might-be-justified |website=The Guardian |date=10 August 2024 |access-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810053609/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/10/penny-wong-condemns-israeli-ministers-comments-suggesting-starvation-in-gaza-might-be-justified |archive-date=10 August 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2024, Oxfam warned that the effects of starvation were likely to last for generations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global conflicts driving up to 21,000 deaths daily from hunger: Oxfam |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/16/global-conflicts-driving-up-to-21000-deaths-daily-from-hunger-report |website=Al Jazeera English |access-date=20 October 2024 |date=16 October 2024}}</ref>
On 2 October 2024, 99 American healthcare workers who have served in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, sent US President Joe Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris, and others a letter, cited in a paper from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, in which they said that based on starvation standards by the US-funded Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, according to the most conservative estimate that they could calculate based on the available data, at least 62,413 people in Gaza were likely to have died from starvation, most of them young children.<ref name="MotherJonesTotalDeaths">{{Cite web |last=Hurwitz |first=Sophie |date=8 October 2024 |title=Report: In one year, more than 100,000 deaths in Gaza—aided by over $17.9 billion from the US |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/us-israel-funding-gaza-palestine-deaths-october-100000-17-billion/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250629012044/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/us-israel-funding-gaza-palestine-deaths-october-100000-17-billion/ |archive-date=29 June 2025 |access-date=9 August 2025 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="WatsonInstituteEstimatedDeaths">{{cite web |last=Stamatopoulou-Robbins |first=Sophia |date=7 October 2024 |title=The Human Toll: Indirect Deaths from War in Gaza and the West Bank, October 7, 2023 Forward |url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/2024/Costs%20of%20War_Human%20Toll%20Since%20Oct%207.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250710072600/https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/2024/Costs%20of%20War_Human%20Toll%20Since%20Oct%207.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2025 |access-date=17 October 2024 |publisher=Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University |quote=In addition to killing people directly through traumatic injuries, wars cause "indirect deaths" by destroying, damaging, or causing deterioration of economic, social, psychological and health conditions. Most expansively, this report describes the causal pathways that can be expected to lead to far larger numbers of indirect deaths. These deaths result from diseases and other population-level health effects that stem from war's destruction of public infrastructure and livelihood sources, reduced access to water and sanitation, environmental damage, and other such factors. This report builds on a foundation of previous Costs of War research for its framework and methodology in covering the most significant chains of impact, or causal pathways, to indirect war deaths in Gaza and the West Bank. Unlike in combat, these deaths do not necessarily occur immediately or in the close aftermath of the battles which many observers focus on. While it will take years to assess the full extent of these population-level health effects, they will inevitably lead to far higher numbers of deaths than direct violence.}}</ref><ref name="GazaAppendix">{{cite web |date=2 October 2024 |title=Appendix to the Open Letter from American Medical Professionals who Served in Gaza |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/66e083452b3cbf4bbd719aa2/t/66fcd754b472610b6335d66f/1727846228615/Appendix+20241002.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250808013343/https://www.gazahealthcareletters.org/s/Appendix-20241002.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2025 |access-date=21 May 2025 |website=Gaza Healthcare Letters}} </ref>
In April 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz voiced support for the blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, stating, "Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population."<ref>{{cite news |title='No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza,' Israel defence minister says |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250416-israel-says-no-humanitarian-aid-will-enter-gaza |work=France 24 |date=16 April 2025}}</ref>
On 16 May 2025, during the last day of his visit to the Gulf Arab states, President Donald Trump said, "We're looking at Gaza. And we're going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving" while in Abu Dhabi.<ref name="TheGuardian16May2025">{{cite web|title=Trump acknowledges starvation in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes kill more than 100|website=The Guardian|date=16 May 2025|author1=Jason Burke|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/16/donald-trump-people-gaza-starving-us-will-take-care-of-situation}}</ref><ref name="CBSNews16May2025">{{cite web|title=Trump says "a lot of people are starving" in Gaza, as death toll from Israel's assault reportedly hits 53,000|website=CBS News|date=16 May 2025|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-gaza-war-trump-says-people-starving/}}</ref> In May 2025, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada threatened sanctions against Israel over Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite news |title=Albanese says 'we follow our own path' after UK, France and Canada threaten Israel with sanctions over Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/28/anthony-albanese-downplays-prospect-of-imposing-sanctions-on-israel-over-gaza-ntwnfb |work=The Guardian |date=28 May 2025}}</ref>
On 25 July 2025, US Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement: "Having already killed or wounded 200,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the extremist Israeli government is using mass starvation to engineer the ethnic cleansing of Gaza."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harb |first1=Ali |title='Horrors upon horrors': How US Congress responded to mass hunger in Gaza |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/26/horrors-upon-horrors-how-us-congress-responded-to-mass-hunger-in-gaza |work=Al Jazeera English |date=26 July 2025}}</ref> On 26 July 2025, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on the Trump administration to pressure Israel to end the blockade, saying, "The starvation and death of Palestinian children and civilians in an ongoing war zone is unacceptable. The Trump administration has the ability to bring an end to this humanitarian crisis. They must act now."<ref>{{cite news |title=Democrats join global outcry over humanitarian crisis in Gaza |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/26/gaza-crisis-united-states-response-00478153 |work=Politico |date=26 July 2025}}</ref> In July 2025, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "I don't know what you'd call it other than mass starvation. And it is man-made."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Collinson |first1=Stephen |title=As the Epstein saga rages, Trump is getting a pass on his role in the building famine in Gaza |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/25/politics/trump-gaza-famine-israel-netanyahu-analysis |work=CNN |date=25 July 2025}}</ref>
On 27 July 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that there is "no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza."<ref>{{cite news |title=Netanyahu claims there is 'no starvation in Gaza' in extraordinary denial of growing hunger crisis |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/netanyahu-israel-starvation-gaza-malnutrition-b2797207.html |work=The Independent|first=Bryony|last=Gooch|date=28 July 2025|access-date=31 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trump shouted at Netanyahu in phone call over PM's denial of Gaza hunger — report |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-shouted-at-netanyahu-in-phone-call-over-pms-denial-of-gaza-hunger-report/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=8 August 2025}}</ref> Netanyahu's statement was contradicted by US President Trump, who admitted that people in Gaza were starving and declared that the US and its allies would establish barrier-free food centers in Gaza to assist with humanitarian aid deliveries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Donald Trump says he does not agree with Netanyahu's claims of 'no starvation' in Gaza |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-28/donald-trump-says-eu-will-contribute-to-gaza-aid/105583658 |work=ABC |date=28 July 2025}}</ref>
On 30 July, resolutions proposed by Sanders that would block weapons to Israel failed, though were supported by the majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus; several moderate Democrats who had previously opposed blocking weapons voted for the resolutions over the increased level of starvation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Senate Dems' bid to block $675 million Israeli arms deal fails |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/07/31/israel-weapons-sales-democrats-vote-fail |website=axios.com |publisher=Axios|first=Stephen|last=Neukam |date=31 July 2025 |access-date=31 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Senate votes against resolutions to block arms sales to Israel even as it continues to starve Gaza – as it happened |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jul/30/trump-administration-judges-epstein-witness-testimony-us-politics-latest-updates-news?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-688accf38f08d10b04f31be3#block-688accf38f08d10b04f31be3 |website=The Guardian |access-date=31 July 2025 |date=30 July 2025}}</ref>
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Martin |title=Taoiseach Micheál Martin accuses Israel of war crime over blocking of aid entering Gaza |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/05/06/taoiseach-micheal-martin-accuses-israel-of-war-crime-over-blocking-of-aid-entering-gaza/ |work=The Irish Times |date=6 May 2025}}</ref> Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk,<ref>{{cite news |title=Poland stands with Israel but not with policies causing civilian suffering, says PM Tusk |url=https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7785/artykul/3560110,poland-stands-with-israel-but-not-with-policies-causing-civilian-suffering-says-pm-tusk |work=Polskie Radio |date=3 August 2025}}</ref> British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Israel of starving the people of Gaza and urged an end to the blockade.<ref>{{cite news |title=French, British and German leaders urge end to Gaza 'humanitarian catastrophe' after Macron backs Palestinian state |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2025/07/25/french-uk-german-leaders-to-hold-call-on-gaza-after-macron-backs-a-palestinian-state_6743715_143.html |work=Le Monde |date=25 July 2025}}</ref>
In August 2025, German newspapers ''Bild'' and ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' published articles questioning the authenticity of photos from the Gaza Strip, with ''Bild'' accusing Anas Zayed Fteiha, a photojournalist working for Turkey's Anadolu Agency, of staging his photos of the famine. The articles were cited by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as evidence of "Pallywood".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Freiberg |first=Nava |date=6 August 2025 |title=German newspapers accuse global news outlets of using staged photos from Gaza |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/german-newspapers-accuse-global-news-outlets-of-using-staged-photos-from-gaza/ |website=The Times of Israel}}</ref> Fteiha denied the accusations and accused ''Bild'' of repeated breaches of journalistic ethics. He stated, "The photo they published to distort me is entirely real. It was taken during the filming of a documentary documenting the famine in Gaza, as children were scrambling for food or water. Everything in it was real, not staged or directed."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-photographer-denies-staging-images-of-hunger-or-affiliating-with-hamas/|title=Gaza photographer denies staging images of hunger or affiliating with Hamas|date=8 August 2025|website=The Times of Israel|last1=Sales|first1=Ben|last2=Freiberg|first2=Nava}}</ref><ref name="ArabNews080825">{{Cite news|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2611144/media|title='I don't create suffering, I document it:' Gaza photographer hits back at Bild over accusation of staging scenes|date=8 August 2025|work=Arab News}}</ref> The claims made in the ''Bild'' report were debunked by the Israeli fact-checking organization FakeReporter and the French newspaper ''Libération''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/cette-photo-dune-distribution-daide-a-gaza-est-elle-une-mise-en-scene-comme-laffirme-le-journal-allemand-bild-20250808_RASMZARKBRHNTERI3BSNVDC52E/|title=Cette photo d'une distribution d'aide à Gaza est-elle une mise en scène, comme l'affirme le journal allemand «Bild» ?|date=8 August 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250820143027/https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/cette-photo-dune-distribution-daide-a-gaza-est-elle-une-mise-en-scene-comme-laffirme-le-journal-allemand-bild-20250808_RASMZARKBRHNTERI3BSNVDC52E/|archive-date=20 August 2025|access-date=30 January 2026|url-status=live|work=Libération|trans-title=Is this photo of an aid distribution in Gaza a staging, as the German newspaper "Bild" says?}}</ref><ref name="ArabNews080825"/>
In response to the increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition, and heightened reporting, the IDF issued a statement on 12 August blaming the deaths on a deliberate campaign by Hamas to interfere with ceasefire negotiations. They also claimed reports obfuscated preexisting conditions. Experts interviewed by ''Haaretz'' on 13 August stated that such conditions do not preclude the cause of the deaths being due to starvation, and the existing conditions in Gaza can aggravate preexisting conditions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hasson |first=Nir |date=13 August 2025 |title=An IDF Investigation Rejected the Gaza Famine, but Experts Say It Only Reaffirmed Its Existence |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/an-idf-investigation-rejected-the-gaza-famine-but-experts-say-it-only-reaffirmed-it/00000198-a364-d1fc-a3d8-f7ec90800000 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250814042532/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/an-idf-investigation-rejected-the-gaza-famine-but-experts-say-it-only-reaffirmed-it/00000198-a364-d1fc-a3d8-f7ec90800000 |archive-date=14 August 2025 |access-date=14 August 2025 |work=Haaretz}}</ref> In August 2025, The Free Press investigated the pre-existing health problems of starving Palestinian children in an attempt to cast doubt on the famine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lennard |first1=Natasha |title=Bari Weiss's Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick |url=https://theintercept.com/2025/08/19/bari-weiss-free-press-gaza-starvation-famine/ |date=19 August 2025 |work=The Intercept}}</ref>
In August 2025, Xaviaer DuRousseau and other American and Israeli social media influencers went on a paid trip to Gaza by the diaspora affairs ministry to film and share content from the distribution sites. According to ''Haaretz'', the aim of the campaign is to "reveal the truth" about the conditions in Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|title= 'See the Truth With My Own Eyes' : Israel Brings U.S., Israeli Social Media Influencers to Gaza Aid Sites to Fight 'Hamas Hunger Campaign'|url= https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-21/ty-article/.premium/israel-brings-social-media-influencers-to-gaza-aid-sites-to-fight-hamas-hunger-campaign/00000198-cced-d15a-a3bd-dfed82530000|website=Haaretz|date=21 August 2025}}</ref> DuRousseau stated on Twitter, "There is enough food at this aid base to feed every person in Gaza for at least a week, but the UN, Hamas, etc refuse to distribute the food efficiently. Instead, it sits here to spoil and be stolen. How's that Israel's fault?".<ref>{{cite web|title= Israel sends influencers to Gaza distribution sites, amid continued ban on foreign media|url= https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-sends-influencers-gaza-amid-continued-media-ban|website=The New Arab|date=20 August 2025|access-date=30 August 2025}}</ref>
In September 2025, ''Drop Site News'' reported that Google had signed a six-month, $45 million contract with the Israeli government in June to push its propaganda during the Gaza war, including content that denied the famine.<ref name="Poulson-2025">{{Cite web |last=Poulson |first=Jack |last2=Fang |first2=Lee |date=Sep 3, 2025 |title=Google's $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu's Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda |url=https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/google-youtube-netanyahu-israel-propaganda-gaza-famine |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=Drop Site News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2025 |title=Israel paid Google $45m to help cover up Gaza starvation |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-paid-google-45m-help-cover-gaza-starvation?amp=1 |website=The New Arab}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Israel|Palestine}} * Civilian victimization * Criticism of Israel * Gaza genocide * Gaza humanitarian crisis * Human rights in Israel * Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war * International aid to Palestinians * Israeli apartheid * Israeli direct action against aid delivery to Gaza * State crime * UNRWA * War crimes in the Gaza war * Water supply and sanitation in Palestine * Winter of 2024–25 in the Gaza Strip * World Central Kitchen
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
===Works cited=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite report |last1=Albanese |first1=Francesca |title=Anatomy of a Genocide: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese |url=https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/046/11/pdf/g2404611.pdf |date=25 March 2024 |publisher=United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories |author-link1=Francesca Albanese}} * {{cite report |author=Amnesty International |author-link=Amnesty International |year=2024 |title='You Feel Like You Are Subhuman': Israel's Genocide Against Palestinians In Gaza |url=https://amnesty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Amnesty-International-Gaza-Genocide-Report-December-4-2024.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241205121850/https://amnesty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Amnesty-International-Gaza-Genocide-Report-December-4-2024.pdf |archive-date=5 December 2024 |url-status=live}} * {{Cite report |author=B'Tselem |author-link1=B'Tselem |date=July 2025 |title=Our Genocide |url=https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202507_our_genocide_eng.pdf}} * {{cite news |last1=Borger |first1=Julian |date=8 March 2024 |title='Who is going to distribute it?': the key flaw in US's plan to build aid port in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/gaza-floating-port-aid-palestinians-impact?CMP=share_btn_url |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510124449/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/gaza-floating-port-aid-palestinians-impact?CMP=share_btn_url |archive-date=10 May 2024 |access-date=12 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |ref={{harvid|Borger|2024b}} }} * {{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Benjamin |title='Trucks are stopped, people are dying': Top EU diplomat claims Israel is using starvation as weapon of war |url=https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-03-18-24/h_afad01e49a4f0473ec78987500e0aede |work=CNN |date=18 March 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321034213/https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-03-18-24/h_afad01e49a4f0473ec78987500e0aede |url-status=live}} * {{Cite journal |last1=De Vogli |first1=Roberto |last2=Montomoli |first2=Jonathan |last3=Abu-Sittah |first3=Ghassan |last4=Pappé |first4=Ilan |author4-link=Ilan Pappé |date=2025 |title=Break the selective silence on the genocide in Gaza |journal=The Lancet |volume=406 |issue=10504 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01541-7 |at=[https://www.thelancet.com/cms/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01541-7/attachment/e415fdee-02dc-4495-8515-f587976a5bb3/mmc1.pdf Supplementary appendix pp. 3–4] |pmid=40752501 }} * {{cite book |last1=Dumper |first1=Michael |last2=Badran |first2=Amneh |doi=10.4324/9781003031994 |title=Routledge Handbook on Palestine |date=2024 |editor-last1=Dumper |editor-first1=Michael |editor-last2=Badran |editor-first2=Amneh |isbn=978-1-003-03199-4 |edition=1st |publisher=Routledge}} * {{cite news |last=Fabian |first=Emanuel |date=9 October 2023 |title=Defense minister announces 'complete siege' of Gaza: No power, food or fuel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/ |access-date=18 October 2023 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009105739/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel/ |url-status=live |issn=0040-7909}} * {{cite journal |last=Filiu |first=Jean-Pierre |author-link=Jean-Pierre Filiu |date=Autumn 2014 |title=The Twelve Wars on Gaza |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=44 |number=1 |jstor=10.1525/jps.2014.44.1.52 |pages=52–60|doi=10.1525/jps.2014.44.1.52 |url=https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03473736/file/2014-10-filiu-12-wars-on-gaza-jps-44-1.pdf}} * {{cite book |last=Howard-Hassmann |first=Rhoda E. | author-link = Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann |year=2016 |title=State Food Crimes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LTDDAAAQBAJ |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=18 January 2024 |isbn=978-1-107-13352-5}} * {{cite magazine |last1=Larson |first1=Nina |title=Israel May Be Using Starvation As 'Weapon Of War': UN |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/israel-may-be-using-starvation-as-weapon-of-war-a-war-crime-un-d7d671d5 |magazine=Barron's |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=19 March 2024 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=21 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321184420/https://www.barrons.com/news/israel-may-be-using-starvation-as-weapon-of-war-a-war-crime-un-d7d671d5 |url-status=live}} * {{cite news |last1=Maurice |first1=Guillaume |title=In Gaza, 'an estimated 22% of agricultural land' has been destroyed since the start of the conflict |url=https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231212-in-gaza-an-estimated-22-of-agricultural-land-has-been-destroyed-since-the-start-of-the-conflict |work=The Observers |date=12 December 2023 |publisher=France24 |access-date=17 January 2024 |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117015148/https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231212-in-gaza-an-estimated-22-of-agricultural-land-has-been-destroyed-since-the-start-of-the-conflict |url-status=live}} * {{Cite news |last1=Mohyeldin |first1=Ayman |last2=Hamdan |first2=Basel |date=10 December 2024 |url=https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/israel-gaza-genocide-netanyahu-rcna183485 |title=Why Amnesty International and other experts say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza |work=MSNBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250703062158/https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/israel-gaza-genocide-netanyahu-rcna183485 |archive-date=3 July 2025}} * {{cite news |last1=Narea |first1=Nicole |date=25 October 2024 |title=Is Israel committing genocide? Reexamining the question, a year later. |url=https://www.vox.com/politics/378913/israel-gaza-genocide-icj |work=Vox |access-date=28 October 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241027004251/https://www.vox.com/politics/378913/israel-gaza-genocide-icj |archive-date=27 October 2024}} * {{cite journal |first=Ron |last=Smith |date=Spring 2019 |title=Israel's Permanent Siege of Gaza |journal=Middle East Report |number=290 |pages=38–42 |jstor=45406228}} * {{cite news |last=Speri |first=Alice |date=20 December 2024 |title=Defining genocide: how a rift over Gaza sparked a crisis among scholars |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/20/genocide-definition-mass-violence-scholars-gaza |work=Guardian |access-date=23 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241220112141/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/20/genocide-definition-mass-violence-scholars-gaza |archive-date=20 December 2024 |url-status=live}} * {{Cite news |last1=Tharoor |first1=Ishaan |date=30 July 2025 |title=Leading genocide scholars see a genocide happening in Gaza |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/30/israel-genocide-gaza-scholars-historians |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2 August 2025}} * {{cite book |last1=Traverso |first1=Enzo |author-link=Enzo Traverso |year=2024 |title=Gaza Faces History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-8PEQAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-63542-555-0 |publisher=Other Press}} * {{cite news|last1=van Laarhoven |first1=Kasper |last2=Peek |first2=Eva |last3=Walters |first3=Derk |date=14 May 2025 |title=Zeven gerenommeerde wetenschappers vrijwel eensgezind: Israël pleegt in Gaza genocide |trans-title= |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/05/14/zeven-gerenommeerde-wetenschappers-vrijwel-eensgezind-israel-pleegt-in-gaza-genocide-a4893293 |access-date=27 May 2025 |newspaper=NRC |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250515114020/https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/05/14/zeven-gerenommeerde-wetenschappers-vrijwel-eensgezind-israel-pleegt-in-gaza-genocide-a4893293 |archive-date=15 May 2025}} * {{cite news |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |title=David Cameron accuses Israel of blocking key aid crossing in Gaza |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/21/david-cameron-accuses-israel-of-blocking-key-aid-crossing-in-gaza |work=The Guardian |date=21 March 2024 |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=22 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322152742/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/21/david-cameron-accuses-israel-of-blocking-key-aid-crossing-in-gaza |url-status=live}} {{refend}}
==External links== * [https://www.ipcinfo.org/ The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)] * [https://bearing-witness.com/starvation-story/ Starving Gaza], Bearing Witness testimonial initiative, Lee Mordechai and Liat Kozma, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, March 2026 (in Hebrew)
{{Gaza genocide}} {{Gaza war|state=collapsed}}
Category:2020s famines Category:2023 in the Gaza Strip Category:2024 in the Gaza Strip Category:2025 in the Gaza Strip Category:Famines in Palestine Famine Category:Gaza Strip in the Gaza war Category:Gaza genocide Category:Gaza war Category:History of Palestine (region) Category:Humanitarian crises Category:Israel and the United Nations Category:Israeli massacres of Palestinians Category:Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war Category:Man-made disasters in Palestine