The Gaza Strip is facing catastrophic humanitarian conditions with the threat of famine worsening, amid the continuing Israeli blockade, closure of crossings, and prevention of relief aid from entering, as the Israeli occupation continues its war of extermination on Gaza for the 20th consecutive month.

Catastrophic levels of hunger

The Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that more than 1.25 million citizens are living in conditions classified as the highest levels of food insecurity, warning that 650,000 children are at risk of starvation/famine amid the near-total collapse of the humanitarian system.

The office said in a press statement that 96% of the Strip’s population suffers from acute food insecurity as a result of a complete halt in food and medical aid and an almost total absence of basic resources, while Israeli aggression continues for the 20th consecutive day, targeting infrastructure, distribution centers, and relief warehouses.

The report notes that families in Gaza, especially in areas of displacement, are now living on food scraps and unsafe drinking water, amid the absence of any effective international support. Local officials said that some families have not received food aid for more than a month, putting the lives of children, sick, and older people at immediate risk.

For its part, the Ministry of Health in Gaza warned that:

the continuation of the blockade and the prevention of food and medical supplies threatens to cause the humanitarian situation to explode into an uncontrollable stage, especially with the recording of deaths due to hunger and malnutrition in some areas.

Alarming testimonies from Gaza over the famine

A doctor working at a medical center in the center of the sector told the Canary:

We receive children who are only a few months old and weigh no more than 2 kilograms, with no milk, no treatment, and their mothers crying in despair… This is not a shortage, but a death sentence that no one can stop.

In the face of this disaster, appeals from relief organizations and local authorities continue to escalate, demanding immediate and urgent intervention to save as many lives as possible and provide safe and sustainable corridors for aid, before the famine turns into a slow mass grave.

Gaza is currently experiencing one of the worst food crises in modern times, where famine is not knocking on doors but has entered homes and ravaged exhausted bodies, while international silence remains complicit in the crime.

In Gaza, the war does not stop at bombs and raids, but extends to the stomachs of children and the dreams of mothers, where famine is a silent weapon that kills without warning. One and a quarter million people do not need pity, but justice and the right to life.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.