Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 289 Palestinians, including 115 children, have died of starvation amid a deepening famine in the besieged enclave, warning that the crisis is worsening by the day.
Munir al-Bursh, director of the ministry, told Al Jazeera that the situation requires a massive humanitarian response, adding that authorities are “in a race against time to address famine.” Eight people, including a child, reportedly died from hunger in the past 24 hours alone.
Medical sources confirmed at least 16 Palestinians were killed across Gaza in the same period, among them seven people who were shot while waiting for food near aid distribution points. Hospital officials said 64 bodies and 278 wounded were brought in during the past day.
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Since the establishment of the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in May, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded while seeking aid. The UN says at least 766 of those deaths occurred near GHF aid points, with rights groups accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon.
The humanitarian disaster has particularly hit children. Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, head of the children’s ward at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, described the crisis as “catastrophic,” warning that up to 75,000 children in southern Gaza are at risk of severe malnutrition. Some, he said, die outside hospital gates “due to lack of milk and treatment.”
On Friday, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) officially declared famine in Gaza City, the first such declaration in the Middle East and only the fifth worldwide. The IPC estimates nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population, around 514,000 people, are already in famine conditi
Gaza Famine Claims 289 Lives, Children Among Victims
ons, with the number expected to climb above 640,000 by September.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces launched fresh airstrikes and shelling overnight on Gaza City’s eastern and northern outskirts, including Zeitoun, Shejaia, Sabra, and Jabalia. Witnesses reported nonstop explosions as tanks destroyed homes and roads.
Since October 2023, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians and injured more than 157,000, according to Gaza health authorities. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the same time, Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
