Starvation Spreads Throughout Gaza

JAKARTA - The recent deaths of several children from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip indicate that famine has spread across the territory.

Gaza health authorities said 33 children had died from malnutrition, most of them in the northern area which has so far borne the brunt of Israel's military campaign launched after Hamas's offensive against southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Since early May, the war has spread to southern Gaza, affecting aid flows to the territory amid restrictions imposed by Israel, which has accused UN agencies of failing to distribute supplies efficiently.

In a statement on Tuesday, July 9, the UN group of 11 human rights experts cited the deaths of three children aged 13, 9 years and six months from malnutrition in the southern Khan Younis area and the central Deir Al-Balah area since late May.

"With the deaths of these children from starvation despite medical care in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza to central and southern Gaza," the experts said, as reported by Reuters.

Their statement, signed by experts including the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, condemned Israel’s “deliberate and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people”.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva said the statement was “misinformation”.

“Israel continues to increase its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip, recently connecting its electricity lines to Gaza’s water desalination plant,” it added.

At Khan Younis hospital on Monday, Palestinian woman Ghaneyma Joma told Reuters she feared her son would starve to death.

“It is heartbreaking to see my son… lying on the ground dying of malnutrition because I cannot give him anything due to the war, the closure of the crossings and the contaminated water,” she said.

Formally, the presence or absence of famine is determined by a UN-backed global monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which makes assessments based on a series of technical criteria.

Last month the IPC said Gaza remained at high risk of famine as the war continued and aid access was restricted.

More than 495,000 people in Gaza – more than a fifth of the population – were facing the most severe or “catastrophic” level of food insecurity, it said, down from an estimate of 1.1 million in previous data.