WHO Warns Lack Of Direct Access To Food Increases Death And Starvation In Gaza

The WCK mobile team toured the Gaza Strip to distribute food to Palestinian civilians. (Twitter/@WCKitchen)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned of a lack of direct access to food and essential supplies to increase deaths and hunger in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"Today's report shows that without direct access to food and essential supplies, the situation will continue to deteriorate, causing more deaths and hunger," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"We don't have to wait for the declaration of hunger in Gaza to find out people are hungry, sick and dying, while food and medicine are just minutes from across the border," Tedros said.

Referring to the latest food safety analysis released on Monday by the Integrated Food Safety Phase Classification partnership (IPC), the WHO said: "The risk of hunger in Gaza increases with the detention of intentional humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade."

"The entire population of Gaza, totaling 2.1 million, faces a prolonged food shortage, with nearly half a million people in a hunger disaster situation, acute malnutrition, hunger, disease, and death. This is one of the worst hunger crises in the world, which is happening directly," he explained.

"The crowd has not been announced, but people are now starving. Three-quarters of Gaza's population is in a "Emergency" or "Disaster" food shortage, the worst two levels of the five-level food insecurity and malnutrition of the IPC," he said.

"Since the aid blockade began on March 2, 2025, 57 children have reportedly died due to the impact of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. This number is likely to be a lower estimate and is likely to increase. If the situation continues, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to experience acute malnutrition over the next eleven months, according to the IPC report," he added.