Highlights Mass Starvation In Gaza, WHO Chief: This Is Because Of The Blockade

WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Wikimedia Commons/MONUSCO)

JAKARTA - Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday the Gaza Strip was suffering from human-made mass hunger caused by a blockade of aid into the Palestinian enclave.

He spoke following calls by more than 100 aid agencies warning of starvation in Gaza while tons of food, clean water, and medical supplies were abandoned outside the region.

"I don't know what you'll call anything other than mass hunger, and it's man-made, and it's very clear," Tedros said in a virtual press conference broadcast live from Geneva.

"This is because of the blockade," he said.

The WHO said the deadly spike in malnutrition had led to the death of at least 21 children reported to the agency by 2025, but stressed the figures may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Centers for handling full malnutrition without sufficient supply for emergency food, the WHO added, as the hunger crisis was exacerbated by the collapse of aid networks and access restrictions.

Tedros also said the United Nations and its humanitarian partners were unable to deliver food for nearly 80 days between March and May, and resumption of shipments was still inadequate.

The situation is very bad, he said and other WHO officials, with about 10 percent of people screened experiencing severe or moderate malnutrition, and up to 20 percent of pregnant women.

In July alone, 5,100 children have been included in the malnutrition program, including 800 very thin children, said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian territories.

Gaza's food stock has been running out since Israel, which has been at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the region in March before lifting the blockade in May, but with restrictions deemed necessary to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.

As a result, international aid agencies stated that few of what is needed today reaches Gazans.

Israel said it was committed to allowing aid entry, but had to control it so it would not be diverted by militants.

Israel also claims to have allowed enough food to enter Gaza during the war and blamed Hamas for the suffering of the 2.2 million population of Gaza.

Yesterday, ten other Palestinians died overnight from starvation, Gaza's Ministry of Health said, bringing the total number of people who died from hunger to 111 people, mostly in recent weeks when a wave of hunger hit the Palestinian territories.