Above photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images.
As Over 100 Palestinians Die Of Hunger.
AFP has raised alarms that its correspondents inside the strip may soon die under siege.
At least 15 Palestinians died of starvation in Gaza over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from hunger and malnutrition to 101 since the start of the genocide, including 89 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry on July 22.
“This is a silent massacre. The Ministry of Health holds the Israeli occupation and the international community fully responsible. We urgently call for the immediate opening of all crossings to allow the entry of food and medicine,” the ministry said.
Euro-Med Monitor reported that one Palestinian died of hunger every 80 minutes on Sunday, accusing Israel of pursuing “a systematic starvation policy against 2 million residents.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that one in three people in Gaza are going days without food, with thousands on the verge of “catastrophic hunger.”
Gaza’s Government Media Office said that 1.25 million people in the enclave are currently living under catastrophic hunger. At the same time, 96 percent of the population suffers from severe food insecurity, including over one million children.
The Office added that over 650,000 children under five face “imminent and severe risk of acute malnutrition.”
Al-Shifa Hospital’s director said medical staff are treating hundreds suffering from exhaustion, memory loss, and collapse. “We don’t have enough beds or medicine,” he said. “We have 17,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition. This is a generation being starved to death.”
UNRWA warned, “The Israeli Authorities are starving civilians in Gaza. Among them are 1 million children.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Palestinians face “an acute risk of famine,” adding: “No one should have to risk their life to get basic humanitarian assistance.”
On 2 March, Israel closed Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off all food and medical supplies. Human rights organizations accuse it of using starvation as a weapon of war.
Limited aid has since been distributed by the US-sponsored Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been widely condemned for bypassing the UN, restricting aid to specific zones.
The UN confirmed that few trucks have reached Gaza, with officials describing GHF distribution sites as “mass death traps” and “slaughterhouses.”
Since GHF began operations on 27 May, Israeli forces and US mercenaries have killed over 900 aid seekers and injured more than 60,000, according to the Health Ministry, with another 46 people still missing after attempting to collect food.
Doctors Without Borders warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
AFP warned on Monday that its Gaza correspondents are facing starvation. “We refuse to see them die,” the agency said in a statement.
One of its photographers, Bashar, wrote: “I can no longer work in the media. My body is too thin and I can no longer work.” On Sunday, he reported that his older brother had “fallen” from starvation.
Dr. Suhaib al-Hams, director of the field hospital in the Al-Mawasi zone, warned of a “wave of deaths” due to organ failure.
On Friday, health officials in Gaza reported a growing epidemic of famine, with hundreds suffering severe intestinal illness, exhaustion, and memory loss from prolonged hunger.
