Famine in Gaza… A Systematic Zionist Crime Claims 317 Lives, Including 121 Children, amid Shameful International Silence
The Zionist crime of starvation in the Gaza Strip continues to claim more lives. Today, Thursday, the Ministry of Health announced four new deaths due to famine and malnutrition, including two children, bringing the toll to 317 killed since the start of the war, of whom 121 are children.
The ministry affirmed that these figures come amid dire humanitarian conditions — a total lack of food, medicines, and potable water — and under a suffocating siege imposed by the Zionist enemy with full American and Western support.
An Official Declaration That Changed Nothing
Although the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared the outbreak of famine in Gaza on 22 August, conditions on the ground have worsened: since that date there have been 39 recorded deaths, including six children.
In this context, Gaza’s Director General of Health, Dr. Munir al-Bursh, said that the famine declaration had changed nothing, stressing that the occupation continues to block the entry of food, medicines, and nutritional supplements — a situation that threatens mass fatalities, particularly among children and other vulnerable groups.
He added that famine does not only mean a lack of food, but also the absence of essential treatments for tens of thousands of patients, including roughly 20,000 children in urgent need of medical intervention.
Medical and Public-Health Extermination
Dr. Bassam Zagout, director of the Medical Relief Association in Gaza, described the current situation as “medical extermination,” noting that the Strip is suffering epidemics because of the lack of diagnostic tools and laboratory capacity, coupled with the starvation that is ravaging Palestinians’ bodies.
He pointed out that the occupation deliberately destroys the health infrastructure and prevents the delivery of treatment, aiming to kill Palestinians either by bullets and bombardment or by starvation and disease.
Victims While Waiting for Aid
Alongside the famine, the enemy’s crimes continue against Palestinians who gather to receive food aid. The Ministry of Health reported that deaths among those awaiting aid have risen to 2,180 killed and more than 16,046 wounded, after a new massacre that killed 22 people and wounded 203 within 24 hours.
These massacres, the report says, show that the occupation uses “aid” as a trap to kill starving Palestinians, as part of an organized plan of collective extermination overseen by what is called the “U.S.-Israeli mechanism” since 27 May.
Exposing the Occupier’s Lies
The Director of Gaza Health revealed that the Zionist enemy attempts to mislead global public opinion by killing journalists and bringing international influencers to the Kerem Shalom crossing to film the delivery of very limited food shipments — an effort to falsify reality and mask the widespread famine.
UN figures, by contrast, indicate that one in five children under five in Gaza City suffers from severe malnutrition, and that child malnutrition rates doubled between March and June.
Timid International Warnings
The International Organization for Migration warned that Gaza “can no longer wait,” affirming that famine is declared and that aid exists but cannot reach people because of the occupation’s blocking.
IOM Director General Amy Pope said: “Suffering increases day by day, and the time has come to stop the aggression immediately and ensure the delivery of aid.”
However, these international positions remain weak and confined to statements, revealing blatant international complicity with the Zionist enemy that continues its systematic crime of starvation against a besieged, unarmed population.
Suffocating Siege with Direct U.S. Support
Since 2 March, the enemy has closed all crossings into the Strip, preventing the entry of food, medicine, and fuel — a fully constituted crime carried out with direct support from the U.S. administration.
This comes within the framework of an ongoing genocidal war since 7 October 2023, which has so far resulted in more than 220,000 killed and wounded, the majority women and children, and more than 9,000 missing.
A Systematic Zionist Plan
What is happening in Gaza today is not a passing humanitarian crisis but a systematic Zionist plan of starvation and extermination, executed under U.S. sponsorship and amid disgraceful international silence.
Every victim who dies of hunger or while waiting for aid exposes the occupier’s lies and the maneuvers of its allies, and reveals that Gaza today faces a genocidal war by hunger and disease as much as by bombardment and fire.