Palestinians in Gaza are facing a manmade crisis – one that is taking lives because people and children do not have enough to eat. Families are not only dying from bombs and bullets, but also from hunger.
As of May 2025, at least 29 children and elderly individuals have died from starvation-related causes, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Over 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition this year, and experts warn that tens of thousands more could be affected as famine looms. The World Health Organization and UN agencies stress the urgent need for consistent, large-scale aid distribution to prevent further tragedy. These deaths are not caused by war injuries, but from the slow and painful process of having no access to food or clean water. The health system is collapsing, and many hospitals are reporting cases of severe malnutrition. Parents are watching their children grow weaker every day, unable to feed them even basic meals.
Aid groups say the situation is getting worse every day. Only around 100 trucks with flour, baby food, and medical supplies are entering Gaza, when at least 500 trucks are needed daily. Even these few supplies don’t always reach the people. Roads are damaged, warehouses have been bombed, and trucks are sometimes stopped. Some families say they haven’t seen any aid in weeks. Because of the blockade and constant attacks, Gaza’s farms and food factories are almost gone. Most cattle have died, and fields have been destroyed. Now, people cannot grow their own food or find anything affordable in markets.
Over 2 million people in Gaza are at risk of going hungry. Half a million of them are already in a stage of starvation. Children are the most at risk. UNICEF has stated that all 335,000 children under the age of five in Gaza are in danger of dying from hunger or disease if help doesn’t arrive soon. At the same time, Israeli airstrikes continue, and people are dying not just from lack of food, but also from ongoing attacks. This makes it even harder for aid to be delivered or for people to find shelter.
In an interview with CNN presenter Christiane Amanpour, UN Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher stated:
There is a trickle of aid getting in. 300,000 meals delivered (into Gaza), 87 trucks in, most of them carrying food. That’s a drop in the ocean of what is needed, I have 10,000 trucks waiting full of food, baby food, 2 million people in Gaza are at risk of famine… Our people are working round the clock. Many of our teams are malnourished themselves…
He dismissed the claim that Hamas is doing the looting of the trucks. “These are desperate starving people, and we don’t think Hamas is doing the looting. We have distribution networks, it’s in our interest to stop that aid getting anywhere near Hamas”
In response to a question on the quoted figures of 14,000 kids at risk of hunger and starvation, Tom Fletcher, UN Humanitarian Chief quoted the IPC report on famine conditions around the world. “It’s actually 71,000 who face severe hunger and 14,000 who face acute hunger. Part of the argument is over their age, I described them as babies, in the report, they are between naught and 5 years old. I think we have to just focus on the fact that these kids need to get fed… I make no apologies on focusing on that.”
International groups and the United Nations have warned again and again that this is turning into a famine. But still, the help coming in is too little and too slow. Gaza needs full access to aid, proper food supply, and peace. Without these, the number of deaths will only grow. This is not just a natural disaster. It is a human-made crisis — and one the world still has a chance to stop.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and The Conversation, CNN.
