Israel stood accused tonight of inflicting ‘mass starvation’ on Gaza amid reports that at least ten people have died of malnutrition in 24 hours.
It brought the toll of deaths from hunger in recent weeks to 111, including 80 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Distressing images from aid distribution sites have captured desperate women and children begging for food, while photographs inside medical facilities have shown malnourished infants and young ones.
The United Nations has estimated nearly 100,000 women and children in Gaza are approaching malnutrition.
More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups issued a joint letter blaming Israel for the deteriorating situation.
Organizations like Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) have been at the forefront, urging for a ceasefire, the reopening of land crossings, and the reinstatement of food, water, and medical supplies.
They expressed: ‘Palestinians are caught in a relentless cycle of hope and despair, longing for aid and ceasefires, only to find themselves facing increasingly dire conditions each day.
‘As mass starvation spreads across Gaza, our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away.
The United Nations has estimated nearly 100,000 women and children in Gaza are approaching malnutrition
Palestinians carrying pans, gather to receive hot meals, distributed by a charity organization in Gaza City, where residents are struggling to access food due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and attacks in Gaza City, Gaza on July 23, 2025
Harrowing scenes among crowds at aid points have shown desperate women and children pleading for food
‘As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families.’ However, Israel denied the claims, insisting that almost 1,000 trucks of aid await distribution by aid agencies to Gazan civilians.
Its foreign ministry accused the groups of ‘echoing Hamas propaganda’ and said it has allowed around 4,500 aid trucks to enter Gaza since lifting a complete blockade in May.
It insisted that more than 700 lorries are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the UN.
That’s an average of around 70 a day, the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year.
The agencies said only 28 trucks a day are getting through because Israel is blocking these organisations from ‘accessing and delivering’ supplies.
They described Israeli aid drops as ‘symbolic’ and a ‘smokescreen for inaction’ while such measures ‘cannot replace legal and moral obligations to protect civilians’. At least 100 Palestinians were said yesterday to have died across the enclave in the previous 24 hours.
The move by the agencies appeared to have paid off on Wednesday night as Donald Trump intervened to add pressure on Israel.
A child eats as Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, near the ruins of houses destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip August 26, 2024
Palestinian woman Warda Mattar feeds her newborn dates, instead of milk, amidst food scarcity and lack of milk, at a school where they shelter in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip February 25, 2024
More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups issued a joint letter blaming Israel for the deteriorating situation
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has described the situation in Gaza as ‘a horror show’
The White House claimed the US President was distressed by the latest ‘mass casualty event’ on Sunday when 79 civilians were killed after Israeli troops opened fire at an aid station.
Mr Trump has dispatched US peace envoy Steve Witkoff to lead talks in Rome tomorrow, with Israeli minister of strategic affairs Ron Dermer and Qatari envoys representing Hamas.
The appeal by the agencies also came as the UN claimed more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed as they queued for aid in Gaza in the previous two months.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has described the situation in Gaza as ‘a horror show’ and added: ‘We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles.’
The Vatican has expressed growing frustration at the killings in Gaza ‘of children queueing for a handful of rice’.
Meanwhile, the American Jewish Committee lobby group condemned a post by US Republican Representative Randy Fine suggesting starvation was a legitimate tactic. He wrote: ‘Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.’
