At least 33 people, most of them children, have died from malnutrition in Gaza in just the past 48 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday, as aid access remains critically limited. The total number of deaths from malnutrition since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023 now stands at 101, with 80 of them being children. The head of the UN’s Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that even aid workers are now collapsing from hunger and exhaustion. “Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now,” Lazzarini said in a statement shared at a Geneva press briefing. “Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them, UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties.” Describing the situation as “hell on earth,” Lazzarini said that “nowhere is safe” in the besieged Palestinian territory. UNRWA estimates that 1,000 starving people have been killed while seeking food aid since the end of May, many of them gunned down or crushed in stampedes as they tried to reach supply trucks. After ceasefire talks collapsed, Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza on March 2, cutting off all food and aid deliveries. Limited trucks were allowed in only from late May, and that too at a trickle. In a post on X earlier this week, UNRWA said that aid already stockpiled in warehouses outside Gaza could feed “the entire population for over three months,” but has not been allowed in. The agency also said food prices inside Gaza have spiked by up to 40 times. Israel has repeatedly claimed it is allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and blames Hamas for obstructing distribution, a claim disputed by aid organisations on the ground.
