A six-week-old baby boy is among 15 people who have starved to death in the last 24 hours in Gaza, according to doctors who say a wave of hunger that has loomed over the enclave for months is now finally crashing down.
The family of the boy, Yousef, couldn't find baby formula to feed him, his uncle, Adham al-Safadi, said.
"You can't get milk anywhere, and if you do find any, it's $100 for a tub," he said, looking at his dead nephew.
Three of the other Palestinians who died of hunger over the last day were also children, including 13-year-old Abdulhamid al-Ghalban, who died in a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
While the threat of famine has long loomed in Gaza since October 7, Palestinian officials say dozens of deaths are now being recorded directly related to hunger.
At least 101 people are known to have died of hunger during the conflict, according to Palestinian officials, including 80 children, most of them in just the last few weeks.
Gaza has witnessed its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies that it is responsible for shortages of food.
More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food in Gaza, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centres of a new, United States-backed aid organisation.
Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, an 18-month-old child in Gaza, faces severe malnutrition as well as a pre-existing health condition, as the humanitarian situation worsens in Gaza. Source: Getty / Anadolu
UN secretary-general António Guterres called the situation for the 2.3 million residents of the Palestinian enclave a "horror show".
"We are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles," Guterres told the UN Security Council. "That system is being denied the conditions to function."
Israeli activists take part in a protest against the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel's measures regarding food distribution and the forced displacement of Palestinians, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Source: AP / Ohad Zwigenberg
"Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left," its secretary-general Jan Egeland told Reuters. "Israel is not yielding. They just want to paralyse our work," he said.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday images of civilians killed during the distribution of aid were "unbearable" and urged Israel to deliver on pledges to improve the situation.
Food and medicine shortages
On Tuesday, men and boys lugged sacks of flour past destroyed buildings and tarpaulins in Gaza City, grabbing what food they could from aid warehouses.
"We haven't eaten for five days," Mohammed Jundia said.
Israeli military statistics showed an average of 146 trucks of aid per day had entered Gaza over the course of the war.
Palestinians gather flour from the ground after an airstrike on a warehouse. Source: AAP / Hasan Alzaanin / TASS / Sipa USA
"Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can't provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages," said Khalil al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the health ministry.
Deqran said some 600,000 people were suffering from malnutrition, including at least 60,000 pregnant women.
Symptoms among those going hungry include dehydration and anaemia, he said.
Baby formula, in particular, is in critically short supply, according to aid groups, doctors, and residents.
The health ministry said at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and military strikes in the past 24 hours, including 16 people living in tents in Gaza City.
Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 to Gaza in its attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent campaign against Hamas in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people.
UPDATE: The original version of this story included images supplied by Getty Images/Anadolu of Mohammed Zakariya Eyup Al-Matouq amid reports of spreading starvation in Gaza. His mother and treating doctor have confirmed via Anadolu that he had a pre-existing health condition, and is experiencing both severe malnutrition and a muscle-related illness. Read the full story here.
