Since October 2023, when Israel’s war began, the death toll from malnutrition has reached 111, with the majority occurring in recent weeks.
In addition, at least 100 Palestinians, including 34 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, as reported by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that 21 children under the age of five have died of malnutrition this year. They have been unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days, between March and May, and a resumption of food deliveries remains insufficient.
A statement from 111 organizations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Refugees International, stated that “mass starvation” is spreading despite the presence of tons of food, clean water, and medical supplies just outside Gaza, where aid groups are blocked from accessing them.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that “hunger has become as deadly as the bombs. Families are no longer asking for enough, they are asking for anything”.
Residents of Gaza have described “a slow, painful death playing out in real time, an engineered famine that the Israeli military has orchestrated”.
Israel cut off all goods from entering the territory in March but has allowed a gradual entry of aid starting in May, primarily distributed by the controversial United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The United Nations and aid groups trying to deliver food to Gaza claim that Israel, which controls all entries and exits, is hindering deliveries, while Israeli troops have killed hundreds of Palestinians near aid distribution points since May.
“We have a minimum set of requirements to be able to operate inside Gaza,” said Ross Smith, the director of emergencies at the UN World Food Programme. “One of the most important things I want to emphasize is that we need to have no armed actors near our distribution points, near our convoys.”
Recurring attacks on aid seekers have transformed the few remaining hospitals in Gaza “into massive trauma wards”. This food scarcity has made it difficult for people to work, including journalists, teachers, and even their own staff, added Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territory.
Nour Sharaf, an American doctor from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, warned that people “haven’t eaten anything for days and are dying of hunger”.
“Doctors sometimes don’t get food, but they still do their jobs,” she told Al Jazeera, adding that medical workers often work long hours.
Two more journalists killed
Israeli strikes have continued to hit various parts of the enclave, including Gaza City, where the Israeli army said it was “intensifying operations”.
The area has come under intense bombardment in recent days.
Gaza’s Government Media Office also announced the Israeli killing of two Palestinian journalists, Tamer al-Za’anin and Walaa al-Jabari, raising the number of media workers killed in the enclave since October 2023 to 231.
The statement said that al-Za’anin was a photojournalist with various media organizations, while al-Jabari worked as a newspaper editor with several media outlets.
Meanwhile, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Europe for “very sensitive negotiations” over a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal, the White House said.
During the visit, Witkoff “will meet with key leaders from the Middle East to discuss the ongoing ceasefire proposal to end this conflict in Gaza and to release the hostages”, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Talks on a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which would include the release of more of the 50 captives still being held in Gaza, are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with Washington’s backing.
A Palestinian official close to the Gaza ceasefire talks and the mediation efforts stated that Hamas had handed over its response on the ceasefire proposal to mediators, declining to provide further details.
No breakthrough has been achieved following rounds of negotiations since Israel broke a ceasefire in March.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told soldiers during a visit to Gaza that “intensive negotiations” about returning the captives held there were underway and that he hoped that they would soon “hear good news”, according to a statement.
A senior Palestinian official earlier said that Hamas might give mediators a response to the latest proposals in Doha later on Wednesday, on the condition that amendments be made to two major sticking points: details on an Israeli military withdrawal and how to distribute aid during a truce.
