A child in Gaza dies of hunger, and the World Food Programme warns.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death of another child in the Strip due to famine and the repercussions of the blockade, while the World Food Programme confirmed that tens of thousands of children are facing severe levels of malnutrition.

The ministry said that child Mustafa Yassin died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza City.

Two days ago, Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan said that 29 children and elderly people had died from hunger-related causes in Gaza over the past two days, and that thousands more were at risk of dying from the same causes.

alarming number

Asked about previous press statements by a UN official about the possibility of 14,000 infant deaths without aid, the minister said, "The figure of 14,000 is very realistic, and may be an underestimate."

Abu Ramadan said that only 7 or 8 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functioning, and that more than 90% of medical supplies have been depleted due to the blockade.

Course of events

He added that the information available to him indicated that between 90 and 100 trucks loaded with aid had entered southern and central Gaza. When asked whether any medical supplies were among them, he said his information indicated that only flour had arrived for bakeries.

These tragic incidents confirm the worsening humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of thousands of children and the elderly, amid repeated warnings from international organizations against the use of starvation as a weapon against civilians in the Gaza Strip, given the ongoing blockade and the collapse of the Strip's food and health systems.

World Food warns

For its part, the World Food Programme said that more than 70,000 children in Gaza are facing severe levels of malnutrition. The UN agency added that it is exploiting every opportunity to provide food aid, but that what is being provided is not enough.

He explained that immediate, safe, and unrestricted access is needed to provide aid to prevent famine and save lives.

The World Food Programme warned on Thursday that it is in a race against time to stop a full-scale famine in Gaza.

The World Food Programme said in a statement that the humanitarian aid that has reached Gaza is just a drop in the ocean.

The program's director in the Palestinian territories said in a statement to reporters that a small number of bakeries in southern and central Gaza supported by the program resumed bread production after trucks were finally able to bring in supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing.

For his part, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said that Israel is using hunger as a weapon against civilians and called on the UN General Assembly to break the siege and stop the starvation of 2.3 million Palestinians.

The Gaza Strip needs 500 trucks of urgent relief, medical, and food aid daily, and at least 50 trucks of life-saving fuel, according to a statement issued by the government media office last Monday.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 175,000 Palestinians dead or wounded—mostly children and women—and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.