Gaza City – Hunger is spreading faster than disease across Gaza. Families are surviving on salt water, malnourished children are collapsing in overcrowded hospitals, and aid workers warn the system meant to save lives is now costing them. At least 33 people, including 12 children, died of starvation-related causes in the past 48 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Since May 27, over 1,000 people have been killed while seeking food, the UN’s Human Rights Office reported.
Nineteen-year-old Saba Nahed Alnajjar, displaced from Khan Younis and now living in a tent in al-Mawasi, sent a voice message to the press describing her condition. “There is no food or medicine. We have become skeletons,” she said. “I can’t hold on any longer.” She now weighs just 77 pounds and suffers from severe malnutrition.
Saba had plans to study medicine in Algeria before war broke out. Her scholarship was revoked, and she now pleads for evacuation and academic sponsorship, fearing she may not survive long enough to rebuild her future.
Hospitals across Gaza report growing deaths from hunger. Randa, a nurse at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, sent a message describing daily scenes of children dying from malnutrition. “The most common thing I hear at work isn’t ‘I’m in pain’ it’s ‘I’m hungry,’” Randa said. “We stand for hours without a single meal, watching patients slip away.”
WHO confirmed on Monday that its central warehouse in Deir al-Balah was damaged in an Israeli strike that caused fire and explosions inside the compound. A satellite image captured by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from the site.
In Gaza City, 29-year-old Noura Hijazi sits in a tent with her two children. Her 20-month-old daughter Aisha lost nearly 4.5 pounds in four days. “She has been motionless. She asks for food but I can’t find any,” Noura said. She survives by drinking salted water. Her partner was killed in the war, and she has no source of income.
Aid groups are overwhelmed. A second center for treating malnourished children was opened in northern Gaza over the weekend, the first was already filled to capacity.
“The last lifelines are collapsing,” the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday. “Humanitarian conditions are breaking down at an accelerating pace.”
Israel’s military launched a new ground assault in Deir al-Balah last weekend. Troops claimed they returned fire after shots were directed at them. But residents say the offensive has trapped thousands without aid access.
Satellite imagery showed fresh vehicle tracks, suggesting armored movement into the city. Video footage confirmed by analysts last month showed WHO trucks delivering supplies to the now-damaged warehouse in the area.
Hospitals across Gaza, already short of fuel, may be forced to shut down within 48 hours, the health ministry warned.
Food prices remain out of reach for most Gazans. “We’ve eaten nothing but lentils in two days,” said Mohammad Mahmoud, a father of four. “Flour costs $80 a kilo, and the money I receive from family abroad is worth half its value by the time it’s converted.”
Mohammed Jundia told Reuters, “We haven’t eaten in five days. Someone gave us a bag of flour. That’s how we’re staying alive.”
Children like eight-month-old Ahlam and six-month-old Iman are now faces of the crisis. Both suffer from severe acute malnutrition, worsened by repeated displacement. UN staff report they are near collapse themselves, unable to meet the growing need.
Despite growing pressure from international leaders for Israel to uphold humanitarian law and allow safe, widespread aid delivery, Israel has continued with military operations.
Among the deadliest incidents reported:
- 67 killed on Sunday while waiting for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza.
- 39 killed a day earlier at two aid sites in the south.
- 21 died in a crush on July 20 at a GHF distribution point in Khan Younis.
- 10 killed in an airstrike while collecting water on July 13.
- 15, including eight children, were killed on July 11 while queuing for nutritional supplements.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the US and Israel, began distributing aid in late May. Israel claims the system is necessary to prevent Hamas from seizing supplies, but humanitarian organizations and eyewitness accounts tell a different story one of growing desperation, chaos, and daily death.
“Let the world know what is happening here,” said Randa. “Not as a news story but as a cry for survival.”
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