Seven more die from malnutrition in Gaza as famine warning intensifies
Seven more people died from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, bringing the territory’s reported malnutrition death toll since the start of the war in 2023 to 154, including 89 children. The figure arrived as UN-backed food security experts warned that the worst-case scenario of famine was now “currently playing out” in Gaza.
The report adds to a picture of a deepening humanitarian emergency. The BBC said sources told it that just 109 aid lorries entered Gaza on Tuesday, and that almost none reached their destination because desperate crowds looted the shipments after they crossed the border. The images described were familiar: flour sacks carried away by people trying to feed their families, or resell supplies in a market where food has become scarce and unreliable.
Israel says it is not restricting aid, but that claim is rejected by its close allies in Europe, the UN and other agencies active in Gaza. The UN says at least 600 trucks a day are needed to begin addressing the crisis, far above the levels described in the report. Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries in March and then resumed its military offensive two weeks later, saying it wanted Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages. The blockade was eased later, but shortages of food, medicine and fuel worsened.
The malnutrition report came alongside new claims of lethal incidents near aid distribution points. Gaza hospital sources told the BBC that six Palestinians were killed near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centre in Rafah, while the GHF denied deaths at or near its sites. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at a distance of hundreds of metres away from the centre and said the casualty reports did not align with its information.
These competing accounts matter because the aid system in Gaza has become both a humanitarian pipeline and a security flashpoint. Palestinians regularly accuse Israeli forces or private security contractors of opening fire on aid seekers, while Israel says armed or suspicious gatherings can pose threats to troops. That makes every convoy, queue and distribution centre politically charged as well as dangerous.
The timing also matters. US envoy Steve Witkoff was due to travel to Israel to discuss the crisis after Washington and Israel recalled negotiators from ceasefire talks in Qatar. The diplomatic track has stalled even as the civilian toll climbs. The Hamas-run authorities say more than 60,000 people have been killed in the Israeli campaign since October 7, 2023, a figure that cannot be independently verified by the BBC in full but reflects the scale of the war Gaza’s population is living through.
What the day’s numbers show most clearly is that Gaza’s crisis is no longer just about access delays or isolated shortages. It is about the collapse of a functioning food system under bombardment, blockade, displacement and chaos. The malnutrition deaths are a grim indicator of how fast that collapse is deepening.
