• Over 100 children have died of hunger in Gaza, UNRWA reports.
• One in five children in Gaza is malnourished, with cases escalating.
• Doctors Without Borders warns of deliberate starvation as the crisis worsens.
• Almost a third of the population is reportedly going days without food.
• International aid organizations urgently calling for unrestricted access to humanitarian aid.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reports that "more than 100 people, the vast majority of them children, have reportedly died of hunger." The situation in the strip is so dire that UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the populace as "walking corpses." He noted alarming rates of malnutrition, with one in five children affected, warning that "when child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail" and famine silently begins to unfold. The agency has stocks of food and medical supplies in Jordan and Egypt but struggles to deliver these resources effectively into Gaza due to ongoing hostilities and restrictions, according to India Times and BBC.

The World Food Programme (WFP) also highlighted that nearly one-third of the population is "not eating for days," adding that around 90,000 women and children are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition. Reportedly, 47% of people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while reports from the Hamas-run health ministry state that the total number of deaths linked to starvation has risen to at least 122 since the conflict escalated in early October 2023. As the hunger crisis grows worse, more and more families struggle with food shortages, according to BBC and Dawn.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported this week that about 25% of young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened in their clinics were found to be malnourished, noting the crisis has escalated as the organization received a quadrupling number of malnourished patients since mid-May. MSF claims that Israel's "policy of starvation" constitutes a deliberate attempt to use hunger as a weapon, exacerbating the suffering of civilians. This situation is compounded by healthcare workers facing starvation themselves, leading to a collapse of the healthcare support system within Gaza, according to India Times and ABC News.

Local eyewitnesses report grim conditions, with families scavenging for food in garbage and some resorting to extreme measures to feed their children. A survey of healthcare providers indicates that nearly all are coping with hunger as they treat those in need, further straining the already overwhelming system. The international community, including several governments, has called for an immediate end to the restrictions on aid and the implementation of humanitarian law in Gaza, reflecting widespread concern over the escalating crisis, according to BBC and India Times.