Death by starvation threatens 650,000 children under the age of five in the Gaza Strip

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that the number of children who have died from malnutrition so far has reached 67, indicating that more than 650,000 children under the age of five face a real and immediate risk of severe malnutrition in the coming weeks, out of a total of 1.1 million children in the Strip.

The Gaza government warned on Saturday that 650,000 children under the age of five in the Strip are facing starvation due to the Israeli blockade, amid “shameful international silence.”

This comes in the context of the genocidal war that Israel has been waging in Gaza since October 7, 2023, with US support. This war has left more than 195,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, more than 10,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said: “After 133 days of the complete Israeli closure of the crossings, the risk of famine is increasing, and hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of death, including 650,000 children under the age of five, out of a population of 1.1 million in the Gaza Strip, amid shameful international silence.”

It added in a statement that “the occupation forces are closing all crossings and preventing the entry of food, medicine, and fuel, in one of the most severe crimes of collective siege in modern times.”

It continued: “The famine afflicting the Gaza Strip is worsening by the day, and dozens of deaths have been recorded over the past three days due to the lack of food and basic medical supplies, in an extremely cruel humanitarian scene.”